1st attempt at using foam in FBT tank

[FriedrichsFrogs]

Hey everybody, after doing a little research and window shopping everyone else's work they've done with foam placements in their tanks I figured id give it a shot. So with a lot of coaching from Deranged Chipmunk and thanks to everybody who posted their amazing looking tanks, this is what I came out with.

[FriedrichsFrogs]

My intention was to build a foam "canal" of sorts from the spout of the water filter and stretch it to the opposite end of the tank. This way i could stop the constant water stains that would get stuck on the glass from the waterfall filter, i could circulate the water better, AND the toads get to sit in a quiter water environment when compared to the choppy Atlantic-like waters that the filter made.

[FriedrichsFrogs]

This is my first foam application and after carving it, the foam continued to shrink after a few days and the ledge was too mishapened to fit the spout of the filter in. so it was back to the drawing board!!

[FriedrichsFrogs]

So i refoamed the old foam, waited, carved it out again, waited to see if it would shrink again, luckily it held up. At this point my plan was to paint the foam and clear-silicone the entire thing. I tried to paint the foam as if it was a part of the environment so i painted it...tree like lol as best i could.

[FriedrichsFrogs]

All thx to my lapses of short-term memory loss, i bought white silicone unfortunately. But Deranged Chipmunk told me about the titebond method and my day seemed brighter. I went out and bought some coco fiber, some titebond, and got to work.



After waiting for everything to set and dry, i did an informal water test with a water bottle. It didnt work out so well, the water ran right off the ledge. So i took some more titebond and coco fiber and built a bumper across the edge of the ledge

(top view)

[FriedrichsFrogs]

Next, after letting everything set and dry again, i did a water test with the filter and a gallon and a 1/2 of water, let it run for 5 days



After those 5 days i wanted to make sure no residual glue was in the water, i didnt have a pH tester but i did a taste test (dont judge me) and it seemed identical with a bottle of water i had on hand. Next i emptied the tank, cleaned it up with some hot water and a sponge, and FINALLY felt confident enough to make the big tank change.

[FriedrichsFrogs]

Before i started this project Deranged Chipmunk gave me a 10gal tank to use so i didnt have to go out and buy one. So after the tank change, he got my old 10gal my toads were inhabiting. Thanks again, Bill, and everyone who unknowingly lent me some advice and tips by posting their tank pics lol

[MatthewM1]

It looks great! I'm sure ur toads love it

Sent from my LG-P930 using Tapatalk 2

[deranged chipmunk]

Nice job Jay! they look like they are enjoying it but um, where's the moss i gave you???LOL

[tinkgirl77]

Well it's looking awesome. Your lil guys look happy! Thanks for the inspirational nudge, I needed it. I'm trying really hard to get my first done and seeing yours really helps! Great job!

[FriedrichsFrogs]

thx everyone! Dont wory Lisa, I came across a handful of obstacles with this but its nothing a little determination and experimentation cant fix. Learning from your mistakes is the most important part, im sure itll come out great!

[FriedrichsFrogs]

Nice job Jay! they look like they are enjoying it but um, where's the moss i gave you???LOL

Lol I still have that moss, Bill the thing is when i got back to my house i looked at the moss...and then looked at my tank... and now im a little perplexed where to put it. My tank is almost all water except for the foam and decorations, dont u need some kind of dirt-like grounding to plant the moss on? Like id love to put it over the foam to add some green to it but if i lay it right on top im afraid my frogs are gona kick it off into the water and clog my filter. And if i glue it thats another day or two of quarantining the tank and wont the moss die from the glue??

[Hoppity100]

Your tank is nice but why use foam and glue? I have a somewhat different way of arranging my tank with plants, rocks, log, cave. some pebbles, and I found no need to suspend any decorations at all. I guess I like it to be all natural. How do your frogs climb out of the water? Do you find they're in water more or on land more? Just wondering...thanks.

[deranged chipmunk]

Lol I still have that moss, Bill the thing is when i got back to my house i looked at the moss...and then looked at my tank... and now im a little perplexed where to put it. My tank is almost all water except for the foam and decorations, dont u need some kind of dirt-like grounding to plant the moss on? Like id love to put it over the foam to add some green to it but if i lay it right on top im afraid my frogs are gona kick it off into the water and clog my filter. And if i glue it thats another day or two of quarantining the tank and wont the moss die from the glue??

you can use super glue to attach it. dries almost instantly, the frogs won't be able to knock it off and it is safe.

[deranged chipmunk]

Your tank is nice but why use foam and glue? I have a somewhat different way of arranging my tank with plants, rocks, log, cave. some pebbles, and I found no need to suspend any decorations at all. I guess I like it to be all natural. How do your frogs climb out of the water? Do you find they're in water more or on land more? Just wondering...thanks.

everybody has their own vision of how they want to display their frogs. you have your way, he has his way, others have their way.

[Hoppity100]

That may be, here I have not seen a tank this elaborate. I chose to build my decorations without glue. I actually enjoy doing this and what I do is build the whole tank. I don't need anything attached to a wall. I have different levels of rock, eco earth, cave, log, even plants. Plus its less expensive. Plus its really not time consuming but actually fun, then I can rearrange it every so often.

[FriedrichsFrogs]

[/I]munk;162916]you can use super glue to attach it. dries almost instantly, the frogs won't be able to knock it off and it is safe.

Oh ok cool. So the moss can still survive even with glue on the roots? Also, do u think ill need special lighting for it?

[deranged chipmunk]

Yup. Moss is an epiphyte and has no true roots. A cfl rated at 6500k will do just fine

[FriedrichsFrogs]

To answer ur questions hoppity my frogs r pretty 50/50. Sumtimes theyr in the water, otther times their on top of the foam, the decorations, tthe glass, they get evrywher. Iv had these guys about a year or 2 and i was jus getting bored with the same old look of the tank. Evry tank cleaning i rearranged the decorations, sure but thers only so many rearrangements u can do inside of a 10gal tank. This small build was fun and as far as the "all natural" is concerned, im proceeding one step at a time, eventually id like to get all natural green in ther. That doesnt mean im going to stop using the foam tho. You can literally build geography with foam, thats jus too much fun to pass up lol

[FriedrichsFrogs]

Yup. Moss is an epiphyte and has no true roots. A cfl rated at 6500k will do just fine

Ok great, i didnt wana see it go to waste, thx