The Build

[DartfrogDan]

got my plants from their they came in great condition and really cheap for postage.

[Meefloaf]

right, got the plastidip and substrate background sorted this week and just stood her up on her new unit. a few questions tho, where should i sit the exo terra canopy ? atm its on the front as quite a bit of it is blocked off at the back by my background, also i have exo terra 2.0 and 5.0 bulbs in, any specific order they should go in e.g 5.0 closest to the back etc. also as i'm getting closer to the planting stage, which is the best substrate divider, looked at the exo terra one, looks like its got quite large holes that soil may fall through easily, any recommendations ?

[flybyferns]

Hi,
I have 5 exo terra enclosures.
I have never used an exo terra canopy.
I hang my lights---- easily /movable to accommodate the plants and the needs of the enclosures throughout the year.
Lynn

[deranged chipmunk]

looks great meef! like lynn, i don't use canopies, i only use t5ho lighting. it's the plant guy in me....lol as far as substrate divider, typical fiberglass window screening works well doubled up. also, mosquito netting works well.

[Meefloaf]

feel like i've not put enough stuff to climb on in, i'm adding the other half of that vine in once i've got soil. do you think the milkies will be okay with just those two ? i've got a whole reel of komodo fake vine aswell i could use also. i'm thinking a nice crawler at the top there so it can grow down the back left and on the vine, thinking a nice fern at the bottom right, and gonna get a brom or two stuck into the cork. also have another idea, which i'll try and get a pic made up of to explain, see if you think it's worth a go

[Meefloaf]

so the idea was to use garden mesh and some vine i've left over to create a fake tree, growing moss on it to create a kind of canopy, now i've just realised the frog may get its foot caught between the gaps and cause some damage, so maybe use something else

[Mentat]

so the idea was to use garden mesh and some vine i've left over to create a fake tree, growing moss on it to create a kind of canopy, now i've just realised the frog may get its foot caught between the gaps and cause some damage, so maybe use something else

Foot caught in gaps on moss or on the vine made trunk? Was looking at your drawing and actually liked the idea, but with a gnarly piece of driftwood or similar for trunk.

[Meefloaf]

the gaps on the top 'canopy' obviously i could use a finer garden mesh so the moss would grow closer together. was worried originally if i didnt do such gaps then there would be a light getting through to the floor issue

[Mentat]

the gaps on the top 'canopy' obviously i could use a finer garden mesh so the moss would grow closer together. was worried originally if i didnt do such gaps then there would be a light getting through to the floor issue

Was thinking about something like this for canopy but smaller still (like 6 in. across): 10 Inch Coco Liner--Pack. Can't find them in small sizes so option would be to cut them and unsure if it will hold up shape after that. Yes, agree there would be a pretty sized shadow below it .

[Meefloaf]

never thought of that, hmm. shape wise, the reason i thought of the plastic garden mesh was it would keep it's shape with the weight, may get some and have a play

[Meefloaf]

been thinking of what to use for the canopy, thought maybe one of those tiny plastic serving baskets, the kind fries and stuff come in. other than that, maybe i could use some expanding foam over the bottom of a bowl and that'll make it hollow/weeping, then i could cover it in plastidip, could either out some earth on it or chuck some sphagnum on it whilst it is drying

[deranged chipmunk]

honestly? i think you are over thinking it. just plant a nice broad leafed plant and it will be fine. if you don't mind a bit of work, you can plant a small ficus 'benjamina' in the left front. then you can trim it to keep it small. basically, bonsai it, since this is a tree that grows 100' tall. it's a common bonsai plant and should be readily available to you. or, you could just buy a ficus bonsai tree and plant it in there.

[Meefloaf]

Yeah, had some time whilst one thing cured, mind wanders lol

[Meefloaf]

okay, had a bit of a nightmare with this recently, the rockoflex and plastidip caused mass problems which lead to me doing and cutting out two lots of expanding foam due to it not curing argh. anyways i ended up gorilla gluing the area i needed sorting out (will use titebond for the background of my next terra Bill)

anyways here's where i'm at now and the different lighting, added another branch, stood on its on after only 30mins and a dab of GG. as for the led lighting, thought i;d show where the light will be focused when it is on at night

[deranged chipmunk]

looks great buddy!! love the night time shots is that light colored section at the bottom the section we discussed?

[Meefloaf]

Yeah that's the part Filled in to stop the water getting at the background

[deranged chipmunk]

looks good. does it function the way you wanted it to?

[Meefloaf]

? I've not put any water he just yet but I've managed to cover all the gaps so shouldn't be a problem. Didn't realise how hard gorilla glue dries aha!

Going to the garden centre today to look for peat and charcoal for my substrate. Probably going to order my springtails, woodlice and worms tonight, once I know I've got soil lol

[DiggenEm]

Looks good to me. Have you decided on what frogs you want yet?

[Meefloaf]

Milk frogs, they had them at the place I went yesterday, no more than 2cm, sooooo cute. Had to resist temptation to say 'well, if I buy another tank and use that as a quarantine tank whilst my main tank grows in, that'll be fine, that'll be okay wont it? Surely' lol