I'm the new guy planning a 55 Gallong build. I have some ideas but need some answers

[slickcdb2000]

Hello all. First post and i'm looking forward to my new frog adventure!! Currently i'm in the planning stage on my first build. I have a 55 Gallon tank which will be the canvas on my build. It will house several dart frogs eventually. I tend to go a little overboard with every thing I do, I dont see this being any different. This tank is big, but it still doesn't have much floor space so i'm trying to make every inch usable. I am going to put a water feature in there..... enough with all that... here is the ideas I have rolling around in my head. Please let me know of anything i'm doing wrong or could be done different.

First black silicone on the back wall, 1 side wall and 1/2 the other wall. One side has a crack at the top so that will be completely siliconed over, that is also where the water feature will sit. Great stuff on top the silicone, then silicone, then coco fiber....

It will have a false bottom, egg crate sitting on 1 1/2 pvc couplings to elevate it, slits cut in the bottom of the couplings to allow water to move through it. Egg crate cut at an angle and positioned in the corner behind the waterfall for access to the pump/filter. Cover with screen then substrate.

My water feature I have planning will be a waterfall all the way to the top of the tank, making a good size drop into a pool, stream, then a small drop into the last pool. My plans are to build up the waterfall, then have a rather large target for the water to hit, i'm thinking a pot filled with peagravel, Cut a notch in the pot and lay the split pipe in the groove and silicone the gaps. Split some pvc pipe in two fill layer with silicone then put pea gravel in the silicone, sprinkle with sand to get in the small crack to hide all the silicone. Then have the stream fall again into a smaller pool. I'm thinking after I lay the pipe/stream down build up a little with Great stuff around the edges of the pipe, grout then paint, that way to try and keep debris out of the water.

For the pump/filter i'm thinking a canister filter like the zoo med 501. Put a valve on the outlet side to control flow for the fall. Also have a "T" in there use the same pump for my mister. I need some kind of inline timer for the mister though. It will go something like this... Canister to "T", one side of the "t" valve/regulator for fall, other side would be timer/valve then mister

For the terrain I also have big plans. To get the most real estate I want to build several ledges on the back wall. I want to have almost a two tier design. Where the river falls off at the bottom I want there to be a ledge, preferably for the frogs to get behind the water fall. The ledge will be 6 inches or so wide and about 3 inches or so overhang. I want the top portion to be about 2-3 inches higher than the bottom level, with a gradual grade on the back side about 3 inches wide and cliff/ledge spanning the rest.

That's kinda what I have rambling in my head, I hope ya'll can picture it!! Now for my questions....

1. How can I build the two level design? Elevated egg crate?

2. How to cover the egg crate from the outside view? I dont want gravel around the edges, too much to clean. Silicone the inside before install? Paint the outside?

3. How to make the bottom fall, fall straight down instead of running back down the ledge? Silicone some slate to make a flat surface?

4. Since i'll be using the pump for the water feature and mister, if I use distilled water for the whole thing will it dirty up my glass with the possible contaminants in the water?

5. Will regulating the water on the outlet side of the canister cause stress on the pump any ways? Too much pressure on the canister?

6. What to put under the ledge? Coco fiber? grout the paint to look like a cave?

7. Will too much grout/paint hurt the frogs? I'm wanting to keep as much contaminants out of the water as I can.

8. Substrate.... what to use? I want the top layer to be a leaf litter, but what does best under that?

9. Planter pots, what to use? Do the roots stay contained in the pots?

That is about all the questions I have for now. Thanks in advance for your help/advice/tips. Thanks for reading this long post.

[slickcdb2000]

Well my build has finally started. I've done a lot of reading, researching and youtube videos and just dove off in everything! I think I have done enough planning that most everything will turn out good. Got my false bottom done; waterfall is almost done, ran out of silicone adhesive; got half the GS background done with 5 pots, 3 GS lids and 2 red solo cup, will be trimmed, have to wait and see how big the waterfall is before I can do the other side; back wall has black silicone, although I will use the black paper wrap stuff on the outside, I dont like the look of the silicone on the inside.

I found a somewhat local guy that I can get some frogs from, I'm also gonna get 2 set up small vivs from him too. One with a proven pair of blue azureus and not sure what I'm gonna get in the other one, will be a few floglets to grow out that I can put in my 55 gal viv when I get finished building it.

[slickcdb2000]

Here are a few progress pics. I'm not crazy about the way the waterfall is turning out though. It needs to be a bit taller!! At the rate I'm going it will be 45 lbs if I get it as tall as I want!

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[arielgasca420]

I have a question for your setup. I will be starting mine soon and I want to make a background similar to the one in your pic. a lot of youtube videos say to silicone the background to the terrarium, but I see this as a problem incase you ever have to clean the background or have to dispose of it. what do you think if I attach suction cups to the back of the polystyrene? are there any problems with that route?