10 Gallon Conversion for Clown Tree Frogs

[Kisa]

Hi everyone, a few question from me regarding the conversion of my ten gallon long.

Once my White's (Bruce Wayne) is big enough I'm going to be moving him into the 33 gallon tall I have my other adult White's in now. Once the little one is moved out I plan on taking the ten gallon and converting it to a vertical structure for a pair of Dendropsophus leucophyllatus (Clown Tree Frogs).

Now, my question is, what is the best way to convert this tank? I looked up some conversion kits online and those certainly seem to be the easiest way to convert my tank, but I'm not sure if they'll work for the dimensions I have. I can probably get my hands on some glass and silicone for free, so making a lip and door for the tank on my own could probably work out, I guess I'm just confused on how to make the door so it swings open and provide ventilation, since this construction will be for tree frogs and not darts.

Keep in mind it'll still be a while before I start the actual build, but for now I'm looking for suggestions on how to properly build a door and provide good ventilation. My tank dimensions are 20x10x12 horizontal, so when vertical it will be 12x10x20, I believe.

I was planning on building a background that covers three sides of the tank out of either clay or GS (Great Stuff), as I have been wanting to try this for some time and have a can of GS just sitting around, and planting it with pothos for sure, and maybe some colorful flowers like african violet or something for them to hide in. I'm going to do a hydroballs/coco fiber substrate, maybe with a pre-planned water area built in, but I'm not sure because I have some extra water bowls lying around that I could use. Some people have said that their Clowns will not use a water bowl and go for moving water flow only (i.e. a waterfall) but I'm not sure I have the room or the cash to do something that extensive for this tank, though I know I want to try it for the Red Eye tank I'll be building next.

As for the ventilation I was thinking of just providing a small piece of screening material above the door that is 3 or 4 inches wide. So at the bottom there would be a five inch glass lip, then the door, and above the door a small piece of screen? I'm suggesting this because at first I thought I could drill holes in the glass top but now am unsure if that is possible or safe. Any suggestions regarding this would be a blessing, not to mention the door construction, I don't even know where to start with that. XD;

Thanks guys,
Brit

[Leefrogs]

did a home conversion myself. Glass 4$, screen constructed by Ace hardware 8$ (laybor) and hinge and pull knob from josh's frogs. I attached magnets to hold door closed in case one of them decides to body slam the door. If you have someone else build your screen, I suggest asking for 1/8 less than what you need. Silicone will fill the gap anyways.

Picts are in my alblum of Agalychnis annae

[Tony]

You should be able to drill a 10 gallon safely, they are not typically made from tempered glass. I would go for ventilation both in the top by drilling and adding vents, and also in the front with a screen section.

[oneshotveth]

Here's what I followed:

Rapture Reptiles - Vertical Door Construction

Except that I was doing them for darts, so I skipped the ventilation part at the top.

Hope that helps.

Brian

[bshmerlie]

The clowns will use the water dish but I have found that mine "likes" to sit in the moving water of the waterfall. While the Red Eyes like to sit in water that is still. Just my two cents. I agree with Tony I would also drill small holes at the top for ventilation. With the glass on the top panel it would get pretty humid in there.

[UncleChester]

Hi Brit,

While it wasn't a conversion here's how I've made a front opening door out of glass, silicone, a piano hinge (~$10 for 6' or so at home depot), and a door latch dealie (scavenged): http://www.frogforum.net/vivarium-te...-enclosed.html

You could make the top section of the front out of a window screen (with frame) for ventilation, or drill many holes in the glass. You could also make the front out of plexiglass instead, it would be simpler to drill many, many holes in it without the need for a special drill bit. At least simpler from my perspective as I'm not an experienced glass driller.

You could also remove what will be the new top of your tank- silicone can be cut fairly easily with a razor if you wanted to make the top all vent out of a window screen (Or eggcrate if you have cats).

Also see John's conversion guide if you haven't already (though for dart frogs) http://www.frogforum.net/vivarium-te...struction.html


You know what though, you have access to free glass and silicone...just make a new tank from scratch, it's really not that hard and it can be whatever dimensions you like

[Tony]

I would drill the top and install round vents like invert keepers use, but I'm a glass geek...

[Grrrit]

i used the conversion kits from aaafrogs com. without a fan i was getting 80-85% humidity.

[UncleChester]

I would drill the top and install round vents like invert keepers use, but I'm a glass geek...

I'd love to know how you would go about making 1" or larger holes in glass. Seriously if you could make a thread about drilling and other techniques of messing with glass that come in handy for vivariums I'd love to learn some new stuff. I'm fine with cutting straight lines and siliconing the heck out of it, but that's about it. As a plus, I have as much glass to practice with as I want

I'd also love to hear your thoughts on how much ventilation is needed in a tank this size? How many of the holes of what size on top and how much area of screen in the front would you consider as a minimum?

[Leefrogs]

My humidity stays at 80, no problem, I misted heavy for the first week until they found the water. And really only misted the glass for them to climb in. It never fogged up totaly, small fog spots would clear in an hour, water drops would evaporate in 1/2 a day.
Now that they've located the water, I'll probably only have to water the plants once a week to get humidity to rise again. I do have mold growing on a mushroom that wasn't dried enough, but vinager keeping that in check.

[Tony]

I'd love to know how you would go about making 1" or larger holes in glass. Seriously if you could make a thread about drilling and other techniques of messing with glass that come in handy for vivariums I'd love to learn some new stuff. I'm fine with cutting straight lines and siliconing the heck out of it, but that's about it. As a plus, I have as much glass to practice with as I want

I'd also love to hear your thoughts on how much ventilation is needed in a tank this size? How many of the holes of what size on top and how much area of screen in the front would you consider as a minimum?

I'm working on setting up my own little glass workshop at home, once I have everything together and start building tanks again I will post some tutorials.

The amount of ventilation needed depends on the species being housed, in this case I would go with a pair of 2" round vents in the top and a front vent of about 3.5".

[UncleChester]

I'm working on setting up my own little glass workshop at home, once I have everything together and start building tanks again I will post some tutorials.

I am eagerly looking forward to it

[Grrrit]

Does glass shop mean made to order, converted tanks? This could be big money.

[Kisa]

Wow guys thanks so much for all the advice! I'll look over all your suggestions and post as to what I decide. I have another HUGE tank (131 gallons) that is made of wood and has built in vents. I was going to pop these out and cover the holes with plexi (I"m going to be putting darts in there and don't want any escapes) so maybe I can use some of those to create vents for this tank?

And as for the suggestions by Brian to just build my own tank out of the free plexi and silicone, I would rather just re-use what I have now instead of building a whole other tank. I don't really have the room to store other unused tanks in my room or in the garage, so I think reusing this tank would be the best route for now. Maybe if I plan to get more frogs (lord help me, you'll never find my body if I do. XD) I can do a custom build, but for now I'd like to work with what I have. I'll repost in a minute with my decision on the vent or drills, though I think a combination of both (as per Tony's suggestion) would be best.

Thanks so much guys, this really helps!

[Kisa]

I'd also love to hear your thoughts on how much ventilation is needed in a tank this size? How many of the holes of what size on top and how much area of screen in the front would you consider as a minimum?

Thanks for asking this for me Brian, I may not have asked it myself. XD

And thanks to Tony for answering, great info!

[Kisa]

The amount of ventilation needed depends on the species being housed, in this case I would go with a pair of 2" round vents in the top and a front vent of about 3.5".

Thanks for this info! The vent I have are about 8 inches in diameter, is this too big? They're made of some sort of thin metal, probably aluminum.

[Kisa]

As always Brian your tanks are just beautiful.

I am tempted to use Brian's egg crate and screen on top idea to create a top screen but when I mentioned taking the top plate off of the tank to my dad (trade show decorator, he knows a fair bit about construction) he said it would compromise the structural integrity of the tank. Replacing it with another material such as egg crate should solve this problem, right? Or does he even have any merit in this idea?

If I don't do an entire screen top I may be able to find a way to mount those 8" vents I have from the other tank into a piece of plexi and have it above the door? I'm pretty sure I'm going to be doing a hinge for that, as the magnets and other methods make me a little nervous. Where can I find a latch and handle for the door? Should I just look in a hardware store like Home Depot or Lowes?

I'm going to have to ask my dad about drilling holes into the tank (which I think is made of acrylic now...), I don't have that kind of technical knowledge in the back of my mind. XD

[Tony]

Are your 8" vents round? If so then drilling the hole may not be possible, I don't believe anyone makes drill bits for such a large diameter. A good glass shop should be able to cut a circular hole for you, and if you go that route then I would do the single vent in the top and skip the front vent, an 8" opening should allow for plenty of airflow. Do your vents have screen in them, or are they louvered aluminum?

[Kisa]

As always, my dad is super difficult to work with...>>

Anyway! Yes Tony, they are round. They aren't screened, so I'm assuming they're louvered aluminum, here's a picture to clarify. They're kind of bent and old...

[Tony]

I would invest in screened vents, clowns would be very likely to squeeze through the louvers.