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Frank, I've gathered that geologists are quite the drinkers. I guess if my specimens weren't going anywhere any time soon a drink wouldn't be such a bad thing.

It wasn't all that bad when we went, cold wise. It got a bit hard to take notes at the end with my fingers about freezing off and all, but lots of fun nonetheless. Just wish I'da brought some gloves.

You shouldn't have told me you were a geologist, I might come after you for some help.

Well it seems I got a break in my schedule tonight and as I said I got the rest of the great stuff siliconed and coco fibered, and now the tank had its photo shoot. I turned the tank upright for this one and put the hood on it for some light. It really helps in the exposure and picture taking.

This is from the front and before I put the substrate in:


Closeup of the driftwood/waterfall area:


With substrate and rocks. I will be putting gravel in as well to hide the eggcrate even more.


And this is from the top so you can see the substrate and what not. The ledge is most definitive in this shot.


I'm pretty happy so far with the way this has turned out. That could change in the future of course, but for now I'm happy.

The next step is to give it a wet test and see how the waterfall looks. Then I need to get the fogger set up. The last thing on the list is to securely fit an acrylic hood. I've taken the warping factor into consideration and will put some ribs on the hood for support. I think after that it will be ready for plants, and eventually a frog or two.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Hi Matt,
I'm curious why the "plastic" hood vs a nice custom
fitted piece of glass. Over time the light will warp
and even yellow the plastic.

Yes, I found I was more interested in
"soft rx" Sedimentary, than "hard rx." My wife insists
I just never grew up and am most content "playing in the
"dirt."

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

My wife insists
I just never grew up

Frank, Just remember that one must grow old but one does not have to grow up. Stay young my friend!

Matty,
Things are looking good. You have a great amount of vision as you build things. W

What are your plans for a substrate?

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Nice,

I imagine that it will take quite a while until the interior of the viv is going to be clean, meaning all loose pieces of the brownies are out and don't fall in the water anymore. Oh, wouldn't this stuff clog up the pump?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Frank - I don't want to use glass because I have to cut holes for things and it has to be nice and tight so fruit flys and frogs don't get out. I'm pretty good with the DIY stuff, but cutting glass isn't my thing. I guess the major piece could be glass and I could have a smaller acryllic piece to cut up and open for feeding and what not.

Wings- I'm going to use some left over flourite for the substrate. I intend to have some plants in the water so they'll benefit a little from that substrate.

The coco fiber is mostly out of the tank. I held the tank upside down and sideways and shook most of the loose stuff off the walls before I put the bedding down. The pump will be allright. I have some filter floss to wrap around it. If it's real bad I'll do a fill and drain deal until it's clean before I run the pump.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Well LF you were right. As soon as I plugged in the pump, sure enough it seized up. I blame murphy. Anywho, I got out my least favorite steak knife and cut a single incision and pulled out the wire and was able to get the pump out without too much damage. Somehow some junk got into the impellar even though the water was pretty clean. After I cleaned it out it started back up and I put it back into the tank. Best of all I was able to fit the cord back through the incision and it doesn't look to bad. The pump is now running and I have a waterfall, cool! I also put in the flourite and the river rocks and it's lookin' pretty sweet (IMHO).

I also bid on a humidifier on ebay. Hopefully it won't run to my max bid or over. This is probably one of the more expensive parts of the setup, but one I don't want to skip out on. It will save me some work, and looks really cool when in operation.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

I just bought an ultrasonic humidifier at walmart for 10$, but it looks like the kind of thing that will break in a day or two. I also had a problem with coco fiber getting in my pump. You have to make sure every little piece is gone

Nice shots too... I love Letchworth. Good times.

Waiting for LF to say: Told you so!

I am glad you were able to cut, remove and replace the pump without too much trouble.

Flourite will look nice in there and any plants in the water will like it too!

I am guessing that pictures are coming of it up and running?

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Nate, I looked at wallys and they only had $40 ultrasonic humidifiers and it was the same at HD and target. That's why I decided to try to win a bid on ebay. Usually it's just the plastic construction on those things that are built all crappy. If that breaks take out the parts and put it in a 5 or 2.5 gallon bucket.

Yeah I had to fill and drain a number of times before all the coco fiber was out of the pond area.

Yeah, I know LF is going to come around here sooner or later with an "I told you so". But even with a slice down the waterfall it looks better than a wire hanging down through my jungle canopy. Maybe I could have turned it into a vine. That would'a been cool. I'll get some pics later today.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Your pics look great matty. Look forward to your next shot with the substrate & water.

Cheers
TW

Hi,
"Ultrasonic Humidifier." Is that a brand name instead
of a process name?
Arn't those critters sensitive to sounds? I'm sure they
are sensitive to changes in pressures (bird wing movements
and vibrations on the surface that they sit on) I would
think that they are also sensitive to sounds.
I would think you some sort of misting system similiar
to that in a grocery store over the fresh produce.
Ah well, just thinking.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

I think he means a ultrasonic mister (http://www.mainlandmart.com/foggers.html). They're often used in decorative fountains to create a fog effect that looks very neat, and does an amazing job of raising humidity.
I've often wondered about their use in vivariums as well, though. I know people use them in ponds where there are koi and such, but I've never heared any reviews about how the sonic vibrations effect livestock.

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

Yeah, Illustrae has it right. They can be found cheaply in humidifier units where only minimal DIY must be done to run a tube into the vivarium. Which is the second point. This item won't be in the vivarium, it will be stored underneath it, and I'm sure they won't be able to feel vibrations from it. They are as the name stated ultrasonic, vibrating at very very high speeds, making them silent and probably undetectable. They are used pretty frequently with succes from what I've read. Major hobby brands like zoomed are starting to market these useful tools.

And about the produce misters. I'd love a setup like that. I think the ultrasonic humidifiers are pricey, but those misting systems run at least $100 for one nozzle. That's the cheapo unit that you can't aim the nozzle. On my setup I think I estimated $200 or so for a couple swivel nozzles. So I'm going to use the ultrasonic humidifier to maintain humidity at 90-100% and use a hand sprayer for plants and removing frog dookie from plants and glass.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Well LF you were right

I told you so



I am glad you could fix it without creating a major redo. At least it gives you more confidence that even if the pump should give up you will be able to replace it in no time.

Have fun,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Thanks LF .

Without the humidifier the tank got up to 75% humidity partially sealed. I'm guessing once I get it sealed up I shouldn't have much problem keeping the humidity high.

Another obstacle I'm faced with is that my waterfall is not self contained. I thought I made rims on the side that were sufficient to keep water flowing into the water area, but some is escaping to the land portion. From what I understand, this isn't the best way to do things. It seems that non aquatic plants don't like consistantly submersed roots, and that what I've learned from textbook ecology, so it looks like I'll be doing a little more siliconing. Since I'll have to buy a whole bottle, I'll be doing patchwork on my waterfall incision and other places that the eco earth didn't entirely stick to. And while I'm at it I figured I'd dress up my waterfall a bit with some rocks pokin out and whatnot. As of right now I feel as if I didn't do my best with the waterfall. So it seems I've digressed a bit and will have some work to do this weekend other than my previous plans.

So onto the pics:

Full Frontal:


Acouple of the waterfall area, it's not really possible to see the water in the picture, but I swear it's there! In the first picture you can see the agitation that the waterfall makes as it hits the surface of the pond.




From the top you can see how the substrate on the bottom is starting to get waterlogged. Compare to the ledge:

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Hi,
I believe you could grow plants such as anubis emerged and
tied to your drift wood especially in the areas where the
roots would be constantly damp or wet.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Thanks Frank, I too imagine it would do well. I was thinking about some anubias coffeafolia coming up and out of the water in places. However, I think I want mostly terrestrial mosses on the land portion and epiphytes elsewhere. Those won't do too well on such permanently soggy substrate I don't think.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Hey,

Don't bash yourself too much here. Given that this is your first try you did (and still are doing) a great job. I am sure that your current water fall issues are nothing you could not fix.

About plants: so you are saying that the Brownies substrate is good to grow plants on directly? As in "no soil or ferts needed"?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Hey Matty, with your DIY skills, you'll have this little hiccup fixed in no time

Cheers
TW

At this point I'm kind of wishing my viv would get a little more water-logged. Some of the parts inside it are still really dry even though it gets fogged 8 times a day.

As I don't have personal experience with the "brownies" as you call the coco fiber, I can't really say how well it grows different types of plants other than I've seen some nice setups and healthy plants using it. I think it's compared to peat. And we al lknow peat is a pretty nutritious substrate. I feel that I may need to do a bit of ferting here and there, maybe with some of my fw tank's water.

Don't worry I'm not bashing myself. I can fix anything with some duct tape and a screwdriver, I'm just saying I wasn't impressed with the way it looked. I'll dress it up a little and I think I can make it look better. Overall I'm pretty happy with my first attempt at a vivarium.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Overall I'm pretty happy with my first attempt at a vivarium.

And so are we all

I think to remember that I have seen a few vivs in pictures that have some pots basicaly integrated into the scape. First, they made a dent in the scape into which they then placed the pot, with planting soil. I wonder if they didn't have your brownies available

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Matty,

So I leave for a month and planted aquaria has become DIY tropical rainforest. Kodos to the mods for keeping it here in planted aquaria.

Your herp endeavor has brought back some memories of my days as a member of the New York Herpetology Society.

Great job and thumbs up for sharing your effort in unfamiliar territory. I'm not that up on coco fiber but how is the maintance going to be with that stuff. Any chance your going to extend the habitat by creating a taller canopy with the mesh-type enclosure.

Are you going to put any fish in there. If whiteclouds could withstand the heat they might enjoy the waterfall splashing into the water.

My Scapes

Kodos to the mods for keeping it here in planted aquaria.

I agree, thanks

First, they made a dent in the scape into which they then placed the pot, with planting soil. I wonder if they didn't have your brownies available

I had thought about this. Let's say that a pot is 2-3 inches deep...that means the background has to be that deep at least in a small area around the pot. That's almost 1/3 of the tank front to back. So I decided that would take up too much space, and/or look funny. I've basically settled on using epiphytes and mosses or some other type of nonrooting plant for the wall. I'll use the main substrate for a rooting plant or two.

how is the maintance going to be with that stuff.

Thanks for writing tetratech, glad you are back, hope you won your bet. Have you had any experience with dendros? I was hoping you could assist. Any pics of past setups?

I think I'm supposed to change it out every 6-8 months. Not bad IMO. The stuff is really cheap so it's basically disposable. I used less than 1/3 of a $2 block for everything so far. What did you use when you were into herps?

Any chance your going to extend the habitat by creating a taller canopy with the mesh-type enclosure.

I hadn't considered it, the frogs I'm looking at are mainly ground dwelling frogs that climb around some. It would be neat for the tree dwellers. Plus I would think it would be problematic with keeping the humidity high enough for the dart frogs.

Are you going to put any fish in there.

I don't think I'm going to be putting fish in there. There's no filtration and I don't really want to try and keep the water clean enough with all the frog poo and drowned FFs. Plus there's only a tiny amount of swimmable space(what you see in front), everything else is netted off. Maybe one day I'll get a large enough tank to try something like that. It would be pretty cool.


Oops: I got so excited that tetratech is back that I almost wet myself j/k ...I mean I forgot to tell everyone that I got an ultrasonic humidifier today. I didn't win the bid on ebay, it jumped up to $20 (plus 10 shipping) in the last hour. I'm able to find them around here for that price brand new, so I decided to just go out and buy one. I ended up spending $25. Now I just have to figure out how I can mod this thing...I haven't opened it yet, but I'm confident in my abilities . I'll post pics when I actually get something done.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Oops: I got so excited that tetratech is back that I almost wet myself

Almost, I guess I'm not missed as much as I thought

Anyway, I don't have any pics of my old herp setups it was back in my teen years. Back in those days my setups were either terrarium or aquatic, nothing like your DIY setup. In the terrarium I do remember using layers of gravel, peatmoss and soil and they usually housed small tropical lizards and contained plants that were safe for eating and climbing. Some of the residents included a breeding pair of three-horned jackson chamelons (the best reptile available IMO) and many others including tegus, california king snakes, alligator snapping turtles, soft shell turtles, many salamanders and I also had a 6 foot iguana that was paper-trained. The iguana lived in my room and basked in my window under a heat lamp. Although I love some of the gecko species (had a flying gecko) they are quite boring since they don't move around much with the lights on.

My Scapes

'Kay, update time.

The ultrasonic humidifier looks dang simple to mod straight out of the box. All's I'm going to need is a gravel vac and some tubing. I may or may not even need to silicone it in there.

Also to keep your interest, I got some photos. I fixed up the waterfall and let cure. I'm quite impressed with myself. I fixed the leak and made it look better at the same time. Check it out:

This is the top part of the waterfall, Most everything is siliconed in place:


And the water coming out the bottom:


A little bit wider angle(still from inside the tank, no glare!):


I had to bring the camera out of the tank to get the whole thing in one pic, but nasty glare made me take it from an angle, this is the best I could do:


Finally a shot of the whole tank, how it looks as of 10 minutes ago:


Hope you enjoyed

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Matty ,

That looks good. I guess the next phase is plants, right?


Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

Wow Matty! I can't wait to see what you do with the plants! Looks really nice already!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Hi Matt,
A suggestion. I think I'd remove the rounded rocks
that are piled about at the bottom of the falls.
The rounded rocks look out of place in this setup.
While they were probably readily available, they are
water rounded and would not normally be found in such
a placid scene. The impression one gets from looking
at the background of the "cliff" and guessing at what
is behind the ground cover, would suggest fractured
pieces of rock that would have weathered out of the
face and fallen to the ground below.

"Chunks" of some rock might be more appropriate and
look more natural.

Other than that, I echo everyone else's comments. It looks
great. I can't wait to see the critters in there.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

WOW. No need to say anything else

Cheers
TW

While all shots again boggled my mind when I tried to identify what I am looking at, and in which angle, the last one shows how nicely you set up this rather small tank. If I wouldn't know that it is only a 10G I would have assumed it to be much bigger.

Now, when is it time for plants?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Thanks guys

Frank - I know, something I've learned so far in sedimentology is that roundness is a function of distance for the most part, especially in streams. I caught myself thinking the same thing, those round rocks don't belong there. I'll grab some more of the same rock, I think it's siltstone, and do a bit of my own weathering with a hammer.

LF - All of the first pictures were taken right side up from the front inside the tank and were closeups of the waterfall. No funky angles this time, except the one from the side. Maybe a new pair of glasses? Just joshin' ya. It's not under water so all the shots are a bit more difficult to take because I'm not used to it...so that might show in the pictures. Thanks for the nice comments!

As for plants - I could probably get the plants in the water that I want there, but the plants that will be on the drier areas will need to wait until I'm done with that anyways. So I'd like to finish the hood and the humidifier first before getting any plants. I expect I'll finish that stuff this weekend.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Nice waterfall - can't wait to see this thing planted The hardscape for this seems to have taken up a good deal of room, more than I expected, so i think sticking to smaller leaved plants would work well here - nothing bigger than a. nana-sized leaves.

Incidently, this thing isn't going in your bedroom, is it....?

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Back in the saddle!

I really hadn't planned on anything larger than that, but I'm not sure what size any of the epiphytes and ferns get to get to This is still going to be a learning process. I want to try out a few different plants. I'd think I have plenty of light for most things.

Incidently, this thing isn't going in your bedroom, is it....?

No....why? It's going next door to the reef tank in the living room. They both have a little splishy splashy noise, but I wouldn't mind it in my room if that's the concern.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Out of curiousity, are these frogs "vocal"? I know that's a reason I wouldn't want them in a bedroom...lol The waterfall would be calming but the croaking would drive me insain. Nice job Matt!

-Josh

I really hadn't planned on anything larger than that, but I'm not sure what size any of the epiphytes and ferns get to get to This is still going to be a learning process. I want to try out a few different plants. I'd think I have plenty of light for most things.

Sounds good.

No....why? It's going next door to the reef tank in the living room. They both have a little splishy splashy noise, but I wouldn't mind it in my room if that's the concern.

Oh ok... I only ask because that splashy/ dribbly noise would make me have to use the bathroom every 3 minutes That's an important thign to know before you place a tank anywhere

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Back in the saddle!

The frogs are vocal when mating. The male will call to the female. They tend to do thier business in morning light I think. I've heard some sound tracks of different species, some of which are beautiful and some are like scratching nails on a chalkboard. All however are pretty soft and difficult to hear outside the vivarium, especially if it's in another room.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

In a 10G tank, hopefully "He" won't have to call too
loud for a "Her."

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

id like to suggest that you get a philodendron plant(its a terestrial ar rooting plant) in a pot beside your tank and have some vines trailing in, if you have a couple of vines siting in the water they grow great root systems.
i have this in my 55G planted tank, looks good

@ Frank

Coop, you know I'd like having plants trailing in or popping up out of the tank, but I have to be able to seal off the tank pretty well to keep the frogs and fruit flies in. So unfortunately I won't be able to use that good idea.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

ohh, didnt really think about that ay

Well I bought some plants today while I was at work, and the proper tubing for the fogger setup. I'm a bit worried that the java moss and fern I bought won't stay moist enough, without the lid being fully constructed and the auto fogger running, but I'm hoping the misting will be enough. I'll mist a few times a day.

The moss I found at letchworth appears to be a moss that needs a dormant period, because almost all mosses this far north do. So I'm just going to use the java moss as a ground cover. I still need to get a few anubias and then some epiphytes for the drier areas of the tank.

It's starting to look a little bit alive at least.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

It's starting to look a little bit alive at least

Well, I would agree, if I would have a chance to see it

Sorry to hear that your initial moss attempt may not work. What exactly does that mean, the moss becomes dormant? As in - it stopps growing? Or - I turns brown and most of it dies off?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Yeah, it has to have a cold period where it stops growing and whatnot or else it will die back completely. I guess there are only a couple types of moss that really do well for an extended period of time. One happens to be java moss, so that's pretty easy for me.

Sorry, I forgot to say I'd get some pics in a day or two.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Sorry, I forgot to say I'd get some pics in a day or two.

That's giving the people what they want!

Good luck with the continuing set-up, looking forward to the pics

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Back in the saddle!

Well my day or two is up....Here's the FTS of the tank with some java moss, and a few small java ferns. Like I aid, it's only a start. They've been doing well so far, they haven't been getting too dry IMO during the day, so I think it will be fine until I can get the hood righ and the fogger going.



Attached Image:

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Would it be posible to grow riccia in there?


So far it looks pretty neat. Will the Java Fern or Moss change forms from growing exposed?



55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

I bet riccia would grow in there wings, there would probably be enough light if it wasn't in the water or right at the surface. I think I have about 30w pc light on there.

I'm not sure if java moss and java fern have different growth patterns emersed. It will be interesting to see though. I'll be able to toss in some tenellus and pearl grass soon, and that will be fun to see change shapes.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

If by pearl grass you mean h. micranthemoides then definately go for it. It's emersed shape is awesome... more what it looks like when it first arrives at the fish hole.

Yep, h. micranthemoides. It probably does come to the fish hole in the emersed form. Most plant farms grow the more difficult plants emersed if they can. I'll probably trim out more than the viv can handle here in a few days.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Yesterday I got the hood all setup and the fogger is ready to go. I have a few pics:

Here is the hood. The left side is straight up siliconed to the plastic tank rim. The right side is siliconed to the tape that I put down, which will be removed and the silicone will act as a gasket essentially sealing off the tank. That is so the food doesn't escape.


I drilled a hole here for the fogger input into the tank. It has to be kind of removable so that I can lift the hood and put in food or hand mist the tank.


Here you can see the humidifier with the pvc attached and the hose leading up to the tank.


Here's the tank with the lights up on it, and what it will normally look like. It will probably always be wet around the glass like that, I wasn't able to get in there and wipe it down due to the silicone setting. I'm going to buy a magfloat to use as a windsheild wiper. Some silicone modification to that may actually act like a wiper blade and instead of smearing the water all over the place it might actually bead it off. That's what I'm hoping anyways. On to the pic:

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Wow that looks really great nice job. By the way after a few generations a genetically modified wingless fruit fly culture will begin to grow wings.

Thanks Ethan, I haven't heard that about the FFs from other dendro keepers. Anybody confirm/deny.....Nate maybe?

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Wow, what a good job you are doing. Lucky you are DIY, I wouldn't have a clue.

Cheers
TW

I have heard that at a few different boards but I looked it up to confirm it and I have found conflicting information Some websites are saying that under certain conditions and temperatures they will begin growing wings again. Other websites say that the gene is recessive and sometimes spontaneous mutations will occur which promote wing growth. Maybe both can happen.

http://www.algone.com/fruit_flies.php
http://fins.actwin.com/live-foods/month.9708/msg00035.html

That was helpful, ethan, thanks. In my college genetics class we've been learning about mutations, and if the trait is indeed recessive, then it would be true that the same mutation that caused the winglessness would have to occur again to grow flies with wings from a wingless batch. The chances are 1 in hundreds of thousands, if not millions of a reversion in that gene under normal conditions.

I know there have to be different strains of FFs and even different strains of wingless FFs, and it's possible that the wing's developmental gene may be tied to the heat shock enhancer, which would basically "turn on" the wings developmentally if the FF was to mature at high temps.

This is similar to glow danios that you see. The GFP (green flourescent protein) coding region can be tied to any number of enhancers. Attaching the GFP region to the heat shock enhancer would make a danio that only glows when it's over a certain temp...say 40*C. The ones you see in the hobby have thier GFP coding regions attached to a constitutive enhancer - one that is always on.

My guess would be that most of the FFs for the hobby have a true mutation in the coding region for the wings, and would take a reversion mutation to correct the situation, and that wouldn't necessarily mean that offspring would have wings.

It's possible though, that somebody got their batch of FFs from a lab or somesuch where the winglessness was a condition of temperature like the above example with the GFP danios. Somebody who didn't know thier genetics would surely wonder why thier FFs have started growing wings.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Matty,

For some reason I don't think you will need to hand mist anything in that tank! I was kind of wondering what would happen when you got that thing sealed off and my thoughts proved true. Good luck with the windsheld wipers!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Hi,
If by "Nate" you are talking about DRO, he is in Orlando
FL on vacation, but is checking "his" forums on occassion.
You could PM him or drop a note for him in the Premium
Members forum, specifically, the "What are you doing right
now" thread.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

No I meant Nate...nellis that drops in the plant section infrequently. I used to work with him for a while and is starting his own viv. He's been doing some of the same research as me and I was wondering what he came up with in response to the FFs starting to fly around again. I'm not sure DRO would even know what I am talking about...but maybe.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Looking nice Matty,

Although it is hard now to see anything inside the viv

Isn't there some stuff that can be put on glass to avoid the fogging up?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I usuall don't do much in the way of planted forum posts, but I must say, despite the fact that you can't see ****, that is one of the most attractive (I'm sure even moreso in future years) tanks I've seen in a long, long time.

maybe a mini magnet? the mag-float are fitted with a velcro like material so that won't give you a good wiper but some of the cheaper ones are fitted with felt, and that will be a nice wiper.

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I'm the classic newb. I went out and bought the smallest tank and a fish at the same time. Now I'm kicking myself wondering how could I have been so stupid. But I'm hooked.

What you need is an anti fog solution like what they use on masks when you scuba dive. the only problem is trying to find one that is frog safe.....just an idea

-Vincent

I usuall don't do much in the way of planted forum posts, but I must say, despite the fact that you can't see ****, that is one of the most attractive (I'm sure even moreso in future years) tanks I've seen in a long, long time.

Thanks for such a nice comment Cup, and thanks for popping into the plant forums

To the others, I'm stuck with a physical wimping of the glass, as I'm pretty positive that most of those anti fog solutions would be a bad idea. I forgot to grab one of the magnets at work, but I'll try to remember this week.

I also tossed in some of the plants from my 50g tank into the viv, including some glosso, h. micranthemoides, and l. glandulosa. I'm really hoping the glandulosa will take to life in the viv, it's just such a beautiful plant.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

I'm really hoping the glandulosa will take to life in the viv

Wouldn't that mean that it reverts back to its emersed growth patter, like much more green and stuff.

Sure, go ahead and keep all these plants in there as I am, just like you, very courious on how they will turn out.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Matty,

The viv is coming along nicely. I took my son to the Houston zoo the other day and they had some of the poison dart frogs in a real nice viv. I though of this tank when I saw it. I wish I had my camera. Since we are zoo members I'll snap a picture next time we go.

It was funny to since I hadn't been to the zoo in awhile. So much of what was in there FW aquariums I can get at the LFS

Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

Hello,

Your viv looks so cool! I have a 15 gallon tall viv, but it doesnt even compare to yours. My viv houses a whites dumpy treefrog. Maybe you could also try a small variety of treefrog such as Hyla cinerea. Or you could go with a ground roaming frog such as tomato frog, or oriental fire-bellied toad. I do like the idea of the dart frogs. They are very nice!

Hi,

Thanks guys, I'm definitely set on dart frogs. Nothing else really houses well with them, especially in a 10g tank, unfortunately.

This as well as everything else is on hold for now. Soon I'll be done with finals and I can get some work done on my tanks.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

OK, pulling this one up from the basement. Here's a little update with the plants, I still haven't gotten frog(s), but that should happen this month, possibly the 14th. On to the pictures:

Full tank shot, I got it with a little of the fog still rolling in from the humidifier:


Waterfall:


Waterfall Closeup:


1 group of HM:


Centered on the java moss area:


Hopefully I'll be updating with frog pictures soon!

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

very nice, matty

any plans on planting along the back wall, or are you done with the plants?

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Back in the saddle!

I think you should put a small anubais in the left side of the tank to balance it out a little.

-Vincent

I'm not done with plants yet, but I'm kind of unsure what I can use. That's something else that I'll try and figure out at the local club meeting on the 14th. I'm hoping I can use some epiphytes that will root themselves in, or something like that.

Anubias is something I've thought of Bud, maybe some coffeefolia or something like that.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Matty that is really cool. It almost has a museum like quality to it. I really like the java moss area shot.





My Scapes

Wow, the moss looks really great, and waterfall looks like it's working nicely. are you still looking for small bromelaids that will work in there? The back is looking a bit bare. Such a great job on a deceptively small tank!

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

Thanks illustrae, tetratech.

Yep, I'm still pondering all plant options, including bromiliads. I just haven't done my research and am feeling lazy about it. I'll probably just ask the guys at the meeting what would do well and go from there.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Looking really good Matt. So the countdown is on and we only have to wait till the 14th for frogs. Yippee.

Cheers
TW

Well Matty, the 14th has come & gone & still we see no frogs?

Do you have them yet?

Cheers
TW

The breeder that I went to had some leucomelas, but were about 2 weeks shy of being able to be sold. So I'll get them when they are ready. When I saw them on sunday, they were about the size of my index fingernail. I got a picture I'll put up later.

I did however get my digital hygrometer/thermometer. It's really cool and reaffirms my thoughts that my viv was in the right temp and humidity zone.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

ok, so we have to wait just a little longer, though it will be good to see the pic that you have already. They sound so tiny. I bet they're cute.

Cheers
TW