First Habitat

[isu712]

I love your reef that is awesome. I had a similar size setup with an octopus and a 75 gallon tall with the full reef. I miss it but I can't begin to tell you how much I spent in rock alone. But seeing your tank makes me wish I had it back. Thanks for sharing.

An octopus!? THAT is awesome. I imagine you had to latch the lid down pretty tight.

[isu712]

After dealing with countless pinhole leaks I finally got the foam wall sealed and was able to get the water, substrate, a plant, and the FBTs in. I have some more plants on the way to go in the water and I'm going to get some moss for the land. It's not the most unique viv, but I think it's pretty good for a first attempt.

The whole viv


Close-up of the land side


Seems like they like the little hide I put in there.

[DonLisk]

I'm sure the FBT's are loving it.
Looks great.

[tjtreefrog]

Very nice, thanks for sharing! I've got a similar idea for vivarium using the foam to make a divider, nice to see it works . I would say that's a great first viv!

[isu712]

Very nice, thanks for sharing! I've got a similar idea for vivarium using the foam to make a divider, nice to see it works . I would say that's a great first viv!

I put the foam in there all at once and it expanded more than I expected so I had to trim a lot of it away. I think this led to all the pinhole leaks and frustration. So if you're going to try it I would recommend that you lay it down in several layers to build it up slowly.

You could grow some moss on the land side that will help to keep the dirt out of the water.

I'm planning on it. I was hoping to be able to collect some moss and not have to pay for it, but that is a little hard to do in February in South Dakota, so I'll just go buy some soon.

[tjtreefrog]

I put the foam in there all at once and it expanded more than I expected so I had to trim a lot of it away. I think this led to all the pinhole leaks and frustration. So if you're going to try it I would recommend that you lay it down in several layers to build it up slowly.

Cool, thank you for the info! I was going to create a terrace going down into the water portion, so the layering method is definitely the best approach. What type of foam did you use? I'm planning on using Great Stuff expanding foam.

[isu712]

I used Great Stuff. They make a foam that is designed for waterfalls and ponds that is black instead of the normal yellow

[bshmerlie]

You could grow some moss on the land side that will help to keep the dirt out of the water.

[s6t6nic6l]

You could grow some moss on the land side that will help to keep the dirt out of the water.

totally agree. as you suggest it's worth sourcing your own moss with extra spare which can easily be kept outdoors for later use if no success with it thriving in tank otherwise you are going to end up with a dirty pool no end. i've some moss good as new still in the back since sourcing over three months ago .

nice setup. good luck with the toads and keep posting update pics

[bshmerlie]

An octopus!? THAT is awesome. I imagine you had to latch the lid down pretty tight.

You know everybody says now a days that but I had him back before internet forums (yes I'm that old) and I never knew that it could be a big deal. And it actually wasnt much of an issue. My tank was acrylic and had a built in overflow along the back wall that went to the sump. A couple of times I had to scoop him out of the bottom of the sump and put him back in, but he soon figured out there was nothing to do in there. They are really cool pets.