29G Tall Tank: Build Log with Pics.

[froggsong]

BTW, thread title has been reformatted.

[TimrekWTF]

I wanted to note that with my hood, I used my daylight bulb on one side, the heat bulb on the opposite side and nightlight in the middle. Here's why: I think by putting the heat on one side of the tank, being that mine is roughly 24" wide as well, will create a zone in the tank that is a few degrees warmer than the opposite side thereby enabling the frog to move from one temp gradient to another and regulate its temperature. I seem to have good light saturation with the single daylight bulb and did not want to pummel the guys with too much UV light as they don't really need it. They are used to the forest floor if I'm not mistaken. Secondly, I didn't want the daylight bulb directly over my water simply help control rampant alge growth. I wont mind some slow growing green, I think it will benifit the tank but I don't want to be cleaning the majority of it out on a weekly basis. Thirdly, I wanted to utalize the middle socket for a nightlight as I am going to be housing a nocturnal species and would like to be able to see him without throwing on the floodlights. I may need to go to a redlight as the blacklight seems to light up all the scraps of paper in my den but doesnt provide much visable light to the tank floor, and the middle socket on my hood can operate independently from the outside. There is a link on the first set of posts to the exact hood. Now your application my differ greatly but this was my reasoning, hope this helps answer any questions you have. I am by no way an expert, quite the contrary, and there is the distinct possibility that I am completely off the mark lol.

[froggsong]

Tim, you have it perfectly right! You know, I don't know why I didn't think of that when I posted my last response, lol... I have my lights set up that way for my CWD. I think I was assuming it would be for a frog, and didn't think about a thermal gradient for them.

If you do go with a red light, the party lights from wal-mart work well, they are only 25 watts and don't seem to bother the frogs at all. However, if you can find one that is actually red glass, rather than painted red, I'd go with that, even if it is more expensive. With constant use, the painted bulbs begin to peel, then they have spots that are white light. If you do find one that is red glass, please do share where you get it from and what brand it is. I use a red bulb in my snake tank, because of the low wattage, and I am tired of them peeling on me.

[frasertheking]

looks great man.
have you looked at any of the aquarium substrates? they come in loads of colours, the amazon red types would look amazing on your water feature.
keep up the good work
Fraser

[marilu]

TimrekWTF, I really enjoyed reading your log and loved the pictures. It turned out so beautiful! Good luck on whatever frog ends up iin there!

[heartagramtc]

that is an amazing build! im sure when it grows in it will look 10x better!

[Shana's_mom]

I don't recommend putting a sticky under-tank heater on the glass behind the GS foam BG. I did this, thinking it would be OK since it wouldn't come in contact with water. Not only did the heat not get through the BG but it ended up cracking my glass. (It happened in less than a week.) I guess the BG acted like an insulator and kept the heat on the glass. It was an Exo Terra glass tank.

By the way, I am using the Exo Terra Compact Top Canopy. (My new tank is 45 x 45 x 60 cm) I have 2 of them and they each hold two bulbs. I have one fitted with two Sun Glo incandescent bulbs and the other fitted with two Moon Glo incandescent bulbs. I leave the Moon Glo on 24 hours. My tank gets to 30C in the day and 20C at night. It is home to my daughter's two adorable White's Green Tree Frogs.

Love your set-up and write-up. Your frogs should be very happy.

[froggsong]

That's very good info to share! Whether the heat mats could go on the glass behind GS is something we have been discussing for a while.