Experimental Frog/Toad Tank: Build Log with Pics.

[froggsong]

Ugh, I didn't get to do anymore work last night... Now I'm behind by a day or so... I'm glad my frogs seem to be content in the bin I put them in. It has more room than what they were in, so that's good at least. I wish I had a table out there to work on... I wouldn't be making such a mess if I wasn't having to work on the floor. Oh well... when I go to build the dragon tank, I'll just have to build a table first.

One of my squirrel tree frogs escaped either Wed, Thurs, or Friday (in the morning, I moved them friday). I can't find him anywhere, and I suspect he was a cat snack I suspect the cage door got left up a tiny bit (it slid up and down the front of the tank) and he wiggled down between the plexi and the screen and escaped out of the crack. I can't find him anywhere Thursday I was too busy to go check on them like I normally do, so I'm not sure exactly when he got out. I know he was there Wed morning, and not there Friday midday. I guess this tank may actually end up being permanent after all, now that there are only two frogs and the toad. It's big enough for them. Now I have more invested in it holding moisture properly. Anyone have any advice on how to hinge and secure the door? Placement of the door is depicted in the picture of the plans. I was going to cut a square out of the plexi on the side that overlaps the glass tank. I think an aquarium lid hinge would be perfect, but I'm not sure where to get one. I have a kind of weather stripping in mind to go around the edges and make it air tight, but I haven't looked for it yet. Any ideas would be appreciated.

[froggsong]

I finally got to work on the glass part of the tank. I used GS on the walls to make landings/planters. I didn't put silicone on the glass first, but I'm going to paint it on the outside to hide the GS that shows through the glass:



I also experimented with making GS rocks, etc. by laying some down on foil (I figured it would be easy to peel off, and I didn't have any wax paper, which I think will work even better). Little did I know... lol. The GS cured on top (I didn't bother with layers, I was too impatient) and when it started expanding on the bottom, it actually burst the foil under a couple of them. It was kindof funny looking... After they were completely cured, I finished peeling off the foil and then carved one of them (so far) into a landing for the pond in the glass part of the tank. It turned out really well. I covered it all over with peat and put a ring of frog moss around the rim of the planting area. Here it is:


Looks kindof like a hollow tree stump, doesn't it? Here it is placed in the tank:


Then I put in the plexi to make the pond area:



The white silicone shouldn't be very visible, the land will come up to the top of the plexi outside of the glass part of the tank.

Next I installed one of the plexi walls! Very exciting to finally have part of the plexi installed. I think I might silicone some landings to the plexi wall like I did with the glass part, what do you guys think? I don't know, I'll have to eyball it, that might make it a bit crowded. Here is the tank with the plexi installed and curing. The peat piled at the back is to cover the silicone between the BG and the plexi. :



What do you think? I know it looks messy, but that's just how I do things, lol.. Once it is trimmed out and painted, I bet it's going to look awesome.

[janelc]

Nice rocks!!! So creative!!!

[froggsong]

Thanks! I'm going to get plants today when i get another tube of silicone... (again! lol. I think it would have been cheaper to just order the epoxy paint! Most of the silicone I have used has been on the background and the rocks and stuff though, so maybe it wouldn't have come out the same...) I already have several dieffenbachia plants, two of them are taller (though not very bushy, they haven't been cut off from the mother plant long) and the other three are shorter. I might plant one of the smaller ones in the tree stump landing in the water area. I want to see if I can find some moss or some sort of low growing land cover, something that vines besides the ivy I already have, maybe something that flowers just for a splash of color. I'd like something that drapes as well. Maybe a bromeliad or two (small ones for the background). I'll have to see what I can find. I can't spend too awful much on the plants so I'll have to find the perfect ones right away.

I discovered a problem late last night... I tried to put the glass tank in the wodden structure to see how it looks now that it has stuff in it, and now that the plexi wall is installed I can't get it in there. I was afraid that was going to happen, I should have put it in while the silicone was curing so that it would be the right height. The best thing I can think to do is cut the piece that fits over the top edge of the glass tank so that I can squeeze it in there without breaking the silicone seal. I think if I cut it at an angle, I wont have to sacrifice it being air (and frog) tight at that point. I'll cut it at an angle first and if that doesn't work, I'll cut it off straight and figure out some way to plug the gap.

Hopefully I wont cut myself with the saw. I have cut myself with almost every tool I have been using at this point. First, I cut myself with the metal scraper I was using to shave the branches clean, then I cut myself with the dremel (I was using it next to my leg to cut the track for the plexi into the back wall and it slipped), and yesterday I dropped the exacto knife on my ankle (OUCH!!!). I also managed to peel off several layers of skin on two of my fingers trying to peel off the GS when I ran out of gloves. Someone so accident prone shouldn't undertake such a task without taking the proper precautions! lol

[froggsong]

Is anyone actually reading this? Cause if not, I'm not going to bother trying to remember to take pics of it anymore... ::humph::

I think I'm in a crabby mood today.

[janelc]

Meghan-I know exactly what you mean about injuring one's self during a project!!! Maybe it's a chick thing (or the guys here won't admit to it!). Anyway, I look at the loss of flesh and blood as a sacrifice to the "project gods"! I think it is necessary for a project to go smoothly. I regularly give sacrifices to the "hot glue gun" gods, the "Dremel" gods, and of course the "anything with a sharp edge" gods. What happened to that notion that females have better fine motor skills? I stopped working on my 55 gallon hex tank rehab project because my hands were hurting too much. Plus, I think I got bit by something in the moss my in-laws sent me from WA state. I just got my LECA today, but I need to finish the canopy before I can even begin thinking about planting!

Keep up with the pictures! I am excited to see how your project turns out!

[froggsong]

lol... that's funny. And soooo true... I'm still trying to figure out exactly how I am going to fix the problem with the blass tank not fitting into the wooden one now that I installed the plexi. I really need to be able to take the glass part out to access for planting... I don't know what I'm going to do. I might need to take the end piece from the top off until I get it finished and then put it back on. I wouldn't have any problems getting it in and out that way.

[froggsong]

ugh, it's 4 AM, I didn't want to be up this late!!!

I just got done planting my vive. I might redo it before I put everyone in there though, I wanted the substrate a little deeper and I couldn't find the rocks I thought I had for the drainage layer... Yeah, I know... I usually don't bother with a drainage layer and I've never had any problems, but the substrate isn't deep enough, so I may have to get something to add to it to make it deeper and replant the plants. I was a dummy and took them out of the pots and got all the store dirt of their roots before I found out I didn't have everything, so they had to be planted. Besides, it gives me a chance to see what I need to fix and how it looks. I haven't taken any good pics of it yet, my garage is too dark. I also don't think I took many pictures the last couple of days, so I don't know if I'll be able to post a step by step. I've been getting so absorbed in it that I haven't remembered to take pictures. Oh well. I'll get some better pictures tomorrow in full light and post everything then. Right now, I'm going to bed!!!

[taipan]

yep I'm reading ,looking at the picks & working out what little things I can incorporate in a viv I am planning.

[Athen]

Originally Posted by janelc

Meghan-I know exactly what you mean about injuring one's self during a project!!! Maybe it's a chick thing (or the guys here won't admit to it!). Anyway, I look at the loss of flesh and blood as a sacrifice to the "project gods"! I think it is necessary for a project to go smoothly. I regularly give sacrifices to the "hot glue gun" gods, the "Dremel" gods, and of course the "anything with a sharp edge" gods. What happened to that notion that females have better fine motor skills? I stopped working on my 55 gallon hex tank rehab project because my hands were hurting too much. Plus, I think I got bit by something in the moss my in-laws sent me from WA state. I just got my LECA today, but I need to finish the canopy before I can even begin thinking about planting!

Keep up with the pictures! I am excited to see how your project turns out!

i wouldnt say that we dont get injured while doing projects we do but we just dont really worry so much about it because (at least for me) we look at it as a standard occurance when fixing/building/creating just about anything i honestly cannot think of anything that i have worked on or built ever that i havnt injured my self to some extent i remember one time (at work) i was fixing a level indicator for a tank and somehow some way i managed to hit my head as i was standing up from being ducked down and whacked my head wuite hard knoced me back on my @$$ and about sent me unconscious till i noticed the blood... 6 stitches later and a day off i was back to work i have nearly cut the tip of my finger off with a pane of glass in a cabinet once in wood shop hit my leg with a grinding wheel on a pneumatic grinder while removing paint from a steel deck and the list goes on and on in my mind if there wasnt blood shed or at least and injury during any project it sint complete lol so i dont typically mention it because it is to me a pretty much expected occurance =) just a little insight to the mans mind