40B Horizontal Build Journal

[DigitalDart]

Cutting false bottom to size to fit the tank.

















Trying a few different positions with this cool piece of wood.



Here is another position.


This is one that I liked quite a lot.


This is the first coat of the green paint on the right side of the tank.


Here is the paint on the back of the tank.


This is the left side of the tank with the first cover of the paint.


Just added a bit of design over the paint.





Here is a close up of the colors I used over the paint.
There is a lighter tone of green,some badge and a little bit of yellow.


This is the right side of the painted and finished spray foam just about dried.

[ColleenT]

looks great so far!

[DigitalPunk]

Looking good so far buddy.

For those who are interested. We used Titebond 3 wood glue mixed with some Peat moss and Green Acrylic Paint for the base layer on the back ground. It took 2 coats to cover the foam well enough that we couldn't see through it. Then we added some Lighter Green, Brown, Black, and Yellow Paint as highlights on the the base coat after it had dried for 48 hours.

The wood is a piece of deadfall I found in the woods that we cleaned, and trimmed to fit the tank.

[LilyPad]

Very nice...my first question was going to be...What did you use for paint? haha

[2ofEverything]

The wood is a piece of deadfall I found in the woods that we cleaned, and trimmed to fit the tank.

Looks great so far! What did you use to clean the piece of wood if I may ask?

[deranged chipmunk]

A build from the mini minion? Sweet!! Looks great! What are you going to use to seal the paint in? (No answering this one Paul, let MM answer )


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

[jarteta97]

Just one question: how long do you have to wait for the foam to cure before turning the tank over to do another side? Just curious, because I'm going to be starting soon. Anyone can answer too.


Oh, and nice job on the tank. It seems you're on the way to surpassing your father

[DigitalPunk]

*cough* Clear Polyurethane *cough*

[DigitalDart]

Is that why you asked me to look at the material that we used to seal the outside layer of my waterfall with? Haha nice one, but yes we are going to use a Clear Polyurethane to seal the paint and protect it from the weather conditions inside the tank.

The Clear Polyurethane comes in a Cylicone looking container.

[DigitalDart]

The foam can take between 12 to 24 hours to cure, we started doing the spray foam around noon then look at it about 12-24 hours later and it should be cured to the glass and ready for it to be turned over or ready for paint.

[DigitalPunk]

Not to hijack my sons thread, but since he is on here far less than I am I will answer the wood questions since I found the wood and was going to use it, but gave it away instead lol.


When we first got it the wood was HUGE. We scrubbed it outside with the water hose and some hand scrubbers to get the dirt and **** off it. Then we soaked it in a big tub filled with very hot water and bleach mixed (maybe %15 bleach). Then we rinsed it and let it air dry (to big to bake in the oven). It has sat in the basement for a month or longer.

This past weekend we cut it down to fit into the 40B.


Basically to prepare dead fall wood you Soak it in boiling water for several hours and then back it in the over at 225 for a could hours. This is just to kill any bugs any other bad things on the wood.

[deranged chipmunk]

*cough* Clear Polyurethane *cough*

No fair!! Weasel!! Lol


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

[DigitalPunk]

Well since my son is either chilling with me watching movies (we just worked our way through all 6 star wars and are about to wrap up the Lord of the Rings Trilogy) or Playing Minecraft with his sister I thought I would add a small update.

1. We did 2 pretty thick coats of the clear Polyurethane... It has the added benefit of getting all over the glass when you carelessly spray it inside the tank so naturally I sat down after 2 days of letting it get good and dry on the glass to scrape it off. My son didn't know I did this because, well I was bored and lonely. Kids stole both dogs and went to the game room.... it's a no parents allowed place... or at least thats what I call it to feel better about not going in there. I got the inside of the glass all nice and clean.

2. We painted the outside of the tank with spray paint. Thanks to my years of wisdom and that little incident a month ago where I decided spray painting in the basement was a good idea with no possible downside (whole house smelled like spray paint for days) we lugged the tank out to the garage (this is also where we did the polyurethane spraying). We put the ever clever "Frog" tape on the tank to mark our edges and I began to spray the sides. My son was standing there with the eager yet terrified face only a kid can make. I looked at him and it suddenly hit me... he had never spray painted before. I thought what could the harm be. We are only in the garage 3 feet from my car... I thought about moving the car, but the keys were all the way inside and surely t would be fine... So I handed him the can and said "here you can do the back, if you mess up no one will ever see it." (I like to toss my kids little nuggets of wisdom and encouragement as often as possible). So off he went spraying. I held the tank in place for him at an angle so he could get a good look at what he was doing. 2 coats of paint later and we are done, I then realize that he not only did a pretty killer job for his first shot at spray paint, but he painted my hand pretty decently as well. We let the tank dry then hauled it into his bed room. We got it set in place and then I noticed all the overspray on the front glass. So I scraped it off, again without my son knowing this work was being done, because... well... Dads are cool for some hang time, but my son knows when enough is enough and quietly slips away so his friends don't laugh at him.

3. The remaining supplies for the tank will arrive tomorrow. We are hoping they get here early enough that we can put this thing together before I go to work. The plan is to get it all setup and let it sit for a few days to see what the tanks internal temps are from the ambient room temps. We don't have anything on hand to heat it with yet, but are prepared to order some heat cables if needed.

4. The 36" Beamswork LED light came in monday and was promptly set on top of the tank and turned on. It looks good up there.

5. We ordered him to more Azureus for an early birthday present brining his total to 4. All 4 of them will be moved into this tank before long. The 2 new Azureus Arrived today. Needless to say it has been a little like christmas around here this week with all the goodies arriving in the mail. I even ordered myself a little something from Josh's Frogs. Got a new Springtail culture to add to my collection. I don't need more, but the gal at Josh's asked so nicely I figured, Why not .. toss one of those in as well. I don't know if that gal is payed on commission, but she should be.

6. I have had a blast doing this build with my son. I kid and jest, but these are the moments I will look back on years from now and think of how much fun we had together. I have video taped and took pictures like any good father would through the process, but all those pics are for me and the family. DigitalDart can share the pictures he takes. 34 years old and still hanging with kids... my parents were right.. I never really grew up

I will have him post some pictures tomorrow once things are done.


Till next time,

Paul aka Daddy aka DigitalPunk

[Lija]

Wow! I missed that one, that looks awesome!

[DigitalPunk]

Tank with the light over it. Just waiting on the supplies to arrive today and we can wrap this thing up

[Lija]

Paul, just to remind you.... This is not your build, wanna get all the credit? Lol

this looks great so far!

[DigitalPunk]

LoL no. I have done very very little work on this. I have sat buy and advised. I think I may have done 40ish% of the painting, but this is all DigitalDart. He asked me to upload the picture for him :P

[Dale D]

Really like the background. Nice job.

[DigitalGirl]

I am very, VERY impressed with you!!! BTW:Nice Job!

[DigitalDart]

I just have a few more finishing pictures to add to this thread. Most of them are the finishing touches to the tank, such as, placing the wood,plants, and moss. then prepping the tank for frogs within it's first day of the setup. Hope you like the pictures and I may have a picture to add to the competition thread... (The Final Picture) I would also like to thank NeHerp for sending me 1 extra piece of Ghost Wood and 3 extra Air Plants. I originally got 3 Air Plants and 1 piece of Ghost Wood. The extra Ghost Wood helped an awful lot!

This is the finished false bottom with a NEHerp Drainage layer. I chose not to use anything to heat the drainage layer. Just crossing my fingers that the humidity will stay up and that the temperature of the tank will be good for my frogs.

Sorry that this picture is a little fuzzy, although this is showing the final wood layout. Including the wood that was shown in earlier pictures (Death Fall). As well as 2 pieces of ghost wood. There is also the official placement of 1 of the Coco Huts, the other is off to the side in this picture.


This is the official placement of the Lemmon Button Fern. I didn't get a picture from the front but I really really like how it looks where it is.


The Snake Plant in the back is a Birds Nest Sansevieria, it can have many pups. When this one came in it had about 3 pups with it. The Purple Wandering Jew (In the middle) has been wrapped around the Ghost Wood.


This is just an sky view of the Purple Wandering Jew wrapped around the Ghost Wood.

This was a bonus Vine Plant that was provided by Josh's Frogs out of Kindness. (Maybe a thank you for DigitalPunk). I didn't order the stuff but I really appreciate the extra plants! Maybe someone can help me out and tell me what kind of Vine Plant this is.


This is a Green Wandering Jew at the front of the tank just beginning to wrap around the wood. Wandering Jews grow fairly quick so I will need to trim them often.


Peperomia Carpeta which is at the front right corner of the tank. This plant is beautiful and it really gives the tank a cool purplish look to it. I really like the colors that fade from the middle of the leaf to the outside of it.


Here is an air view of the entire right side of the tank. The DeadFall piece of wood is being set on its cut off side to the front of it. Which leaves a little arch between the soil and the wood which is leaving Just enough space for a small CocoHut to fit. Included on this picture is the Peperomia Carpeta (Top right) and the Lemmon button Fern (Bottom Left).


The Chiquita Linda which is the Broomiliad that is shown in this picture. As I said earlier, it can produce pups quickly.










These are 5 of the Air Plants (Tillandsia Albertina) 1 of the Air Plants I got was dead and was falling apart so I had to get rid of it. Although, the placement is good and I feel very proud of what I have accomplished here.


This is the smaller Coco Hut that is under the ridge of the wood. I made sure to place one here because it offers up a lot if privacy with the shade provided from the wood above it.


Here is another Coco Hut, sorry the Broomiliad is taking the spot light here. The Coco Hut here is Camouflaged by some NeHerp Moss. I think that this idea of covering it with moss will give it a more private feeling to it. The amount of hiding places in this tank is endless and I hope that my frogs find it a better place to live.


This was just showing off the wood and the moss on top of it. I think that this picture looks really good with all of the different colors provided by the plants and life around it.




These pictures are the finished product pictures (For now) I am thinking of putting 1 more plant in there (Begonia) I will have a final product and a post on the Build Competion Thread.

I hope you enjoyed watching this tank slowly make it's way through the build faze, I will get pictures of my frogs including the two new ones that came in yesterday afternoon! I hope my frogs enjoy their new home in this 40B that I have been working my behind on for the last few weeks. Please stay tuned for more pictures that will be coming soon!

Too be continued...