FrogFevers 55g Display Tank Build...

[optimum]

i bet this will turn into a killer set up! looking forward seeing it finished

[FrogFever]

Okay, its been a while since my last post but much progress has been made!

This picture is after the first coating of black Silicone II and peat moss.
The blue tape is covering all the slate, wood, and air/fan vents.


I ended up using half a small bag of peat moss ($3 at Fred Meyers) and 3 tubes of GE Silicone II Black ($7 each)

This is what it looks like after the final coat of silicone/peat moss was applied, after I took off all of the tape pieces from the slate, circulation vents, and off of the firefly lights, and after I vacuumed up all excess peat moss.
This took me about 2 hours.


I decided to do only a slight coating of peat moss in the water fall area just to give it a little color. I am assuming that most of it will eventually come off when the waterfall is turned on.


Lights in flight with the lights (and tape) off. As mentioned earlier I plan on re-taping the lights with green painters FROG tape to dampen the brightness of the lights so they appear to be more natural.


Picture showing the lights on in a lit room!


A quick test and all systems are still fully operational!
Lights, fans, and water pump.


After one last quick water test then comes the next step...
Planting the substrate and plants!

Hydroton: JoshsFrogs- $10 for a large bag.

I am using the ABG soil mix recipe.

Tree fern pieces: Sierra Fish and Pets- $7 a lb. I think I used about $10 worth.
Spagnum moss: from Joshsfrogs $5 for 200g. I used less than $1 worth.
Charcoal: Fred Meyers- $3 per bag. Used 1 bag.
Orchid Bark: Fred Meyers: $5 for a huge bag. Used $3 worth.
Peat Moss: Fred Meyers: $3 per small bag. Used 1 bag.

I mixed the proper amounts per ABG recipe, and because I had some extra on hand I added:
2 handfuls of coco fiber (JoshsFrogs- 3 pack brick- $5. Used less than $1 worth)
2 handfuls of coco husk chips (JoshsFrogs- $3. Used $ less 1 worth.
1 handful of washed sand (Fred Meyers- $3 a bag. Used less than $1 worth.)
1 bag of leaf litter- Free

(Also pictured is a bag of Fluval Plant Stratum for the water feature. (Amazon- $16)

In case anyone is wondering why I am including prices for absolutely everything its because for one, I want people who are not familiar with these products to have a good idea of how much it would cost them to buy all of this, as well as where to buy them from. (I am what I like to call "thrifty", so wherever I bought my supplies from there is a good chance that it is the cheapest price around.) And two, I want to keep track for my own purposes exactly how much this build cost me.

[FrogFever]

So instead of planting today I found another 5 hours of things to prep! Haha. There are always more steps than there seems.

My intention was to re-tape all of the lights with Frog tape, but the damn stuff is barely sticky at all! (I wouldn't recommend it.) Plus I couldn't get to a couple of my lights properly so I had to abandoned that idea. In the process I realized that I only had 16 lights blinking, so that means that 4 of my lights were covered under foam/silicone/peat moss somewhere. If it weren't for previous pictures I took I never would've been able to locate where they were.
I still wanted my lights to be 'dimmed' so I decided to go with green acrylic paint instead. Two coats of green and then one of clear coat got it to the color that I preferred.
I am debating whether or not I should paint all the lights in glow in the dark paint as well...
What do you think?



Anyways, the water test passed again, and the water flows down the slate just as it should after contnuous hours of fine tuning the rocks edges.
Here you can see 3 of the lights painted green. In my opinion they look like nice little flowering buds throughout the tank.


I also forgot that before I layed down any plants and substrate I had to sand more rocks...
These vice grips work MIRACLES when it comes to breaking off pieces of slate. One would be surprised how accurate and easily they break off little chunks!


I am trying something new that I haven't seen anyone else do yet... something that worked great for me on one of my previous tanks.
You know how some people make a false front out of rock/substrate to cover up the LECA balls? Well instead of a fine soil to cover it up I am using very thin pieces of slate to tie it in to the rest of the tank.


Comments always welcome. Questions too.

[Pixidust]

Great job on the rock waterfall it looks AWESOME!

[Grrrit]

this is looking great! i really like the waterfall and the fireflies. i would be a little concerned about keeping tape on them though. you may be able to find dimmer shades of lights at a craftstore to get the look your after. big score on the light too! that halide id going to put off some heat though. and if those are actinic bulbs im not sure how the plants would do, i like using dual lights with a 6500k and 10000k. i think it gives off a bright, but warm shade to a viv. looking super good so far, cant wait to see it done!

[FrogFever]

Thanks for the comments everyone.
Grrrit, not sure if you saw but I decided not to use the green painters tape, and went with green acrylic paint instead. Much easier to apply on the lights and it looks great!
I have finally come to realize that I am not going to be able to use the metal halide setup with the display tank. I've looked for hours, days, and weeks trying to find out what model it is or even what company made it, but no one has a clue. Even major reef lighting companies are stumped. They called it an "anachronism of a light fixture". Therefore I am unable to find a stand for it, or any screws, latches, holders, hardware, or any other device to suspend it from the ceiling or otherwise. Big disappointment, so I'm just going to use it on a rack in my frog room and search for new light fixtures for the display tank.

[Grrrit]

Yikes, sorry to hear that. I mustve over looked the green paint. I use some low wattage t5's for all of my tanks and racks. Google "deep blue solarmax HE T5" mike novy from rainforest junkies got me started on them. Excellent fixtures and really affordable. A 48" single bulb runs about $50!!!! The dual bulb is about $80-$100 and comes with 8 purple LED night lights. but one of the bulbs is actinic and would need replaced. Check em out, ron at alphaprobreeders carries them.

[Pixidust]

Could you cover the top with a homemade screen top, or a "no see um" net, and then use something like frame out the top of the tank with wood, glass, acrylic, or whatever then rest the light on the frame, it is a beautiful light fixture it would be a shame not to use it.