Hello,

I've scoured this site for tons of information regarding dart frogs and their vivarium habitats, because I'll be honest...dart frogs are super cool and I wish I would've looked into them earlier!

Having been a monster fish keeper for years, I've built several plywood tanks that held a dozen peacock bass at once, and have finally come to the realization that unless the tank is designed by Takashi Amano (RIP) its not going to keep my interest.

And so I find myself here, inspired by the simplicity and grace of the vivarium's built by members and stunned by the beauty which you've all created.

Starting out small, I'm converting a 40g into a vertical vivarium for my daughters bday gift. So this gives me a nice launching point to ask questions.

False Bottoms:

  1. Is there a minimum height? I'm shooting for a 4 - 5" false bottom, and am concerned with the rate at which water will begin to accumulate. I'm sure its dependent on the amount of misting, fog, and humidity...but is there a general rule of thumb saying 1" of water/month?
  2. What is the consistency and texture of the water in a false bottom?
    • Is it a slurry of soil and compost, or does mesh keep the solids out and the liquids are free to gather?

  3. Is the liquid easily drained? Will using an aquarium air hose provide enough area to siphon the liquids, or will a larger diameter hose be required?
    • I ask this, because I hate drilling glass tanks and would like to hide an air hose through the egg crate of the false bottom. Or possibly sliding the air hose down a PVC support pipe to siphon the excess water.


Silicone:

  1. I just used 3 tubes of ASI aquarium silicone to blackout the back and sides of the glass. Was this overkill?
    • Does the silicone have to be perfectly layered to accept the sprayfoam application?
    • Can additional silicone be applied if the curing process reveals missed spots? I've never used silicone in this fashion, and wanted to avoid using Pond Armor for glass application.


Titebond:

  1. I've seen several builds that use this method, and was wondering if anyone has catalogued specific organic material which will give different colors during application?
    • I want to avoid adding acrylic based paints because of the need to seal them in with another substance, and IME it ruins any texturing done on the sprayfoam or painting.


Sprayfoam:

  1. Has anyone here used Pam Cooking Spray on their GS foam to allow for texturing directly after spraying? It can be used to coat sponges, gloves, and other texturing devices to stop the foam from sticking. I've used this method on all of my GS foam stumps and decorations for aquaria, but wasn't sure how it might impact the vivarium setting.


I know I'll have a half a dozen more questions, but it appears the fumes from the silicone curing agent have caused me to ramble.

Pics will be posted in a build thread, if I manage to not mess up the tank and have to start all over.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to any help provided.

Chris