Check out my new terrarium

[jtay]

Hello all,

I just got the most awesome terrarium! I have been eying it up for weeks, saved the money and now its mine . Only $200, total bargain, but I am a poor student.
I don't know where to start - I am open to suggestions.
It will be planted - it is too big to clean out easily so it would be good to create a mini ecosystem that will take care of its self.
The dimensions are 1.2m tall, 64cm wide. Just look at the pics!
The lid has a light fixture, and there is a door at the bottom to change food and water, and it has a base.
The guy I bought it off made it himself - so it's one of a kind .
I only have 2 small/medium sized frogs - they are not going to know what to do with themselves!
At the moment it lives in the garage, I cant wait till I have it all set up in my room!

[Skulldroog]

That's one beastly looking tank! If I had a tank of that nature, I'd definitely make it so that nothing growing in the terrarium touches the sides. So it's like a little island world inside.

That's just me though. Great price too $200? Damn..

[Ebony]

Jess, That is one awesome terrarium. Great score. A definite bargain. Your frogs are gonna love it. I agree with Nate, Way cool to have the island in the middle. I cant wait to see the finished product.

[jtay]

Yeah it's a monster! I feel so lucky that I got it, not common at all (price and type of enclosure).

Thanks Ebony, and yeah Nates idea is good - I can fully see it.
One thing I definitely want is a big pool for my frogs so they can swim if they want to.

[Ebony]

Yea, they will love that. Have you got that mango wood in your pet shops up there. They can be quite long and sort of twisted and would be great for your frogs to climb up and down the length of your terrarium. What ever you decided to do it's gonna look amazing in that cool terrarium. I predict you will be on a mission this long weekend. Have fun

[jtay]

I wish! I shall be emptying out the storage unit this weekend. Got exams soon too, so might do it after exams are over. Until then I shall be buying bits and pieces for it and do some research.
Who knows, my passion may overtake my other priorities....

I will have a look for mango wood - have not seen it before but it sounds cool.

[Ebony]

Oh..Yes, you need time to plan and buy for your awesome terrarium so stick to your priorities. Be strong. Go hard with your exams. Then reward your self with your passion .

[Tropicok]

The best prizes come after waiting. Great tank. Are you going to have a moat so the froggies can swim round and round a central piece of wood. The finished product will be beautiful, I'm sure.

[CrazyAirborne]

the moat idea sounds awesome! What a cool tank! Lots of room to make it really freakin sweet!! great find!

[Paul Rust]

Great enclosure Jess. How about an album with lots of pics of the build, I would love to see this in progress. Good luck on the exams.

[jtay]

Thanks Paul.

The moat idea is cool but being my first planted tank, and mainly due to the size and weight, I think I will opt for a large deep water dish that I can fit through the door at the bottom - so I can change the water easily.

My thoughts so far:

Bottom layer of pumice and stone for drainage (don't want it to be too heavy), covered by mesh. On top a mixture of soil and coco fiber to plant ferns in.
The plants will mainly be ferns and mosses (ground cover and understory), and a big tall central plant - maybe a palm or a ponga (tree fern)? Not sure yet...
Large flat stones in the bottom next to the pool, a waterfall to one side.
I'm thinking of covering the 3 back panels with a foam background for climbing - tree root or bark style.
Large twisted wood branches to make use of the height, magnaturals rock (or mushroom) ledges and some magnaturals jungle vine clusters in conjunction with exo terra vines.

I want it to look like a fern forest

[jtay]

It is an octagon, so by covering the 3 back panels I wont be obstructing the light or view - still will have 5 panels to look through.

[Paul Rust]

It is an octagon, so by covering the 3 back panels I wont be obstructing the light or view - still will have 5 panels to look through.

That's the way I would do it also. By using the back panels for plants, sticks etc. you will significantly increase the frog's usable area.

[scribbles]

What an AWESOME tank!

[Eel Noob]

Wow love it! Definitely one of a kind tank right there.


Can't wait to see how this project is going to look like.

[jtay]

Yes, I am very excited. I cant wait to get the ball rolling!
I will have an album of the build

[Paul Rust]

Sweet, I can't wait to see it come together.

[froghobbiest]

wooow i envy u wit dat tank...u have inspired me to look into buildin my own...i just have a 10 ga wit 7 African Dwarf Frogs,2 ivory mystery snails an one tadpole which im not sure what it is yet...i got it at the pet shop for free cuz dey didnt sell em an it came with the fish so i got lucky..but i want somethin larger but wit school an bills its kinda hard to get a bigger tank....but i cant wait to see the finished project as well an good luck

[Kiwi Photography]

That tank is completly beast!
I am so jealous :P
your froggies are going to be in heaven.
amazing deal aswell!
have fun(:

[jtay]

Thanks
Still in the process of collecting things for it - once the substrate is in it cannot be moved (too heavy) so I am going to do it all in one go.
A few changes to the plan - I'm going to use fired clay balls for the drainage layer instead of stones.
Went to my local hydroponics store - they have a lot of what I need!