100 gallon PDF tank(WARNING, extremely picture heavy)

[BCollie]

If your computer can't handle a very large amount of pictures, click your "back" button now.
First off, I want to give a huge thank you to everyone that helped me on my build thread! There's no way I could have done this without everybody's help.
The old thread:
http://www.frogforum.net/vivarium-te...e-through.html

It started as a fish tank with a thin film of algae stuck to it. It had to be scraped off with a razor blade. I went through about 12 razor blades because they dulled so quickly. Here you can easily see the area I had scraped and the area I hadn't.


A clean, empty tank:


Cutting one of three 2x2 foam boards to use as a background in the tank. The reason I used foam boards instead of spray-on foam, is because I was told the tank needs to be laid on its back to use the Great Stuff spray-on foam...There was no way I was going to risk breaking this beast of a tank just to get a good background. It is VERY heavy and I will not move it unless absolutely necessary.


They fit!


Carving the boards...I used a box cutter and scraped it sideways to carve out the "rocks".


Finished carving!! It was looking pretty nice at this stage, if I may say so.


My floor after carving the backgrounds!!


Painting the boards. A tip to anyone who wants to do this: Paint the crevices first! You WILL get paint on the rocks which you'll have to cover up with a coat or two of rock-colored paint. I used a medium grey for the rocks and a dark grey for the crevices. It looks black in the pictures.


Finished with the basic painting...


I then sponged on a layer of medium/dark green paint, followed by a layer of medium/dark brown paint. Then, another layer of green on top of the brown. I also sponged green onto the crevices to give it a mossy look.





It was recommended to me that I spray the finished foam boards with Krylon Fusion Clear spray paint. You can imagine my horror when I did so, and the foam started melting. Turns out, I didn't buy Krylon Fusion, I bought plain old Krylon. My mistake!! I'm just extremely glad the background was not completely ruined, because at this point I had put at least 12 hours into it.


I am not sure if regular Krylon is toxic or not, but it doesn't matter because the background is now covered in 3 good coats of paint-on polyurethane. Water beads up when it hits the background, I'm convinced that polyurethane is awesome!
It was said to me several times that I should get sheet moss to put in the tank and on the background, but I couldn't find it at my local gardens/nurseries, so I gave up. Then, as I was walking through Petco to get a humidity gauge, the word "moss" on a package caught my eye. Turns out my local Petco sells sheet moss!! I had never even thought to look there. Of course I bought some, it was only $5. I glued on a few pieces the next morning, then went to class. Got home a few hours later and started adding river rocks as the drainage layer.


After the river rocks were in, I added more moss, then did a quick hardscape with two pieces of wood that I ended up really liking.


As you can see on the right side, my first bucket was not big enough to mix up my ABG substitute in. So I hauled out a huge tub and mixed it up there. Worked perfectly



The last of the Sheet Moss was added, along with quilt batting and fiberglass screen to prevent soil from going into my drainage layer.


Is this deep enough?


Soil in, wood in, time to plant the giant Golden Pothos I found at a local hardware store...no chemicals used on it, I checked. And even if there were, it has months to dissipate before I get my frogs.



As you can see, I used the moss to cover up the cracks in the background. There are cracks in the background because my tank is so big that I had to use three separate pieces of foam board, cut them to size, then glue them together using nontoxic hot glue.

I still don't have the money to buy plants. I am waiting for my Fluval FX5 with FX6 motor to sell. After that, I should be close to being able to afford to buy what I want from NeHerp.
I'm most likely going to order:
One 38x18x13(100 gallon) plant kit - $145
6 ferns(I LOVE FERNS) - $24
Springtail and Fruit Fly Breeding kits(including live cultures) - $38
I want to get a fan or two to use in my vivarium to keep the glass from getting fogged over. This is a display tank, not a look-at-it-just-when-feeding-and-misting tank. I read that the Zoo Med Aqua Cool Fans work well for circulating air in a vivarium even though they're traditionally used in aquariums. If anyone has input on these I'd love to hear it. I'd probably need two at $24 each, so - $58
7 bags of leaf litter - $42
I'm trying to find someone who has Live Oak, Magnolia, or Sea Grape leaves in an area where no chemicals are used, so that I can collect and process leaves myself...saves me close to $50 if I do that.

I'm looking about $300, maybe less if I can find my own leaf litter to process. There's tons of Oak Trees around here but they're all Valley Oaks, not Live Oaks The selling of my filter won't cover the entire cost of everything I need but it'll cover most of it.

To be honest, I'm not sure how much I like the pothos in there...I may end up taking it out after I get more plants.
I built this tank for Poison Dart Frogs, but it will be a long time before I can afford them. However, I think I know what kind I want.
Phyllobates Bicolor 'Green Leg'. I think they are gorgeous, Josh's Frogs says they're good beginner frogs and do good in groups. That, and they're affordable!! I can get 8 for about $250. What more could I want from a frog?
Phyllobates bicolor 'Green Leg' | Josh's Frogs

[BCollie]

EXPENSES as of Oct 8th:
5 gallons of distilled water for misting, $5
1-gallon sprayer/mister, $10
Hygrometer, $6
2 large pieces of thick Plexiglass for vivarium cover, $6
Enough polyurethane to last the rest of my life, $16
Non-toxic acrylic paint and paint brushes, $7
Clear, Matte Finish Krylon Spray Paint, $5
Fiberglass window screen, $5
1.5cf river pebbles, $15
Three 2x2 foam panels, $16
Low Temp Hot glue gun&glue, $8
Quilt Batting, $8
Walmart razor blades for scraping glass clean, $5
Soil mixture(Orchid Bark, Sphagnum Moss, Peat Moss, Charcoal, Fir Bark), $83
Plants, $18
Total spent so far: $213

[LilyPad]

Looks great so far!!! It's going to look amazing planted! I've never set a budget on mine...so I really really do not want to know how much I've spent. Luckily, they are smaller tanks.

[DigitalPunk]

I love it already and can't wait to see it planted. Pothos is an "ok" plant lol. I use it in a few of my tanks, but sparingly. It will take it about 2 months to fill your tank chock full of pothos vines lol.

Excellent job on the background and excellent job taking a deep breath and recovering from a simple mistake


Folius.net has some fans for Vivariums to circulate the air. I think you can get 2 fans for $24 with shipping included or something close to that price. You will need to seek advice on how to cover the fans to keep the frogs from getting hurt, but the fans he offers are great!

[LisaGarcia]

Your tank is AMAZING!! I am really happy and excited for you! I know I will be waiting for the day you get your frogs AND get them out of the QT tank so they can live in this wonderful new home! Congrats!

[BCollie]

Your tank is AMAZING!! I am really happy and excited for you! I know I will be waiting for the day you get your frogs AND get them out of the QT tank so they can live in this wonderful new home! Congrats!

I will be waiting for that day, too...I'm excited for it but I know I have to be patient since it's probably going to be a long time. I know how I'm going to make the money to get my plants...nooo idea how I'm going to make the money to get my frogs...and the misting system I want...lol

I love it already and can't wait to see it planted. Pothos is an "ok" plant lol. I use it in a few of my tanks, but sparingly. It will take it about 2 months to fill your tank chock full of pothos vines lol.

Excellent job on the background and excellent job taking a deep breath and recovering from a simple mistake


Folius.net has some fans for Vivariums to circulate the air. I think you can get 2 fans for $24 with shipping included or something close to that price. You will need to seek advice on how to cover the fans to keep the frogs from getting hurt, but the fans he offers are great!

I have always liked Pothos so I'm surprised that I don't love it in the tank. Maybe it's just too big for my liking...I don't know!

I checked out folius.net and couldn't find their fans. I checked all their categories and searched "fan" and nothing came up...?

Looks great so far!!! It's going to look amazing planted! I've never set a budget on mine...so I really really do not want to know how much I've spent. Luckily, they are smaller tanks.

I'm actually happy with the fact that I've only spent a litter over $200 on this tank so far. Considering the fact that if I were to buy ABG for this tank it would cost $170 shipped, I did pretty good, I think...

[bcreps]

ive enjoyed following this build. its coming together so quick and its looking great. I have pothos taking over my HOUSE, but i think this is not the pothos you want. there "ok" but not when its hiding your driftwood. id start some small cuttings in some pots you can decide how and where you want them or just thin out what you got. i think youll change stuff around how you like it and itll look very vice when its all done.

[flybyferns]

Adri,
You made a super enclosure
You have made a super choice on the frog species also! They will NEVER hide.

As you continue your build, and if you have made a final decision on the terribilis, they will want some open space right on the substrate floor.
They love to hang- out.

You might want to look into bean beetle cultures ( when they are adults - they love these as an occasional treat). There easy to culture. A great occasional food supplement. They are big eaters ! 8 is a lot though ?

Your "build instructor" has taught you to layer the bottom of your enclosure ( gravel > batting > screening ) they way I make all of mine as well. Once you get more water in there , and the batting is touching the water, you can give that entire front portion of the substrate a good press. Eventually the bating and screening will disappear.

It looks great !

[deranged chipmunk]

Adri, the tanks looks great!! You did an excellent job on it!! Be very proud of the tank you built!


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

[deranged chipmunk]

Btw, those fans from folius that Paul mentioned are still in the testing phase. Dev isn't sure when they will be going into production and be for sale.


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

[DigitalPunk]

Doh! Sorry bout that..... it was early.... late... I was........ <runs away in shame>

[canadian frog]

tank looks amazing, you did a great job, cant wait to see it with the future tenants in it.

[BCollie]

ive enjoyed following this build. its coming together so quick and its looking great. I have pothos taking over my HOUSE, but i think this is not the pothos you want. there "ok" but not when its hiding your driftwood. id start some small cuttings in some pots you can decide how and where you want them or just thin out what you got. i think youll change stuff around how you like it and itll look very vice when its all done.

I'm sure I will change things around

Adri,
You made a super enclosure
You have made a super choice on the frog species also! They will NEVER hide.

As you continue your build, and if you have made a final decision on the terribilis, they will want some open space right on the substrate floor.
They love to hang- out.

You might want to look into bean beetle cultures ( when they are adults - they love these as an occasional treat). There easy to culture. A great occasional food supplement. They are big eaters ! 8 is a lot though ?

Your "build instructor" has taught you to layer the bottom of your enclosure ( gravel > batting > screening ) they way I make all of mine as well. Once you get more water in there , and the batting is touching the water, you can give that entire front portion of the substrate a good press. Eventually the bating and screening will disappear.

It looks great !

How does that make the screen disappear?
& Josh's Frogs recommends about 10 gallons of space for each of these frogs, but if everyone thinks 8 is too many for this enclosure I can sell some after I have a pair formed. I don't want to buy just 4 but I want to take use of the 4-quantity discounts.

Doh! Sorry bout that..... it was early.... late... I was........ <runs away in shame>

Haha!!!

tank looks amazing, you did a great job, cant wait to see it with the future tenants in it.

Thank you, I can't wait, either!

[BCollie]

I emailed Roach Crossing about their Dwarf White Isopods, and asked how much shipping is...They said this:

"100 mixed T. tomentosa: $20
Shipping: $7
Total: $27

-Kyle"

Very affordable. Now I just need to make $25...somehow!

[Strider18]

Can't wait to see this tank grown in and full of frogs! I think that 8 frogs will be ok for that space since they will have more space then they technically need(good job with that!) I am sure you will find a way to make money

[DigitalPunk]

Can't wait to see this tank grown in and full of frogs! I think that 8 frogs will be ok for that space since they will have more space then they technically need(good job with that!) I am sure you will find a way to make money

That is a common misunderstanding. The 10 gallon per frog is the recommended minimum amount of space not the exact amount of space each frog requires to be happy. A frog that could be happy in a minimum amount of space would be ecstatic in 30g or 150g.

A few things to keep in mind and I will use this particular tank as an example. A 100g tank is roughly 72x18x19 Once you add a back ground, drainage layer, and Substrate you are left with 72x16x14. The remaining space is equal to 64-65gallons of space remaining. (That is assuming your frogs will use all the vertical space provided) So using the "Minimum Requirements" guide you could put 6.5 frogs in here, but assuming no one wants half a frog than you could put 6. BUT if you get frogs that are more terrestrial and less arboreal than you would need to do some different figuring. For Terrestrial frogs lets assume they would use 5" of vertical space (climbing over wood and such) your new tank dimensions as far as the frogs are conceded is 72x16x5 which equals 24-25gallons of space. Hopefully you can see how the choices we make not only in how we build our tanks, but also what frogs we decide to put in them will change the outcomes.


Adri - I would say that getting 4 frogs to start with in your tank would be a perfect amount. Maybe 5 if Josh or someone is doing a buy 4 get the 5th free. Or you could get really thrifty and let them keep the 5th free for free shipping


p.s. The formula to figure out the volume of a container for US Gallons is Length x Width x Height (divided by) 231.

Please consider the 10 gallon for what it is "A recommended Minimum" and NOT as the definitive amount of space each frog requires.

Paul

[Strider18]

That is a common misunderstanding. The 10 gallon per frog is the recommended minimum amount of space not the exact amount of space each frog requires to be happy. A frog that could be happy in a minimum amount of space would be ecstatic in 30g or 150g.

A few things to keep in mind and I will use this particular tank as an example. A 100g tank is roughly 72x18x19 Once you add a back ground, drainage layer, and Substrate you are left with 72x16x14. The remaining space is equal to 64-65gallons of space remaining. (That is assuming your frogs will use all the vertical space provided) So using the "Minimum Requirements" guide you could put 6.5 frogs in here, but assuming no one wants half a frog than you could put 6. BUT if you get frogs that are more terrestrial and less arboreal than you would need to do some different figuring. For Terrestrial frogs lets assume they would use 5" of vertical space (climbing over wood and such) your new tank dimensions as far as the frogs are conceded is 72x16x5 which equals 24-25gallons of space. Hopefully you can see how the choices we make not only in how we build our tanks, but also what frogs we decide to put in them will change the outcomes.


Adri - I would say that getting 4 frogs to start with in your tank would be a perfect amount. Maybe 5 if Josh or someone is doing a buy 4 get the 5th free. Or you could get really thrifty and let them keep the 5th free for free shipping


p.s. The formula to figure out the volume of a container for US Gallons is Length x Width x Height (divided by) 231.

Please consider the 10 gallon for what it is "A recommended Minimum" and NOT as the definitive amount of space each frog requires.

Paul

Yea I definitely know what you mean. I just meant that that is the maximum you would want to put into that tank. The drainage layer and soil do take up quite a bit of space, which I forgot about. So if the total with the soil is 100 gallons then you could theoretically put 8 frogs in there Thx Paul

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