FBT Vivarium Preparations

[daybr4ke]

Wow, okay. No paludarium then...that slightly worries me in regards to the false bottom however, since that fills with water...will it hold up to that?
As for the ABG, I would personally pick up some organic topsoil(Mine is Earthgro, it cost me around 4$ with tax for a bag about the size of my torso) and mix in 1-2 bags of ABG. As long as it's mixed well, it should basically be watered down ABG mix. I went with the approach of dropping the ingredients I couldn't find easily and cheaply.

[synikalspinstress]

That's... an excellent point. I should test that, before I ruin floors, furniture, and tiny toad lives. I think it'll be okay, because it's not very much water, displaced by gravel. But better safe than sorry. If it leaks, I could probably silicone it myself. If it shatters, well.

I'm out forty bucks, I guess.

[daybr4ke]

I worry because I feel like the gravel might create some outward pressure of It's own, and combined with water the pressure may be too great. Also, gravel is pretty much the heaviest drainage layer there is, hydroballs or another type of similar drainage layer might be better, since the glass is thin. It probably won't matter if you're going to leave it in one place, though. The PVC false bottom might be better too. I've also seen posts about using plastic egg crate, but I don't know too much about the pros and cons of each type. One solution to the problem of water pressure might be to make sure you can siphon it before there is too much. A nice way to do that is to work on some gray PVC and run it vertically down to the drainage layer. You can use a knife, dremel(id you have it), and some sandpaper to make the gray pvc look like (ugly) wood. How good it looks depends on practice. Mine look...mediocre. I wish I wasn't poking holes in your build, but I'd hate for anything to go wrong. I really hope the drainage layer works in it.

[synikalspinstress]

Better to have holes poked into the build now than next week! Please continue to do so! :P

So I did a mini-test, filled it with about two inches of water for five minutes. No leaks, didn't instantly shatter. Looked at the seals, and no water got underneath them. I think it'll be okay, so long as I'm very, very diligent about emptying the false bottom, via the PVC method. Looking around the internet, others who put far more water in it than I'm planning on (up to half a tank) say they've had no issues. Of course, others say it's cracked on them, so.

I think this will work.

So, the plan is, make a 2-inch egg-crate false bottom, and an egg crate, like, divider, to hold back the substrate when I remove the water tub for changes, with a PVC pipe for drain access. Then three-or-so inches of Eco Earth x ABG. Load with springtails and another plant or two, and call it golden.

Uh, and then Fire Belly Toads.

[daybr4ke]

That all sounds good! I'm curious, are you planning to use metal or plastic screen between the substrate and the false bottom?
Also, this may come in handy:
http://www.frogforum.net/showthread....-the-cheap-way!
I used a knife with a half serated blade to scrape texture into my pvc with the serated part, and used a drill to make some holes. I used a blowtorch to bend it a bit so it looked more natural. I personally haven't used the grey pvc, I used white and black. White looks unnatural and black is too glossy and bubbles form in it when heated. The grey seems like the best, and I'm planning to get a length of it myself. It can be painted as detailed in the thread, but a sealant to go over the paint proved very hard to find, and I eventually abandoned it. Here's a picture of a really basic one I made from white pvc(with frogs). You probably won't want any holes or bending, since you're using it to run drainage stuff down, so it should be pretty simple.

[synikalspinstress]

Ooo~, thank you! I might give that a try. Or I'll chicken out and, like, hide it with a plant, or some bark. XD Grey sounds like it'd be the one that'd blend in most easily, although black could work with the coloring my stand.

I'm planning on using some window screen as the barrier.

[synikalspinstress]

Alright, went out shopping today and could not find egg crate. Like, I spent two hours hunting for it and nope. They had other light diffusing things, but, not what I need. So. What's an alternative I could use for it? Or, gosh, should I just skip the egg crate and go with two inches of gravel?