Well, here we go...100 gallons. Walk me through it?!

[BCollie]

Ooh! I'll pay you to pick up our acorns... Our oak tree is dropping them like crazy this year.

If only I lived closer! Lol! I picked up an entire five gallon bucket full of acorns from just our front yard!

& Thanks for the tip. I love having this all on one thread so that I can look back at things. Would I want to use a grey or brown paint to imitate a natural rock color?

[BCollie]

Alrighty...UPDATE!!

I have everything I need for my soil mixture. From left to right: Orchid Bark, Sphagnum Moss, Peat Moss, in front of the Peat Moss is Charcoal, and next to that is Forest Bark, which on the back says "Ingredients: Fir Bark" so it's pure fir bark. I wasn't positive about how much Sphagnum Moss and Charcoal to pick up so I just got 4 or 5 bags of each. I figured I can buy more or return extras. Or turn my 20 gallon into a vivarium if I have enough extra...some day. After this big tank is completed!!


And, check this out. I SCORED!!! A Golden Pothos that is probably 4 feet long for $12.99...I read somewhere that Pothos are safe for a vivarium, and when I asked if any pesticides or insecticides had been used on it they said no. Even if they had been, I've read that letting them sit for a few weeks/months will get rid of them, and it will definitely be months before this is completed. Please let me know if Golden Pothos are not safe for a Dart Frog Viv - I read they are but I will return it if not

[BCollie]

I will be keeping track of my expenses for this tank so that I can share it with everyone. I'm sure you're all curious as to how much this is going to end up costing me!

EXPENSES as of Oct 3rd, 2014:
Starting budget: $167
Walmart razor blades for scraping glass clean: $5
Soil mixture(Orchid Bark, Sphagnum Moss, Peat Moss, Charcoal, Fir Bark): $74
Plants: $13
Total spent so far: $92
Remaining: $75


Next up is buying stuff for a drainage layer(will someone explain that for me?) and the background.

[Lija]

Look honestly, just get a egg crate (2?), PVC and great stuff, it will sure look better then that pink foam, that you will need to cover anyway.

[BCollie]

Look honestly, just get a egg crate (2?), PVC and great stuff, it will sure look better then that pink foam, that you will need to cover anyway.

Can you explain what you mean? I'm a bit confused.

[DigitalPunk]

Can you explain what you mean? I'm a bit confused.

She is referring to a "False bottom" it is covered in the vivarium 101 thread. It is used if you are going to have a water feature and is not needed if you don't. You could technically still use it, but the drainage layer is better if you wont have a water feature so the micro fauna of the tank can crawl down to the water to breed.

[BCollie]

If you carve the pink foam you can get some pretty cool looking backgrounds. The spray foam is a common one to use, but is not the only way to do it


Hot wire foam factory has some Styrofoam coat that they sale. It covers the foam and gives it a sort of rock like texture and can be tinted with paint. It isn't cheap, but it is good . Or you can simply tint the titebond 3 glue and cover it. There is no rule to having to stick peat moss or cocofiber to it for texture. Backgrounds in tanks are largely for the humans that look at them and less about the frogs sure frogs will use them, but it is not required. We just have to make sure what we are doing is safe for them

I will probably end up sticking peat moss to it just for aesthetics, I'll probably put it in the cracks between the "rocks".

She is referring to a "False bottom" it is covered in the vivarium 101 thread. It is used if you are going to have a water feature and is not needed if you don't. You could technically still use it, but the drainage layer is better if you wont have a water feature so the micro fauna of the tank can crawl down to the water to breed.

Gotcha! Yeah, I decided against a water feature for this tank.

[Lija]

pVC is a long plastic tube ( cheap), you need to cut and put on bottom for support.

egg crate is a white plastic big mesh looking thing, I think they are also called light diffusers.

great stuff is expanding foam, cans, you spray that and it expands but the tank has to be on its back

check viv 101... Seriuosly, there are pics of all that

[DigitalPunk]

Drainage Layer - A layer of the substrate to allow excess water to collect and drain away from the soil. To help preserve the soil and not create a swamp or bog condition that would encourage bacteria growth (and not the good kind). The drainage layer needs to be a minimum of 1.5" deep, but it is more typical to see them 2 - 3" deep

The drainage layer consists of 3 basic parts.

1 - Drainage material - You can use a variety of materials. Aquarium gravel, river rocks, Leca (expanded clay), or Light wieght drainage material (sold by hobby supply sites like Josh's Frogs or NeHerp). This material will need to be put in to be 2 - 3" deep.

2 - A material to stop soil from falling down into the drainage layer. You can use anything that is non toxic and will not break down fast. You also want it to allow air and water to pass through easily but not soil. You can use typical weed block or Fiberglass window screen. This will be laid over the top of the drainage material. Let it go up the sides of the tank about an inch so it creates a sort of bowl to hold the soil mixture.

Optional - You can get some quilt batting and use it between the drainage material and screen to add additional filtration to catch any tiny soil particles. This can be cut exactly to size and does not need to go up the sides of the tank.

3. A way to siphon off excess water. As time progresses the drainage layer will accumulate water and will need to be drained as it gets closer to the soil. Typically a piece of PVC pipe is hidden in the corner of a back ground and goes down into the drainage layer (a sponge or typical aquarium filter) can be places at the bottom to keep from clogging the siphon tube. Then when needed you can stick the siphone hose down the PVC and drain off excess water. You want to keep the drainage layer about 1/2 to 3/4 full of water. Any micro fauna you add to the soil will go down to the water or near it to breed.

[BCollie]

Drainage Layer - A layer of the substrate to allow excess water to collect and drain away from the soil. To help preserve the soil and not create a swamp or bog condition that would encourage bacteria growth (and not the good kind). The drainage layer needs to be a minimum of 1.5" deep, but it is more typical to see them 2 - 3" deep

The drainage layer consists of 3 basic parts.

1 - Drainage material - You can use a variety of materials. Aquarium gravel, river rocks, Leca (expanded clay), or Light wieght drainage material (sold by hobby supply sites like Josh's Frogs or NeHerp). This material will need to be put in to be 2 - 3" deep.

2 - A material to stop soil from falling down into the drainage layer. You can use anything that is non toxic and will not break down fast. You also want it to allow air and water to pass through easily but not soil. You can use typical weed block or Fiberglass window screen. This will be laid over the top of the drainage material. Let it go up the sides of the tank about an inch so it creates a sort of bowl to hold the soil mixture.

Optional - You can get some quilt batting and use it between the drainage material and screen to add additional filtration to catch any tiny soil particles. This can be cut exactly to size and does not need to go up the sides of the tank.

3. A way to siphon off excess water. As time progresses the drainage layer will accumulate water and will need to be drained as it gets closer to the soil. Typically a piece of PVC pipe is hidden in the corner of a back ground and goes down into the drainage layer (a sponge or typical aquarium filter) can be places at the bottom to keep from clogging the siphon tube. Then when needed you can stick the siphone hose down the PVC and drain off excess water. You want to keep the drainage layer about 1/2 to 3/4 full of water. Any micro fauna you add to the soil will go down to the water or near it to breed.

Very helpful, thank you!!
So the river rocks should go on the very bottom of the tank, correct? They would be the bottom most layer out of everything? I can buy "River Pebbles"(Vigoro 0.5 cu. ft. River Pebbles-54250V at The Home Depot) from Home Depot for like 5 bucks for half a cubic foot. I would probably want around 1 cubic foot to make the layer 2-3" deep, am I correct? Or am I overestimating?

I will go look into weed block...sounds like something that would be cheap that I can find anywhere. That is the black stuff laid down under gravel to prevent weeds from growing, right?

[DigitalPunk]

Very helpful, thank you!!
So the river rocks should go on the very bottom of the tank, correct? They would be the bottom most layer out of everything? I can buy "River Pebbles"(Vigoro 0.5 cu. ft. River Pebbles-54250V at The Home Depot) from Home Depot for like 5 bucks for half a cubic foot. I would probably want around 1 cubic foot to make the layer 2-3" deep, am I correct? Or am I overestimating?

I will go look into weed block...sounds like something that would be cheap that I can find anywhere. That is the black stuff laid down under gravel to prevent weeds from growing, right?

The fiberglass window screen is better and cheap as well.

go to the Vivarium 101 contruction thread. Scroll down to post 6. there is a picture of a drainage layer.

[BCollie]

The fiberglass window screen is better and cheap as well.

go to the Vivarium 101 contruction thread. Scroll down to post 6. there is a picture of a drainage layer.

Ahh, then that's what I will go with! Where can I buy it?
&I will go do that right now...
Any ideas how many cubic feet of River Pebbles I should buy?

[DigitalPunk]

If you carve the pink foam you can get some pretty cool looking backgrounds. The spray foam is a common one to use, but is not the only way to do it


Hot wire foam factory has some Styrofoam coat that they sale. It covers the foam and gives it a sort of rock like texture and can be tinted with paint. It isn't cheap, but it is good . Or you can simply tint the titebond 3 glue and cover it. There is no rule to having to stick peat moss or cocofiber to it for texture. Backgrounds in tanks are largely for the humans that look at them and less about the frogs sure frogs will use them, but it is not required. We just have to make sure what we are doing is safe for them