My Blue Heaven...

[Lady]

I decided to start this part of the project as another thread. (see http://www.frogforum.net/vivarium-te...tml#post257865 for original details)

Ok so I have gone from a pipe dream on the drawing board to a very real 18"x24"x36" Exo Terra tank in my living room and a steadily Increasing pile of supplies on our spare bed. Items acquired include a nice pump for the waterfall, Enough ABG for the substrate stones for the waterfall, pieces of cork, pieces of bamboo, Elephant Ear pods, a light whieght stick that I plan to make into a perching place, Gravel that will be siliconed to the waterfall, a resin primate skull, net cups to make planters in the back wall airline hose to keep the planters drained, substrate barrier from Josh's frogs and a variety of leaf litter that should give the tannins the environment needs and make it comfortable for the frogs. I am sure I have left a few things out.

We still need to get silicone, great stuff, coco fiber, egg crate pipes to hold up the false bottom and hose for the waterfall pump.

We will be calling the build "My Blue Heaven" after the song. The choice of name is because the occupants will be Azureus dart frogs and the goal is to make a little heaven for them with lots of hides and plants and and places to climb along with a good waterfall to circulate the water and give the frogs a place to soak their bottoms and a mister to keep it moist.

I have drawn a few plans but they are crude. When I have a more finished build I will post pictures.

[Lady]

All we need is a length of tubing for the waterfall pump and coco fiber and we can start building. I am already trying to get an idea of the plants I want from Josh's frogs. The only problem I see is that in order to get 100% Silicone without an anti fungal compound in it we had to go with white but since it will be covered by coco fiber hopefully it's won't look too bad. I just don't want to risk the anti-fungal compound leaching out into the water from the waterfall.

I am sure that others will appricate my perfectionist nature when it comes to getting just the right environment for my frogs. I want something that the Azureus can live in for years and be all the more healthy for it. After all they are such delicate little things, and I would not want them to suffer needlessly from my stupidity. I have read far too many horror stories of people who did not research what they were doing so their frog died in a way that just made me sad.

The final things we will need for set up and the mister and the lighting. Then it will be a mater of planting it and letting it grow in before we add the springtails and isopods and then eventually ordering the frogs. I have plans to keep the ispods going in a culture on their own before seeding the viv that way I will have a good supplie for reseeding with. Just like we keep springtails in cultures as well.

[deranged chipmunk]

If I am reading this correct, you are planning on having running water flowing over silicone covered with cocofiber? I would highly recommend against this. The running water will easily erode the cocofiber from the silicone, leaving the dullest, opaque version of the silicone imaginable. Normally, for water falls, I recommend other materials, such as drylok paint, or restore concrete refinisher. Those are designed to stand up to running water with little or no erosion issues.


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

[jarteta97]

I second the drylok, Bill recommended it for me, and it works great and looks awesome

[Lady]

Actually along the waterfall I planned to have rocks silicon ed in place since the coco fiber would erode. Rocks and Gravel are far stronger and give a natural look.

BTW all I have to get at this point is the lighting. I just have to notch some PVC and I can start siliconing things in place before foaming the background

[Lady]

Josh's Frogs has Azureus for $25 dollars each and they are 2 months out of the water. I have paid for 4 and will scheduled delivery very soon. Things in my house are hopping as we pull for getting this project finished and quarantine set up.

[Lady]

ran out of silicone while applying coco fiber have to wait for hubby to pick more up on the way home from work. The white Silicone does not look bed because of the cocfiber and the rocks and gravel on the waterfall really look good too. Once the rest of the foam is covered I will be ordering the plants for it. Lucky for me my little frogs will be living in my fairy garden terrarium as a grow out tank for a while after they are done with QT. they are just so tiny and need to grow to a size Mila can't bully before we put everyone in the big viv and there will be time for the plants to grow in and the springtails and isopods will be able to take hold. All is coming together.

[Lady]

Ok so things are kind of following Murphy at the moment. One of the doors got smashed to bits. Replacement ordered and we still keep working. Hopefully this does not take too long to get here and we could use some tips on how to put the new door in place...

[Lady]

So, 6 tubes of silicone 3 cans of great stuff and half a bag of coco fiber later... The main construction is finished the replacement door is due to arrive tomorrow. The plants have been ordered from Josh's and the little hoppers are still doing fine in quarantine. I managed to get instructions on how to put the new door in from the company that makes the Exo-Terra. I expect the plant here by friday and the silicone to be cured by then and the whole thing ready for landscaping. I will also be making a few changed to my fairy garden terrarium so it will be an ok grow out tank. It was originally designed with that in mind I just need to raise up the light a little and add a hut and some leaves and replace the plants I am moving to the main viv with ones in the order from Josh's. I only need the babies to live there till the viv is grown in and they are big enough to house with Mila. I would post pictures of the babies and the viv but I can't seem to get them to upload.

[Lady]

The Vivarium is upright, the door replaced, the waterfall tested and the plants are sitting in the fairy garden wrapped in papaer towels till my husband gets home and we can landscape. The little Frogs are doing ok and it's all coming together. In a few weeks they will move to the fairy garden and all will be good.the plants all seem to have healthy growth and should fair well in the Places I plan to put them.

[Lady]

Well the viv is doing really good some of the plants did not fair well so I researched better choices and and replaced the dying one and moved some around. The spring tails are very abandonment and large. We started using Josh's frogs spring tail food in the spring tail cultures and in the viv and fairy garden and boy has it made a difference. We had to move Mila from the small viv to the new viv last weekend because the small viv pump stopped working. she seems to be doing much better in her new diggs and is out more and climbing all over the place. The babies are doing pretty good in the fairy garden and are getting bigger. They love to climb and eat. It will be several months before they are big enough to go in with Mila and it's a good thing I had the fairy garden set up the way I did to house them. When they get big enough we will move them over one at a time giving them a few days to acclimate before we put in the next one till they are all in the new home. It's working out well. though the waterfall has eroded some of the coconut fiber where it splashes past the rock. I don't think it looks bad myself kind of like erosion pasterns in rock.

Lady

[Lady]

We have started moving the adolescent frogs over one at a time. We put Morgan the largest in with Mila on Monday and Mila first thing climbed on top of Milla. Not sure what was going on unless Mila is boy and Morgan a girl but I think that Morgan would be to young to mate. At any rate I have ordered the breeding supplies from Josh's frogs in case we need them. We think That Idic will be ready to make the move at the end of the week and I have ordered more plants as well to try and replace what has not lived. Plan to grow some of the plants out in a sweaterbox greenhouse so they can be more hail and hearty for the planting. Then they should be better able to handle being hopped on.