120g Vivarium Build (pix)

[jocie1976]

Warning: I have not done anything on this scale before! Help me prevent making mistakes please!

So awhile back the seams let go in our 120g fish aquarium. It sat for a bit before we got around to cleaning it and resiliconing it. It is in the water testing stage right now. Would hate to find out it doesn't hold water when everything is done! We decided to try our hand at something new. I have always wanted to try my hands at some more exotic frogs and have finally gotten my husband to agree! The exact stock is not planned yet. We will be taking a long time to build it as we are on a limited income and need to pick up a lot. The stock will be chosen at another time. But if you bear with me, I will keep a photo journal along the way.

This is the tank in its stages so far, as well as the proposed plans. I would love any feedback, advice, or just comments. I don't have any brands in mind for equipment, and I'm not sure what is available locally to me (Windsor, ON, and no credit card for online purchases). And of course, I didn't draw in the massive amount of plants I want. The back wall will be great stuff and coco fiber, the stream will be siliconed with small aquarium gravel in a neutral colour, the pond will be sand.

What are your thoughts? I plan to start with the egg crate base first, then rough in the wood and rocks. The shelf will be resting on the top of the cave. Am I headed in the right direction so far?

Oh, I forgot to mention... My husband is ambitious. He will be building a custom made lid for this enclosure.

[Flying Dutchman]

I like your plan, lot's of room to "play" for the frogs, and some water. With lot's of plants in the background many species will feel at home in this tank!

Personally I wouldn't make such a big ledge, I would use some big branches to make a more natural ledge. But that's just my personal taste.
Instead of rocks you could use styrofoam to create fake rocks (less weight on the glass). I like the idea of the river. Are you using pvc for easy cleaning?
You have thought carefully about placing a fan, and other devices such as lights and the fogger. I don't think there are any mistakes in your plan.

Keep us posted during the build of this tank, lot's of people like to read this type of threads (including me!)

Have fun building this tank!

[jocie1976]

Thanks for your response! The ledge size is not set in stone, and yes we are using pvc. As for the rocks, I hate using fake things and already have rocks in my possession to use. These rocks were in the tank when it was used as an aquarium for my large new world cichlids and never posed a problem. And for sure I won't be using nearly as many as I did then!

I will definitely keep everyone updated with the progress we make, although it will be slow. Slow and careful is the plan!

[Flying Dutchman]

I know what you mean by using fake things. I was a bit worried about the weight of the rock, but as you already stated, they were in there before.

[jocie1976]

I just want to create something as natural as possible. And to me, that means using the real thing, lol. There won't be as many rocks as there used to be, and that glass is pretty thick! The tank is water testing right now. We are on day 4 of that and haven't lost any water yet. We have the water level twice as high as is planned. Looking good so far!

[Flying Dutchman]

I just want to create something as natural as possible. And to me, that means using the real thing, lol. There won't be as many rocks as there used to be, and that glass is pretty thick! The tank is water testing right now. We are on day 4 of that and haven't lost any water yet. We have the water level twice as high as is planned. Looking good so far!

So far, so good!

[deranged chipmunk]

Looks very cool. Interested to see how it turns out.

[jocie1976]

This is the progress I have made so far.

Pic one shows the backside of a piece I was experimenting on. I did use it at the front of the tank under the land section... although I will probably be using contact paper on the front and sides of the tank. Pic two is the front side of the piece after GS.


Pic three shows it in the tank.


Pic four shows what the inside of the tank looks like from the right side.


Pic five shows the filter/pump that runs the waterfall. It will be hidden in the tree that will be in that corner, and totally accessible.

[DigitalPunk]

Loving this so far!

[deranged chipmunk]

Looks good. Question, what do you plan on covering. The stream with?

[jocie1976]

The stream will be silicone with sand pressed into it while still wet, with probably some river stones thrown in to create ripples in the water.

[jocie1976]

For those of you who are interested, check out my video of all my tanks (both complete and in progress):


Tour of my Tanks - YouTube

[jocie1976]

So we finished the water testing and checking the flow on the waterfall. You can see it for yourself in the attached video. We are very happy with it. Time to put the finishing touches on the background, put the dirt in and plant it. This will take time as plants aren't cheap! Building the box for the top will take a little time as my husband wants to have everything going into the box before he starts. So there will be a long time for growing in, lol. Again, no frogs in the immediate future... but maybe some shrimp and killifish in the water next month...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8blK...re=c4-overview

[Mentat]

Progress looks good, congrats . You mentioned tank was 5 feet long and the 120's I know of are 4x2x2 ft. Is it a custom made aquarium and what are the other tank dimensions? Thank you !

[jocie1976]

The tank dimensions are 60" long x 18" wide x 24" high. So I guess it is a 110g, lol.

I have no idea if it was custom made. We got it for free from a friend, for the price of taking it away. It is missing two of its top plastic edges, but we used it as a fish tank for 4 years before deciding to convert it.

Thanks for the compliment!

[Fbt123]

What type if frog are you thinking of putting in there? Fire belly toads would be good for a viv like that. Congrats on the great viv and baby fish, just shows how much they love your viv

[jocie1976]

We aren't quite positive yet... We still need to construct a lid (maybe in the next couple of months), Still need to find a sturdy floating plant (lily?), make more ways out of the pond frog safety, get a couple of killi fish, and do some more frog research. I know we like Strawberries, Azureus, Leucs and Cobalts. Of course we know not to do that though! We have Fire Bellies in another tank.

[jocie1976]

So after no progress on this tank for so long, we decided to put a temp lid on it and move our FBT's in. It's a mansion for them! Enjoy the video!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3sF3hNmYLk

[deranged chipmunk]

Cool. The only reason I asked was because a friend of mine and I were discussing her build. She is adding a drip wall and we were discussing erosion, which she had not planned for. And plans on combatting erosion so that you are not just left with a siliconed tube?

[jocie1976]

Ooo, I hadn't thought of that... I guess I will have to see how it goes. Unless anyone else can give us ideas on this subject, I will just have to plan to redo the river if necessary.