Exoterra tank

[plates55]

Is it necessary to always create a viv with eggcrate for low maintenance? I am looking for a lower maintenance system. I have actually heard that some systems never have to be flushed or cleaned out.
I have a exoterra tank with the waterfall and mister. I want to set up this system with a waterfall but the self contained (exoterra)waterfall is not as large as I would have liked. It has the background already attached with a place to run cords in back of the system.
If anyone has had any luck with this please let me know. Or should I return the self contained system and create my own.

[beingteri]

I'm in the process of doing just that. Most of the sites I've seen show set-up with emphasis on the terrestrial side with a small water feature...and doing so using the egg crate light cover layer, resting on top of some PVC couplings. I'm attempting to make a tank with a large pool of water, and fish, with 2 land masses for the common frogs I have (not the fancy kind).

After staring at the empty tank for hours, trying to think of the best (cheapest) way to have great filtration that would work all by itself and have all the features I wanted...I came up with the idea to add pipe. So the egg crate at the very bottom of the tank is supported by 90 degree angles with pipe between them, criss-crossed the length of the tank, with a feed pipe a little above the height of the tank, which I will connect to either a sump system, filtration that will housed in the cabinets below, or this will be where I feed a filtration system back into the tank...which would exit the opposite side of the tank, to keep all the water circulating. I'll let you know how it all turns out, as well as what system I connect to it. I did not cement any of the pieces together that will be below the gravel and/or under water - 2 reasons - 1) if it doesn't work the way I think it will, I can recycle all these parts into my house or yard and 2) what's the point...if they leak, either suctioning or circulating...who cares, it's all tank water...and the point is to promote water circulation, which it will either way! The tank I'm setting up is 200 gal. Whatever I can do to keep from having to stick my arms in it constantly...I'm all for.

BTW, the open end of the pipe, I capped off with some fiberglass screen...as well as laid a layer of the screen with 1" extra on all sides over the egg crate thingy. I have guppies that will go into this tank eventually, and they are very prolific apparently. I want to prevent the fry from getting sucked below the gravel when they are hiding and trying not to get eaten...then wind up mucking up the filter.

How did you set up the base in the exoterra you already have set up? How do you plan on inserting the egg crate after the fact...tearing it all out?

[plates55]

I bought the medium waterfall and the mister and set everything up last night. I also found coco bark sheets and lined one side wall with coco shell. I made the mistake of using great stuff and it expanded at least four times it size. I mainly did this because I let some crickets go into the tank and they immediately found a way to get behind the coca bark. They cannot get behind the cocobark now. The side bulges quite a bit but it works.
I did not go with the egg crate. I put 2 inches of gravel similar in consistency to leca balls. I then put a pine bark/coca shell mixture into the vivarium. I was going to place landscape sheating over the gravel but realized that my Pitcher plant is going to need nutrients from the gravel and so at the last minute decided against it. I want all natural plants and I am concerned that this setup will require a total overhaul in a few months.
Do you know how long you need to wait until releasing the frogs into a great stuffed tank?

[beingteri]

I read somewhere that you want the tank to "cycle" several times to make sure the pH levels and normal and I'm sure to filter out the impurities of the all the products used to construct the tank...One post mentioned a few months! I was expecting it to take at least 2 to be safe for the frogs...especially since they absorb everything their skin comes in contact with.

That is why I'm pressed to get mine completed...they are fast out growing their cozy abode. But I was going to try and do a super-flush right after it's complete then blast it as much sunlite as possible without killing the plantlife...UV helps balance the water as well as kick plant photosynthesis into gear...plants pull crap out of the water and use it along with the light to restore balance...like a wetlands effect. I'm also going to take a cutting of a friends Papyrus and get it into the enclosure as a marginal planting, 1/2 in and out of the water...they are superfilters! I'm hoping it won't take more than a month to get "right".

I'm new to this whole thing as well. I do fabulous in the veggie garden outside...but indoor plants have always been a challenge. I embarked on this with the intent of getting the outside in, literally, and let nature do what it does best...the less intervention I "have" to have with this little creation the better. Not because I don't want to care for the plants and animals I'm going to have in there...but exactly the opposite. If I have to be in the tank always cleaning, filtering and what have you...I'll start to "primp" and dote over all the plants and creatures. They will never get a moment of peace...my intentions are good and motherly...but I'll go overboard attempting to constantly improve upon what's in it. Too much attention can be a bad thing too.

I found another forum : http://www.kingsnake.com/ to have a forum on just about anything and everything. I was there for the fish and aquaria initially and found them very informative and helpful. I'm sure they have info on how long to leave a new enclosure sit and cycle before adding live animals.

Do you have any pis of your little creation? Oh, yeah, BTW...there are a few different kinds of "Great Stuff". One is for small cracks or filling holes from plumbing or around electrical boxes, etc - I think the can is red - doesn't expand that much, maybe 1-2 x the original size. Then there is a can that I believe is black, says the same stuff on the can but mentions "insulation", that one goes CRAZY...That one should be used if you have a lot of ground to cover or you are filling the space between your walls...or you need to lift your car to change a tire. Which is the one complaint I have about Great Stuff. You either need a lot of crap you need to seal or insulate, all at once...or pay 5x as much for the small amount you use, because the can will have to be tossed 3/4 full. They only give you one tube...it hardens and the you are stuck using it like a whip cream canister...assuming you manage to get the top unplugged. If you decide to tear yours apart and re-do, get the regular strentgth and use the whole can and it will stay within an inch or so of where you put it. If you don't want ANY expansion...and the coco sheet you have is semi solid...spray GS, lay the coco sheet over it, then wrap a heavy book in saranwrap and lay ontop of it...it will cure without filling up with air.