10 gallon vertical test build

[J Teezy]

well I've been thinking about my tank and thinking of housing a D. Azureus instead of a RETF. Couple of reasons are the construction of the tank. For an RETF i feel i'd need to provide two ventilation spots. I plan on having screen at the top of the tank but think i nee to have some kind of ventilation above the smaller portion of glass that will be installed at the bottom as well (like how the exo terra tanks are constructed) but i'm not sure how to do it. I know i could make a screen portion out of frame and such like i plan to do for the top vent, but i fell like with the width of the framing material and all its really going to take away from viewing of the tank. So i've been trying to come up with some kind of way to make a vent in the lower portion but haven't found a good idea. Maybe something like slicing some vinyl tube so that it will go over the lip of the lower glass panel and then drilling tiny holes through it would work (the concept here is to provide enough ventilation to keep the humidity good for RETF because I've read that alot of people who does these vertical conversions with just the screen part in the top it keeps the humidity higher than what you want for RETFs and more in the range for PDFs). So anyone have any ideas for constructing a bottom ventilation.

My construction plan atm is for a bottom panel of glass that will be siliconed in for water tight seal taht will be about 5" high then i would need some kind of ventilation strip above that (picture an exo terra tank's black strip with the holes in it), then my door, then the top 2" a vent i make from framing and window screen.

Now if i decide to go dart frog with a D. Azureus the tank construction of 5" bottom panel > door > 2" screen section should work well correct? Also is a 10 gallon vertical conversion a suitable home 1 frog? Seems to me that land area of a 10 gallon vert doesn't seem like much for a D. Azureus or maybe i'm just being to picky. And lastly would keeping a D. Azureus solo work well or should they be kept in at least pairs?

I really like the appearance of RETFs and the D. Azureus which is the main reason i'm making this Viv is for something to look at, and from my research it seems RETF aren't very active during the day and are kind of boring to watch. I want to be able to look over at the tank and see something going on and from what i've read D. Azureus are pretty bold and active during the day.

[thadmy]

RETF like my clown tree frogs are nocturnal so you will really only see them moving around at dusk and dawn unless you use a red light bulb to see them at night. I did a vertical conversion and only made a 6" screen at the top of the tank and my humidity stays around 75 at night and 68 during the day. Which is o.k. for Clowns and everything I have read states that Clowns and RETF need about the same conditions in the tank.

[J Teezy]

after all day painting today the wall is done except for being sealed. Need to figure out how i'm going to seal it







I'm pretty happy with it. Looks way better in person. Used sponge painting and dry brush tactics to apply the paint

[J Teezy]

Went to the Sin City Reptile Show today (Cincinnati) and found a frog dealer who deals in PDFs and RETFs. Picked up a Exo Terra Light fixture for the viv and bulb for it. Almost walked out with a 24x18x24 Exo Terra since the guy had it for a great price but decided to hold back (maybe the next show if the funds are there).

Next things to work on this week are

Build the front glass and screen sections for the front of the tank
Figure out how am going to put my rock wall in. I don't want to attach it with silicone if I don't have to because I'd like to be able to take it out easily. Also need to figure out how i'm going to seal it. Wanted to go with Shields All but can only find one place that sells it on the net (pretty sure its the people who make it) and its $25 for a gallon which is way more than I need and almost that much to ship it as well. Not sure if I want to mess with trying to cover the whole thing in silicon either as the rubber look that the silicon will give it kind of turns me off, not to mention trying to smear it all over and get it in the cracks will be a pain. Anyone know of any non toxic sealers that can withstand moisture and humidity?

[GrifTheGreat]

J I believe your frogs are going to have the perfect home once you finish. The frogs you get to be housed in there will be living the life of luxury. Lol! Very nice setup. Its coming along nicely.

[J Teezy]

anyone use this mix in making their own ABG mix

1 part fine peat
1 part milled sphagnum moss
1 part fine charcoal
2 parts fine tree fern fiber
2 parts fine orchid bark.

[J Teezy]

I wanted my background to be removable, so since that meant i wouldn't be siliconing it to the tank i made a couple rocks that i attached to the bottom to support the background from falling forward. Tanks pretty much done just need to get my hinge and will be all set

[J Teezy]

found a piece of driftwood in my old aquarium stuff




for the time being my stand is an old speaker that i took apart and cut out the front of it to be able to stick my bucket under for the drain. The speaker cover goes back over it to cover it all up.

[J Teezy]

just scored a mistking ultimate package for 170!

[J Teezy]

found some spare wood and built a different stand. Just needs a top and to be wrapped with plywood and painted

[J Teezy]

well my order from josh's frogs came today so i was able to assemble the front of the enclosure. Finishing up the stand tomorrow and drilling the misthead nozzle hole as long with a hole to run my Temp/Hum sensor prob in and we should be up and running!



picture of how i attached the hasp and lock



for now i am holding me screen in place with electrical tape because if i want to get my background out for any reason the screen has to be removed to be able to get it out so i didn't want to silicone it in

[J Teezy]

wrapped the stand today with some plywood





Also applied a couple coats of primer, so tomorrow i'll be attaching the molding around the edges to make it look nice and then hopefully putting on the black paint

[J Teezy]

today finished all the primer coats and got the glass drilled for the mistking nozzle which i drilled in the front center and also drilled a hole in the back middle so that i can get my Thermometer / Hydrometer probe into the tank. All that is left really is to paint the stand black tomorrow. My dad has been helping me with some stuff on this build. He's been my right hand man through this mostly. I got him involved because he is retired and has to always be active so I got him involved and I think he has really got into the building of the stand. I'm excited to show you all what we came up with for a door situation, its like a hidden a door in a sense

I'm excited for my Mistking system to arrive on Tuesday because once that is in i'm going to put the viv all together with the decor and planting.

[GrifTheGreat]

today finished all the primer coats and got the glass drilled for the mistking nozzle which i drilled in the front center and also drilled a hole in the back middle so that i can get my Thermometer / Hydrometer probe into the tank. All that is left really is to paint the stand black tomorrow. My dad has been helping me with some stuff on this build. He's been my right hand man through this mostly. I got him involved because he is retired and has to always be active so I got him involved and I think he has really got into the building of the stand. I'm excited to show you all what we came up with for a door situation, its like a hidden a door in a sense

I'm excited for my Mistking system to arrive on Tuesday because once that is in i'm going to put the viv all together with the decor and planting.

It looks great JT.

[J Teezy]

Thanks. Painted the stand black today now all that is left is to get the molding on and painted to hide the edges. I'm excited to get this setup in its dedicated spot in my house and start planting it. Was hoping to have had it done a couple weeks ago so I could have picked up a retf tomorrow since the Cin City reptile shoe is tomorrow

[J Teezy]

here's a picture of stand as of tonight

[J Teezy]

well she's almost done. Need some vines in here and maybe another piece of pothos. Mistking should be here Tuesday so excited to get that on and going. I sprayed the tank down and at this moment it sits at 71 degrees F and 86% humidity

aquarium gravel



window screen layer



ABG substrate



topped that off with some sphagnum and leaf litter





I'm happy for this being my first build. Learned some things for my next build

[J Teezy]

i posted a video with some better views

10 Gallon Fish tank to Vertical terrarium conversion - YouTube

[J Teezy]

it came




Here's the pump setup. Just need to go get the reservoir and run the main line out to the nozzle and the return back to the zip drip valve




video to come later with it running and on the real stand that my dad and i built

[J Teezy]

took me a bit to get it setup because i didn't realize you actually need to push the hose into the fittings with a little bit of force to seat them properly. I had leaks at just about every fitting as was freaking out. Reseated all the hose and it works like a charm. Tomorrow i get to monitor it all day to make sure my settings are right for my timed misting sessions and rearrange the room its in.

I dedicate my this Vivarium to my dad who was right hand man when i need an extra set of hands. He also pretty much built the stand with me assisting him. We used my ideas and his throughout the construction of it. I'll have to put together a video of the hidden door on the front of the stand that he came up with. You wouldnt know there was a door there if i didn't tell you and then show you how to open it.

next is to just monitor temp and humidity and adjust things until its right, then I'll be adding a Red-Eyed Leaf Frog to this build. Got some fake vines on order that will go into this build as well