Mrzoggs 2nd attempt (pictures included)

[mrzoggs]

Soooo...The first attempt was a complete failure. I didnt do enough research, did understand completely on how to set up things, and it was the FIRST time i had ever tried to do such a thing. I had ZERO confidence and you could definitely tell with that way it came out. As of yesterday, i got busy with my razorblade and got everything out. I have too many empty tanks and not one single viv, and if i dont do anything soon my girlfriend is probably going to put me on aquarium buying restriction :P
Im going to document this one like i documented the last one. I figured it be good for me to look back on with my future builds so i can see any mistakes, or good ideas i may or may have not come up with. Hopefully i have better luck this time. Im sure it wont be fancy like a lot of others i see up here, but lets face it...its my second try.
This will house my first pair of darts. Im not sure exactly what im getting yet but i have had my eye on a certains someones near my area. She also brought some lovely plants to the Richmond frog meet that i got my hands on. So a big Thank you goes out to her and her husband!
Also picked up a nice piece of malaysian wood from the pet store today. Not sure how exactly im going to place it yet but im going to put it up against the back glass and GS foam it in.



bottom piece is a piece my uncle gave me.


a brom and some nematanthus. Cant wait for it to grow more. Orange is my favorite color....and lime green...
I will post pictures as i go along. I am using the same false bottom that i used in my last one, just modifying it a bit.
Im going to silicone the black glass first, add a thin layer of GSF and trim it up, add more silicone so i can add my substrate, and then add the wood. After i add the wood i will GSF it in and trim and cover once again. The reason for me doing the back glass first is because im not sure how hard it will be to reach through the small spots of the wood and press in substrate.

[mrzoggs]

[mrzoggs]

Just placed an order for some plants that include:
Neoregelia 'Chiquita Linda'
Ionantha Brachycaulos
Ionantha 'fuego'
Ionantha Mexican x3
Ficus Pumila "Creeping Fig"
Dischidia ruscifolia
Wandering Jew Clipping x2
Pilea 'Creeping Charlie'
and also bought a Peperomia caperata from the local nursery. heres a picture.

also covered the sides with silicone and everything with a nice layer of GS

with the little leftover i had in the can i piled it up in a few spots.

oh and ive been in the process of doing this 10g vert too. Im staying 1 step ahead with the vert so i can "trial and error" with it...
this is it after being carved out.

[Ra]

Why wouldnt you put the wood in first, and then great foam around it to hold it in place?

[mrzoggs]

yeah i know. after i realzed what i did last night i was kicking myself in the butt. on my other thread on db i was already asking opinions on if i should rip it out or not. for some reason i grabbed my foam and went to town forgetting about the wood. still not sure what im going to do about it though. probably going to carve out the gs and place the wood in.

[mrzoggs]

ok so after kicking myself in the butt for a while, i got a couple answers and changed it up a little.
The foam was EASY to pull out of the background, so i figured why not. Its just a can of GS...

gotta wait for my wood to dry before i stick it in there.

also, made the drop off a little bigger. not sure if im going to go even bigger or leave it at this.

gotta think it through and take my time.

[mrzoggs]

[Kristen]

Looking good so far!

[mrzoggs]

pretty sure this is what im getting



hopefully the tank will be done soon and i get get a trio.

[mrzoggs]

sorry for the pictures. i took them after i already put them in the tank. im sure you get the jist though










once again sorry. was in a rush when i posted them. some need to be rotated.[/

[mrzoggs]

The last 3 pictures will be getting a lot more pink/red in good lighting. I have them under 2 good cfl daylight bulbs right now.

[ApxWingman]

looking good!

[bigwilliestyles]

Looks great. What went wrong with your first build?

[mrzoggs]

it was ugly :P

[mrzoggs]

Sorry its been so long since a reply. I have done a lot since my last post. Even got my frogs on here. Here are the finished pics with the frogs if anyone still cares to see. Im going to copy/paste from my other thread on dendroboard.com








glass cut, springtails in, plants in, RO water in. Waiting for moss (which should be here tomorrow), and...FROGS!!! woooo im excited. Picking the frogs up this weekend. Getting 6 beautiful varaderos from a fellow DB member. 3 for my dad and 3 for me.
Here is my dads viv.




i wish my camera wasnt so horrible. sorry.....lol

[mrzoggs]

Yayyy FROGS!!
Had a wonderful day with a fellow DB member buying her frogs. These are my first dart frogs in my first "finished" viv. I used my girlfriends Iphone and it took way better pictures than my camera. My camera would not focus on these small little guys.
You can see how small the baby is. He is absorbing the last bit of his tail. In the picture, he is the one in the deli cup. You can see a springtail standing next to him
The one thats up close is down in the pond area. It is the same frog, just a couple different pictures. The ones in the bromeliad are the other 2. They are in the same bromeliad, down in the leaf. One in one leaf and one in the other











Guess who came out exploring today



He is only about 4 days out of water. He will probably stay in his containor for a few days before he decides to explore. You can tell how small he is by that size of the containor. Its just a very small deli cup (usually samples come in them at the food stores if that gives you any idea)

He came out, looked around, and ran back in hehe. Glad i got a picture while he was out.

[mrzoggs]

The pictures in this post are not mine. These are however my frogs. The person who i got these from took them. Very sweet lady. Drove 2 hours to her house and spend 4 hours there learning, looking, chatting, etc. She taught me a lot. She even made me make my own fruit fly culture at her house so i could learn She gave me tons of plants. She just kept picking off stuff from different vivs and throwing them in bags for me to take home. She also gave me starter cultures of tropical white springtails and dwarf purple isopods. Not to mention TONS of other goodies, plus a GREAT DEAL on these frogs. I wouldnt of been able to get them any cheaper anywhere else. All my thanks go to her.

[Pluke]

That's awesome, sounds like a real nice lady. Beautiful frogs you've got there and a tank to match.

[ApxWingman]

I have always wanted these frogs...mainly the all blue ones....but I must say these frogs of yours are beautiful. I like the 2 tone on them

[Heatheranne]

Great job! Your viv is awesome and your frogs are beautiful!