RETF 29g Vert. Viv. Build Journal!

[CPgrower]

Hello, all!

I gave a bit of a back story in the intro area, but long story short: I used the wrong silicone in a dart build two years back, and the tank basically melted. Fortunately, I had no frogs. It was a pre-build...so I tore it all down and haven't looked back until now!

A frog came in with a plant shipment at the florist/greenhouse/garden center where I work. I built an awesome little tank over the weekend, while the frog stayed with me. He ate fine while with me. I left him one night at the greenhouse and bam...dead. He was still in the kritterkeeper at the time. I originally thought it was due to the cold in the greenhouse office, but now that I joined the site and looked around a bit...I'm thinking it may have suffered from impaction? I believe that is the term for it. I don't remember seeing droppings in the keeper. He was viciously eating a cricket a day, but I'm not sure they were coming back out. Not entirely sure of which situation did the poor guy in. He never got to enjoy the awesomeness of his viv, but it sparked a fire within me and helped me decide to get tree frogs as opposed to darts!

Now, I am building a tree frog viv and will document the journey here (I can tell you are all already so excited...LOL!).

Dart viv fail of epic proportions:

29g vert game plan (plus vines and lots more plants):

And so it begins:

Blank canvas and black foam to attach great stuff (yellow stuff is great stuff from the build for that frog at work. It peels right off, so I took it off this backing before putting it in the 10g tank. In order to conserve my bf's foam...shhh, don't tell..., I reused it for this build)/coat of grout for tree.

Next step is installing the false bottom and tree roots.

Thanks in advance for any and all comments/suggestions!

[DartEd]

Sorry the little guy didn't make it but you're taking the right steps this time around. I love that you sketched out your plan. Please keep the pics and any questions you may have coming.

[flybyferns]

Hi Sara,
I remember reading your posts about that little guy who adopted you. Sorry

Your build looks great! Look forward to seeing more.
Lynn

[CPgrower]

A little carving got accomplished tonight. Need the silicone to dry on each piece, then great stuff, then carve!


Also working on ideas for the water works. I really want the pump hidden in the tree with a drip wall on the back...but I'll have to figure out an access panel in it to get to the pump for maintenance. :/ And there is a new realistic picture based off what I have now. That snake plant in the above picture is huge (reason for bf's angry plant drawing off to the side of mine and circling of giant plant in my sketch as well...he's tired of me bringing home plants from work that keep ending up to big for the tank) so it's going to take up a lot more space than my original drawing. I may just divide it down into two or one from the pot of 3-4, if possible.

Also please check out my other thread about drilling holes in the glass! Thanks!

[Heatheranne]

It's looking good. This is a great time of year to pick up some starter plants...baby plants as I like to call them from your local greenhouse. Its the time of year for them to get them up and going. Just be sure they are rinsed thoroughly. Many green house will spray to keep mites away from the tender new leaves.

Can't wait to see more! Thanks for sharing!

[CPgrower]

Thanks, Heather. I actually do work at a nursery. Lol! I already have a collection selected, bought, and acclimating in my indoor greenhouse.

Hoping to get some serious work done on the tank in the next three days. Will post updates as they come. We did get some pvc cut for the false bottom support.

[Heatheranne]

That sound familiar now that you mention it. I think you may have told me this. Sorry about that.

It sounds like you're moving right along...great!