The starting of my Tomato Frog Vivarium Build

[Niels D]

Looks like a dripping wall. Could be made out of great stuff/foam with an epoxy sealant, but it doesn't look that way. Looking at this thread I've discovered that tomato frogs are beautifull little beasties. Hope you have yours soon so you can uload some pics!

[BG]

Poly i was just thinking about getting like 6 tomato frogs and putting them in a tank. Females get red ,males get Orange. Since red is my fav color.

[Poly]

Looks like a dripping wall. Could be made out of great stuff/foam with an epoxy sealant, but it doesn't look that way. Looking at this thread I've discovered that tomato frogs are beautifull little beasties. Hope you have yours soon so you can uload some pics!

I asked the guy who made the Vivarium, he was from mexico, and only knew spanish, but I managed to get the link to his blog, where he posts all his photos of his builds. He originally built the wall for dart frogs but instead he put tomato frogs in it and he said he was amazed at what good climbers they were. He told me about how they climb up the wall, and hide in the little caves he made for the dart frogs! Looks like I'm going to be making a wall for my Tomato's!

Poly i was just thinking about getting like 6 tomato frogs and putting them in a tank. Females get red ,males get Orange. Since red is my fav color.

Yup, same here BG, love the nice, bright red females! Except at 50$ea... well I'm going to stick to two Tomato's for now...

[frogluver]

Hey Royce, are you going to make a semi-aquatic viv for your Tomato frogs or a land based vivarium with a drip/water fall?

[optimum]

looking good!

[Poly]

Hey Royce, are you going to make a semi-aquatic viv for your Tomato frogs or a land based vivarium with a drip/water fall?

Autmn, I really gotta stop missing your posts Yup, semi-aquatic for sure! I was thinking 60-40 would work good.

looking good!

Thanks, though I really don't have very many photos posted of anything at the moment...

[Poly]

Whooo! Finally, I got my plants!

As for a vivarium, I have decided for now, to build a 20 gallon rather than a 55 gallon (the 55 gallon sold, and I can't find another one at the moment), so I bought a 20 gallon in great shape for 25$.

Here are the photos, I know how boring a thread can be without photos, so I aplogize for the lack of them on the first page, but this page is going to be different!

Here is the Vivarium, same size as my other one, just a little less floor space, but it's wider, so it's no problem. I'm using 6500K flourescent lights.


And, now my plants;

Dieffenbachia:

About 10" tall now, with it's large leaves, it'll provide plenty of ground cover, and it looks great.

Lemon Button Fern:

Nice little plant, I'm sure it'll provide good ground cover too.

Polka Dot's:


Red Tomato frog... red plant...

I had also purchased a "Croton" plant, but at that time, I was not aware that they contained a poisonous inner sap, and a irritant to the skin... so, I will not be putting it in the Tomato's vivarium for fear that the frog could climb on it, break one of it's leaves, and get sap on it's self, killing it.

But it's still a wonderful plant for show!


So, this weekend, I'm going to my local Home Depot, Pet Value, and Canadian Tire to buy the supplies I need to build the vivarium.

Pet Valu:
-2-3 bricks of compressed Eco-Earth (one for the background, the other two for the vivarium's substrate)
-2 Coco-huts
-Aquarium gravel to hide false bottom
-Hoping to get a nice piece of drift wood/fake wood to attach to the background (I want to make a background using this FrogForum'ers design, create balcony with a log leading up to it, and have a coco-hut and eco earth on the balcony)
This is the design I'm talking about:


Home Depot:
-Great Stuff GREAT STUFF | Gaps & Cracks Insulating Foam Sealant, 454 g | Home Depot Canada
-Egg Crate for the false bottom Plaskolite | Egg Crate White Louver - 23.75 Inch x 47.75 Inch | Home Depot Canada
-GE II Clear 100% Silicone to stick Great Stuff covered egg crate background to aquarium GE Silicone | GE Silicone II, Window & Door Sealant, CLEAR, 290 mL | Home Depot Canada
-GE II Black 100% Silicone to stick eco earth to background GE Silicone | GE Silicone II, Window & Door Sealant, BLACK, 290 mL | Home Depot Canada
-Quikrete 20 lb. Fast-Set Repair Mortar to harden my styrofoam false rocks Quikrete 20 Lb. Fast-Set Repair Mortar (802728) from The Home Depot
-Mesh for false bottom, though, not sure where to get it and if you can buy it in small quantities, or if you have to buy the entire roles of it...?
-Plastic ring sprinkler, this will be for my misting/rain system (will be purchasing a 2" daimater ring sprinkler). Orbit SunMate | Plastic Ring Sprinkler; Dbox. | Home Depot Canada

Canadian Tire:
-1/8" Diameter PVC line, I will be have one line in my false bottom to drain excess water, and one fine in the seperate, lower false bottom of my water section to raise or lower the water level, thus enabling me to have a water section without having a filtration system running. The other use for the line will be for my misting system.

I plan on having a misting/rain system like this:

Just with one, MUCH small round sprinkler, and I will only leave it on for a few seconds at a time, for a light misting, 5 seconds, to simulate rain, 15 seconds. I'm not worried about excess watter, as I will just pump it out of the false bottom.

So anyway, that's my shopping list for this weekend, anything I missed? Let me know!

~Royce

[frogluver]

Autmn, I really gotta stop missing your posts Yup, semi-aquatic for sure! I was thinking 60-40 would work good.

Haha, don't worry about it :P! Sounds like you have a lot planned for this terrarium....can't wait for the finished project !

[Poly]

Haha, don't worry about it :P! Sounds like you have a lot planned for this terrarium....can't wait for the finished project !

Haha, okay Yes I do, and neither can I!

[Poly]

More photos, as I promised!

I collected 6 different varieties wild moss, shook them out very well (in hopes of getting mites [if any] out) and I am now deciding weather or to boil them or what? Will they continue to grow after boiling? Just want to make sure my Tomato's are safe!

Here are the photos:


Freshly collected!

Wild "sheet moss" found growning on our lawn:

All grass removed and or trimmed, and placed in a container with soil substrate, to be put under my 6500K grow lights. This moss will be my main substrate cover.

Not even sure if this is a type of moss?

Dosen't matter, becuase I will be hot glueing it to my background, hopefully it will grow.

Found this moss growing on a rock, should do well under the growlights, and once transplanted onto a rock or log in the viv, I think it will grow good.


I think this is christmas tree moss, this stuff will be getting hot glued to a log, or an eco-earth covered coco-hut, I think that'd look nice!


~Royce

[frogluver]

That one moss (the one in which you're unsure of the type lol) grows in abundance around my house. It's a variation of what's called Star moss. I collected some, but haven't had the chance to put it in my terrarium. Anyways, it appears to be a hardy type of moss, as I forgot to water it for at least 2 weeks and still grew (even though it was soooo dry :P).

And I really like the last moss you have shown..... I have some (or a similar type of moss) and it looks really great in the terrarium.

[Poly]

That one moss (the one in which you're unsure of the type lol) grows in abundance around my house. It's a variation of what's called Star moss. I collected some, but haven't had the chance to put it in my terrarium. Anyways, it appears to be a hardy type of moss, as I forgot to water it for at least 2 weeks and still grew (even though it was soooo dry :P).

And I really like the last moss you have shown..... I have some (or a similar type of moss) and it looks really great in the terrarium.

Oh, alright, Star moss it is, thanks! Well, I will be sticking it to my background, it will be getting plenty of water, housed in an 80%+ humidity enslosure and have 6500K CFL grow lights on it for 8 to 12 hours a day... hopefully it will not only grow but spread. (Good to know it's hardy!)

Yes, that moss, I believe to be Christmas tree moss, it grows great, but you have to have lights on it, or it dies off very quickly, I had it in my toads viv which is only lit by natural light (decided against giving them 8-12 hour light cycles, as my patio door in my room provides plenty of light, and the only other reason for the 6500K lights is for the plants to grow, and since they only have a grass plant in their viv, there is no need for the lights. Plus, they are more active without the lights!), and it died off within 1 week.