15 Gallon Vertical Build

[John]

I use Ace Hardware to cut glass most of the time now - I used to do it all myself but they are better at it than I am, plus they supply the glass.

[Grrrit]

I use Ace Hardware to cut glass most of the time now - I used to do it all myself but they are better at it than I am, plus they supply the glass.

Ok cool thanks.

[DonLisk]

Don, I want to thank you for posting this fantastic photo diary. I doubly appreciate the fact that you put the photos in your albums here on frogforum. A lot of the time people post photo diaries using photo albums on places like flickr, but they delete or move the photos months afterwards, leaving an "empty" thread behind on forums (this happens to all forums, not just frogforum.net). So 2x thank you!

Thanks John. I'm glad we have a place here to put our pics too. I also put them in SkyDrive (part of Windows Live) but had then same thoughts on linking them since I already had SkyDrive move the address once on me.

[DonLisk]

c

Don, what thickness of glass did you use? A month back I picked up a 6 foot strip of acrylic hinge. Its 3/32.


And john clare, did you get the glass cut for your kits locally. I'm having a difficult time finding a shop around us.

I had my glass cut at Lowes for this build and its only 1/8 inch thickness.
I may have to check out the glass at ACE like John suggests since I would love to have went with 3/16 inch but it wasn't available at Lowes with the free cutting service.

The 1/8 in OK but the cut edges are not as nice as when I had glass cut from a regular glass shop but it was probably 1/4 the price too.

[MikeM670]

c

I had my glass cut at Lowe's for this build and its only 1/8 inch thickness.
I may have to check out the glass at ACE like John suggests since I would love to have went with 3/16 inch but it wasn't available at Lowe's with the free cutting service.

The 1/8 in OK but the cut edges are not as nice as when I had glass cut from a regular glass shop but it was probably 1/4 the price too.

I've had glass cut at Lowe's too. They only cut the 1/8th thick sheets. Anything else is cut off site. The glass I use for the tops is 3/16 and has nice clean edges. Cost much more but I'm happy with it. That glass is cut by my local glass shop.

I've cut my own but have not always been successful in getting clean edges.

[DonLisk]

Finished off this build today with the exception of the possible addition of a Flukers Bendable vine and some frogs.
I will also be thinking about upgrading lighting to the AAAFrogs LED Lighting.

The additions today are:
Tiger Boston Fern
Cotton Candy Fern








Don

[MikeM670]

Don,

Just love the look of this build. It really looks fantastic!!

[DonLisk]

Don,

Just love the look of this build. It really looks fantastic!!

Thanks Mike. I hope the plants take and after looking this over for a bit I'm thinking the top left Bromeliad needs to be spun 180 to allow access by a frog.... you think?

Don

[John]

I will also be thinking about upgrading lighting to the AAAFrogs LED Lighting.

I'm skeptical on this right now. It simply doesn't seem as bright to my eyes. If you try it, please let us know how your plants do.

[MikeM670]

Thanks Mike. I hope the plants take and after looking this over for a bit I'm thinking the top left Bromeliad needs to be spun 180 to allow access by a frog.... you think?

Don

Yea you might be right on turning the Bromeliad a bit for better frog access.

[DonLisk]

I'm skeptical on this right now. It simply doesn't seem as bright to my eyes. If you try it, please let us know how your plants do.

I'm hoping to hear some comments on the LEDs too since I think Cheri purchased some or was going too.

[MikeM670]

I'm skeptical on this right now. It simply doesn't seem as bright to my eyes. If you try it, please let us know how your plants do.

I know LED is the future. It is really starting to take off in the aquarium world so it is really just a matter of time to arrive here in large numbers.

It really would be a fantastic to do a project involving LED Lighting and what we are doing here. Unfortunately the cost of LED Lighting is simply too high at the moment to play with all the commercially available system. Then there is the possibility of building your own systems. I have seen many build articles on doing this for the saltwater reef systems.

[DonLisk]

I know LED is the future. It is really starting to take off in the aquarium world so it is really just a matter of time to arrive here in large numbers.

It really would be a fantastic to do a project involving LED Lighting and what we are doing here. Unfortunately the cost of LED Lighting is simply too high at the moment to play with all the commercially available system. Then there is the possibility of building your own systems. I have seen many build articles on doing this for the saltwater reef systems.

Local Saltwater shop has a 24 inch LED system for salt tanks which sells for 139.00 USD and then a 36 inch system for 399.00. Didn't grab the name off the packaging though.

AAAFrog's system for a 20 Long done vertical is only 79.00 plus shipping I believe.

I haven't seen one set up on a saltwater tank and am interested to see how well the lights can reach the bottom since Corals and live rock need tons of light and the metal halides I ran to do this were not cheap.

[MikeM670]

Think I will do some surfing and see whats out there. I don't know if Arron has uploaded any new videos on his LED lights yet.

[John]

The problem is that all the photos and videos I've seen so far are auto adjusted for the amount of light they're receiving, so it's impossible to tell truly what the difference is in the amount of light emitted by the LED systems versus fluorescent.

[bshmerlie]

Im giving Aaron a shot with the LEDs so I'll let you know how it goes. Being that my frog rack is in a closet heat is a big deal to me so I'm hopeful that I can shave off a couple of degrees especially on the smaller tanks. He is also custom fitting it so I can hide the misting tubes on top. I hope this works. If it does, its not that expensive compared to other lighting options and it will have a super clean look. I'll make a thread on them when they arrive and I'll keep you posted how the plants do over several months.

[MikeM670]

I can't wait to see your review!

[Grrrit]

Ditto. Aarron's a pretty cool guy, working hard to make the hobby affordable and accesable to people. He hit a rut with his vert kits. Ran out of the 1/8" hinge material and the supplier is super back ordered. I tried getting some from a local aquarium super store but they have the same problem.
If anyone can get this material let me know please. His fiance is also having health issues :/ tough times

[J Teezy]

where did you get the black aquarium hinge? I'm going to need one of those but hopefully i can find it in clear

[DonLisk]

You can usually find it on Ebay like this one Perfecto Aquarium Glass Canopy Replacement Hinge 1/8" | eBay but make sure you get the correct one for the glass your using. Either 1/8 or 3/16.


Also many place to order online but usually they have a minimum order cost or a huge shipping charge.

I tried to use the hinge from old canopy tops but the glass is usually suck in so well that you either ruin the hinge or get cut trying to break it free.