18x18x24 AGTF Build Journal

[jarteta97]

Also, just out of curiosity, is there any way to treat and clean wild moss to make it "frog safe", or is that just not possible?

[DigitalPunk]

You can process it like any plant to use it, the main issue you will come across is if the moss is not tropical it will not do great in the tank.

Wash aaa any loose soil and soak the moss in water for 5-10 mins so it absorbs all it can. Then submerge in a 10% bleach bath for 3 - 5 mins. Then rinse thoroughly to remove the bleach. This will hopefully kill any nasties the moss might have.

[deranged chipmunk]

You can process it like any plant to use it, the main issue you will come across is if the moss is not tropical it will not do great in the tank.

Wash aaa any loose soil and soak the moss in water for 5-10 mins so it absorbs all it can. Then submerge in a 10% bleach bath for 3 - 5 mins. Then rinse thoroughly to remove the bleach. This will hopefully kill any nasties the moss might have.

Do not bleach moss. It will kill it. Best to let it dry out and die off. It will regenerate that way. Depending on your growing zone, the moss may need a cold dormancy period. It will flourish for a while, but then inexplicably die off.


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

[DigitalPunk]

Hmm i haven't had any moss die from it... I soak it is water right before the bleach did so it has absorbed all it can and then into the bleach dip to kill anything on it... maybe I have just been lucky.

[deranged chipmunk]

Yeah, you do live a charmed life lol maybe you just went lighter on the bleach than you thought?


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

[DigitalPunk]

That is possible. Oh well lol. Dip moss at your own risk :P

[jarteta97]

Alright, a couple updates on the build

For fitting the cord for the aquatic heater and the tubing for the submersible water filter, I built this little do-hickky with some left over egg crate:



So I had a little bit of trouble with the spray foam background that I hadn't foreseen. The foam started to flex and warp, and large, large air bubbles started to form and the whole background began to unstick. I decided to take the whole background off of the glass.



I realized that I probably turned the tank on its side a little too early, and I won't be making that mistake again. But even when I had sprayed the left side, and left it flat for about 48 hours, it started to unstick on the sides too. Luckily, I got some silicone under the edges, so It's all good now.



As for the background I completely took off, I sprayed some contact cement on the glass and the back of the background, and that worked out really well.



All I had to do after that was spray some foam into the crack between the two background spaces.

So as of right now, this is the sort of mockup design:



Despite Bill and Paul's advice (sorry guys), I decided to go out on a limb (lol) and combine the two ghostwoods into one tree using some great stuff. It actually turned out really well, so I'm happy. It will be partway submerged, though I do plan on raising it a little with an egg crate platform I plan on building (hope it works). Then I'll great stuff it into place.

Also, while I was at Lowe's, I decided to buy a nice philodendron to fill in the right wall, and a lucky bamboo that I hope to plant in the aquatic section.




As always, any advice/critique is welcome.

-Josh

[DigitalPunk]

I love it. I am not sure about the contact cement. I will see if Bill will weigh in on that. I always use Silicone to stick the backgrounds back to the glass if they come off. One trick of the trade (so to speak) is to smear silicone all over the glass where the foam will cover and let it cure then spray foam over it.... helps it stick a lot better.

I like it. I like the ghost wood tree you made as well

[jarteta97]

Major problem: I opened up my springtail culture today and found this:



This really worries me. I'm not sure if some flies got in and laid eggs or what, but I hope my whole culture isn't "compromised". Any suggestions on what I should do besides throw these little maggots out, because that's exactly what I did.

[deranged chipmunk]

Not sure about the longevity of the contact cement. A little concerned about the duct tape as well.

The wood looks great. I like combining 2 into 1

Personally, I would try submerging the culture in water to retrieve some springs and start a new culture and dump that one. Where there are that many maggots, for sure there will be more to follow. I would also pour straight bleach into it before dumping it.


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

[jarteta97]

Thanks guys. My dad has had experience with this specific brand of contact cement, and he says that it has held up to water and everything. As for the duct tape, all I'm really looking for is having the foam background be shaped in such a way that a little triangle of open space is left in that back corner, so even if the egg crate part fell out, or even the duct tape, the background will still be stuck to the glass.

I'm taking your advice Bill and starting a new culture. I'm still going to run the old culture just in case those springtails breed, and I can then transfer them over to the new one. If not, well, it doesn't really take that much time, effort, or money to run a springtail culture. If worse comes to worst, I'll just order another culture from NEherp.

Thanks for the advice again guys, I really appreciate it.

[deranged chipmunk]

I'm not really worried about the contact cement or duct tape not holding up, but more so leeching chemicals into the tank that could potentially be toxic.


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

[jarteta97]

So I great stuffed the ghostwood into the tank today. I used an egg crate platform that I made, and it seems to be working pretty well. I also attached? some fiberglass screening to the egg crate. Do I need two layers, or will one layer of the screening work?



-Josh

[Dewandaru Talang]

Major problem: I opened up my springtail culture today and found this:



This really worries me. I'm not sure if some flies got in and laid eggs or what, but I hope my whole culture isn't "compromised". Any suggestions on what I should do besides throw these little maggots out, because that's exactly what I did.

wow, where did that come from ? Did you have any rotten things there.
but still a nice prject sir.

[DigitalPunk]

Josh, Email Neherp and let me know what you found in the culture. Send the picture along with it. They have a guarantee now other insect present in the culture and will send you out a new one. I would still do as Bill suggested to save as many springs from this culture as you can thought.

I love how this is turning out! I agree with the concerns about the duct tape. Hope we are wrong though.

[jarteta97]

Thanks, I'll e-mail NEherp tonight. I've already transferred many springs into a new culture, and am still keeping the other one running, just in case I need to transfer a few dozen or so more.

I'm a little concerned about the duct tape now too, and am regretting the decision of using it now . My finger's are crossed that it doesn't leak any chemicals, because I'm too far along in the build to reverse that. I certainly won't be using it in the future, and just hope my mistakes don't affect my frogs. Hopefully I've learned from this.

I finished all three sides of the tank with great stuff, and am currently waiting for the silicone under the coco fiber to cure on the back wall. I'm probably going to have to touch some spots up with titebond, lol. I also purchased some drylok paint for the foam around the base of the ghostwood, as that will be mostly underwater. I'm still debating on whether I want a grey colored stone look, or more of a brown river stone look to match the background. I also decided to mount the miniature african violet in a pot in the background, and am replacing it's spot on the ground area with a pilea cadierei that I found at Home Depot.

I can't wait to finish with the coco fiber and drylok, because I really want to get those plants in, I'm super excited

[Lija]

Josh, i really love the tank so far.... But!..... It is better to fix what is in question now then later.....
Duck tape does nasty things in high humidity environments. For one it will come out. Rather sooner then later. Vivariums with running water are unpredictable and anything can and will happen. If at least a little piece get stuck to a frog or chemicals are gonna get into water.... You will regret you didnt fix at a stage you are now.

Fix it, you can silicone that piece in.

[DigitalPunk]

Mike and Jessica at NeHerp are great people! Makes me smile each time I hear someone say they bought from them

In looking at the pictures you posted it looks possible to use a razor knife to slice around the area that was duct taped and remove it and replaces it with a different solution.

I can tell you from personal experience. It is always better to pump the brakes and correct a potential concern before you have the whole tank done, planted, filled with water, and frogs in. To only realize you should of fixed the issue before you got to this point. I have been there before as has anyone who has undertaken a technical Paludarium build.

[jarteta97]

Ok, I'll take your advice. I think that I will be able to get the duct tape out. What I was mainly looking for was a corner that I could fit my airline tubing and electrical cords through. First thing tomorrow morning, I'll work on it and try to get the duct tape out. Thanks for the tips guys (and girls)

[DigitalPunk]

Josh,

You can still do the corner piece. When you take it out and remove the duct tape from the egg crate and then spray foam the egg crate in place. You can also put a piece of cardboard down the backside to keep any foam for leaking through as it cures (if you think you can easily remove the cardboard once the foam cures. Another option would be to replace the angled eggcrate with a piece of PVC pipe. Fish your lines through it then spray foam it in place

The only issue I foresee with either of these approaches is if you need to remove one of the devices due to a failure you would be hard pressed to feed the power cord back through it.... though as I am typing you could (in the event of a failure) tie a piece of string to the power cord as you pulled it out of the tube and then tie the new devices power cord to the string and pull it back up through the tube