First of all, hello FrogForum! I've been around for a few months, just stalking mostly, but after seeing all of your beautiful vivariums I decided I needed one. I've been reading through some of the other build posts so I'm pretty everything I've done so far has been correct. I have several intentions of this thread: to share pictures and stories as I finish everything up, to organize my thoughts and plans as I tackle the last few unknowns, and to provide an avenue for all of you veteran viv builders to tell me what you think.
First of all, for reference, I currently have one Whites Tree Frog (Thor) who resides in a ~33in wide by ~12in deep ~ 15in tall tank with a LECA/screen/sphagnum bottom, some branches, fake plants, and an externally mounted brown paper background.
Second, this is what I have done so far:
My construction process so far is as follows:
1) Took 1/2in thick white foam sheets, cut them to size, and adhered them to the glass with DAP 100% silicone. I left a gap along the bottom to allow for the bottom material.
2) Using Great Stuff expanding foam, I coated the backs of the cork bark (from Josh's Frogs) and held them in place until the foam was cured enough to support them (Yes, I foamed it while it was upright).
3) I used toothpicks to hold the 9 net cups(complete with drainage) in place and then I smothered them in foam. I don't know if anyone has a trick for this, but I ended up with some foam filled cups.
4) I foamed the 5 manzanita branches in place. (This took some patience).
My next steps (to be completed hopefully no later than Sunday, July 28th):
5) Cut down the foam, clear out the overfilled net cups, and rough up any foam that still has some "skin".
6) Cover the foam in titebond III and then push dried eco-earth into the glue.
7) Clean out all the excess material, wipe down the glass, and prepare for the plants and substrate (depending on the curing state of the glue/eco earth)
Other things I'd like to do before the end of the weekend, not necessarily in this order: (For these next few things. My plan is to continue researching and scouring old forum posts until I find an answer, but if anyone has any suggestions or strong opinions I'd love to hear them.)
1) Order some lights and fixtures
- Probably also order a ceramic heat emitter plus fixture for the top so I can keep me current one as a spare or for a hospital setup)
2) Figure out what types of plants to get (I will need at least 9 bromeliad type plants for the net cups, plus a few more larger or vine type plants to put in the substrate)
3) Order some more branches to place loose in the tank once the substrate layer is installed
4) Make a decision on what type of bottom I am going to do. I currently have a sheet of eggcrate cut to fit with plenty of pvc to create posts. Would it be better to just fill the bottom with LECA? Either way, I plan on doing a double layer of fiberglass screen, and then perhaps ABG? and then leaf litter? My current setup has a pretty bland looking substrate, its basically flat sphagnum moss. I want this one to be a bit more dynamic, hence the leaf litter and possible some frog size rocks or something on top of the substrate to make it interesting?
Also, I don't plan on adding any kind of automatic mister or anything like that. Since white's don't require extreme humidity I'll just stick with the spray bottle process I have going.
Hopefully I'll have more pictures to share by the end of the weekend!