150 Gallon Vivarium (Post as I go) plus looking for loads of advice

[Rick Mazzante]

So I recently acquired this very awesome huge tank (got it for a steal $100). and I really have been getting into frogs and live terrariums. I've never done a planted tank ever, go big or go home basically on this one lol. But I have a couple progress pics to show where I am at and looking for some tips and advice on what to do and what not to do for this tank. The idea is one half will be a shallow water bed about 3inches deep with a waterfall, and the next half being the mega substrate of hydroton, Egg crate, ABG, and some leaf liter, yes this will be for a group of dart frogs ( Also new to them been doing so much research lately on them so this tank will be for them and also my 20L tank I've started. Finding all this info on Joshs Frogs website.

The backgrounds are all covered in grout right now as shown in the picture, thinking about doing a mix between normal paint and sealant and the silicone coco fiber background for the extra depth to the tank, my question is what is going to be the best way to light this bad boy for optimal plant growth and how does moss grow? does it slowly attach itself to surroundings? or is it always going to be just hanging there. Also going to be a ton of bromeliads in the tank and some ferns.

Sorry for the long post more pics to come =D
Also attached a pic of the 20L background progress

[BonnieLorraine]

My one question would be why are you doing both an egg crate false bottom and hydroton?

[Rick Mazzante]

My one question would be why are you doing both an egg crate false bottom and hydroton?

On Josh's Frogs website for all the dart frog articles they say to use the hydroton and substrate barrier (egg crate) then ABG, help with moisture since im not drilling a hole in my baby =D for drainage

[ApxWingman]

what a steal! Looking good so far. Looking forward to seeing what you are going to do with this.

[nos187]

On Josh's Frogs website for all the dart frog articles they say to use the hydroton and substrate barrier (egg crate) then ABG, help with moisture since im not drilling a hole in my baby =D for drainage

Hey, maybe i can help clear this up.

Those are 2 seperate methods for creating a drainage layer. Eggcrate and Hydroton
The substrate barrier should be weedblocker netting. It keeps the soil from falling down into the drainage layer.

Eggcrate Method- Bottom of tank to top
1. 2-3inches off bottom an eggcrate barrier.
2. Cover the eggcrate with weedblocker (its a mesh material). This keeps the soil from falling down into the 2-3inches of drainage room.
3. Substrate
4. Plants

Hydroton method - Bottom to top of tank
1. 2-3inches of hydroton balls
2. Weedblocker netting
3. Substrate
4. Plants

You see, the hydroton is just acting as a resevoir for the extra water. But when you are using the eggcrate method there would be no sense in using hydroton as well because it would just take up more viable space for the resevoir.

I hope thats clear. I am having trouble explaining today. Sorry

-Kevin

[nos187]

Here is a video from Joshs Frogs explaining the hydroton method.
How to setup a vivarium or terrarium for poison dart frogs - YouTube

As you will see,
the substrate barrier is a netting material not the eggcrate.

Hope that helps more lol.

-kevin

[Rick Mazzante]

Awwww that makes my life a lot easier then, with these backgrounds i would of had to cut the egg crate to fit the rocks, but now i can get rid it and just use hydroton and the mesh. More pics to come my comp won't recognize my phone for some odd reason so I can't post them yet I'll try tonight

Also, am I the only one who doesn't have any luck with the silicone eco earth backgrounds? ive tried three times now and everything the eco earth just falls off of it, always get the bagged eco earth too

[BonnieLorraine]

On a tank that size, I might go with the egg crate instead, that much hydroton is going to be rather heavy.

For the background, I do plain peat moss and silicone, haven't had any trouble yet. I get the peat moss in bales from Lowes, the miracle-gro kind in bags has fertilizer added and usually grows fungus.

[ApxWingman]

I agree with Bonnie. The eggcrate is easy and light to deal with. I have used it on 3 tanks and it is great and cheaper too

[Rick Mazzante]

Alright doing a little update, I finished my 20 gal long tank have a pic below. That was hydroballs,mesh, then a mix of ecoearth spagnum mosh and orchid bark, just missing some leaves. little waterfall coming down the drift wood piece. Just have an issue with condensation, and I feel like my light is killing the fern and moss i put in there, any suggestions on that?

And for the 150 Gal, I decided to ditch the one half of the background and switch it to the great stuff, after seeing the 20 gal done it looked too nice to pass up the opportunity to do a real nice background.
As for having a eggcrate bottom how do you get the water out if there is a bunch of sitting water? and do you let water sit down there all the time or try to get it out always (Not drilling a hole)

[deranged chipmunk]

You'll need to provide yourself access to the water reservoir under the egg crate. You can do that a few ways, drilling the lower portion of the side of the tank and installing a bulkhead, or just silicone in a "vent tube" in a corner of the tank. The pipe should start below the egg crate and end somewhere near the top of the tank. Remember to cover it in some way to keep "food items" from crawling into it. Then run a length of airline down the pipe and into the water. The airline should be long enough that the end should hang .lower than your water line. Put a check valve and a gang valve at the end of the hose. Start your siphon then close the valve. Now anytime you need to drain water, just open the valve

[deranged chipmunk]

Btw....the 20 looks fantastic. What's gonna live in it?

[Rick Mazzante]

I'm thinking about putting in possibly a pair of thumbnails (I don't know what kind yet, new to the dart frogs), right now I'm trying to figure out what to plant in it, I have some ferns and moss I just put down but I don't know what would be good things for the pots since it's only a 20 Long.

As for the Drilling on the side of the tank, what is my percentage of me busting that damn side out, I'm so scared to ruin this big of a tank. the pvc airline seems like a very good idea, but just wondering on that

[deranged chipmunk]

Drilling a tank is not hard, and can be done safely if you take your time, keep the bit cool and use very little pressure. I know a bunch of guys who have done it. I was gonna drill my 125, but i didn't want to decrease it's value or usefulness. I built a maintenance area in my 60 so i can access my water pump, heater and do water changes. And i am doing the same in my 125. A little planning goes a long way
I'm no expert on terrestrial plants, but if you have a garden center near you that carries terrarium supplies, you should be able to find some smaller plants. There are some species of perperomia that are small, some pilea species like humidity, as do some species of fittonia. Of course, you can't go wrong with some tillandsia (air plants). I can pm you some decent links for plants if you like.