125G Build Pics/Progress, Q's, and hopefully A's

[tclipse]

Hey everybody I know this is a ridiculously long post, obviously don't feel the need to answer everything... but any answers or advice would be appreciated. This is going to be my first tropical palu build. I've done ponds, aquariums, and a brackish setup with mudskippers/fiddlers/endler's livebearers/brackish plants, but never anything like this. I've also had everything from anoles to frogs to turtles to ball pythons, so I'm pretty familar with herp care. My 125G got a small chip while moving to the new townhouse two weeks ago and I don't trust it full of water over time, so I'm using it as an excuse to dive right into a tropical setup.

So far, I've decided on:

-a false bottom w/ a waterfall & a shallow, moderately sized water feature (also one or two other smaller pools).

-GS background with driftwood, orchids, and broms.

-LECA/pea gravel mix bottom layer with sphag peat moss/fir/coco/soil mix with a bit of leaf litter on top (open to any suggestions here)

-dart frogs

Now, on to the questions:
1. I know the typical answer to the multiple species of darts question. However, given the size of the tank, I am wondering if there would be any possibility of keeping one terrestrial and one arboreal species that would not crossbreed or overstress one another. A species of dart and a species of tree frog would be cool too.

Another option could be vampire crabs instead of frogs.

2. I've heard that tincs are susceptible to drowning. Does this apply to any other species? Also, I have a possible solution. I was considering a few botia kubotai (Burmese Border Loaches) in the water section. I've kept these guys for years, and they definitely wouldn't even consider trying to eat a frog. However, they are ridiculously playful and active- would a lot of activity in the water keep the frogs out?

I feel like that could be a pretty easy solution, especially since the loaches would probably meet and greet the frog if it wandered into the shallows (think fearless mini dolphins )... with what I've read about most of these frogs, it seems like they wouldn't get too close to a situation like that.

Another solution involves mesh at the surface of the water feature with duckweed on top, but that complicates things if a loach ever kicks the bucket.. and I also really. hate. duckweed.

Last option would be finding frogs that won't drown, and putting yellow dwarf shrimp in the water.

3. Ventilation/Air circulation. How necessary is each and how much would be needed? I would prefer to circulate more so than ventilate for more stability in the system.

4. Types of wood- I have some grape wood but have heard that this is pretty susceptible to mold. I can get some cypress shipped up from a friend in FL, but that's a last resort cause I have a bunch of the grapewood.

5. Plants - I've heard pothos is pretty popular for many vivs... will it work in the higher humidity of a tropical viv? I also have a phalaenopsis orchid and some kyoto moss spores and am wondering if those could work. I also plan on using some riccia, java moss, and crypts from my fish tanks, i hope the transition to land isn't too difficult. Any recommendations for easy, hardy tropical plants?

6. Lighting - Right now, I'm planning on using two 36" 2x65w power compacts (each has one 10000K and one 6700K bulb) so 260 watts total. Too much?

7. Misting - the false bottom will probably contain almost 20 gallons of water and the features will have generous surface area. I'm also using glass lids (with the plastic pieces in the back so cutting can be done for wiring/tubing). How much misting will I need to do? Is it worth investing in a system or will I reach the necessary humidity by keeping ventilation to a minimum?


Starter pics will come when the false bottom and black silicone go in tomorrow

[Epiphile]

My thoughts:

1. I wouldn't, personally. I wouldn't trust myself to know when the animals were stressed, given that the signs aren't always obvious.

2. I've yet to hear anything about a frog actually drowning, but I would think that as long as there's an easy way to get out of the water they should be fine.

3. Circulation is the key- just try and move all the air in the system, however gently. Plan a system that you can add to or take away from until you get it where you want it.

4. I couldn't say for sure about that one.

5. I'm just going to come right out and say it- I hate seeing pothos in vivaria. In a huge, humid atrium or something, fine, but the plant is not to scale in a tank. It gets too big, too fast, and just looks sloppy. Just my opinion, of course. There are better choices than the ubiquitous Phalaenopsis as far as orchids- these are quite prone to rot when kept too moist.

6. Depending on what you're trying to grow, you may need more lighting, especially if you're planning for aquatic plants at the bottom of the tank. See how it goes, though.

7. Whether it's worth investing in will depend on you- you could definitely keep humidity where you want it via hand misting, but there's nothing like automation sometimes.

[tclipse]

A few pics of the progress......

PVC supports in, back siliconed-


Bring on the Great Stuff-


Test patch of coco fiber on the finished half-


Still a little coco to put on the right side, put some stuff in the left to test-


I've chosen D. azureus as the main focus, and will be putting CRS or maybe cherry shrimp in the water portion (the loaches would have been an issue with tads, but the shrimp will not) along with some zebra nerite and tiger nerite snails.

I pulled two anoles from one of my other tanks to look at for now (They'll go back with their friends when it's done) I also bought an adult pair of azureus but will not be adding them until the tank is totally complete... still have to finish the right 10% with coco fiber and then add the water. Here they are in their temp. tank:

[beckdg]

looks good. what's in the hood?

[Klowne]

That's a good looking tank. How do you get the coco fiber to stick to the background?

[Oblivion]

Very nice set-up.

Klowne as for your question about how he stuck coco fiber to the background, One method of doing it is putting silicone onto the great stuff then applying the coco fiber to the silicone. I'm sure there is many build-logs on how to do it.

[Herpetology101]

nice set-up, and cute frogs!

[Kyle The Toad]

Considering the size of the enclosure I actually think that green pothos would look nice in that tank, especially after you add moss. Just make sure to limit it to one or two vines that are trimmed frequently or the environment will look cluttered and not well conceived. Epiphile is right, pothos does look bad in most vivariums but I think it will work just fine in this one.

[tclipse]

Just an update- as you can see, I've picked up more than a little info since my last posts Inhabitants are one mourning gecko and a probable 2.1 trio of azureus (they grew up together and I have seen zero aggression so far, if it starts then one will be moved).

plants I ended up with include 10-15 neoregelias, a bunch of tillandsias, dwarf ficus, selaginella sp., various peperomia/pilea, several moss varieties, alocasia "black velvet," and calathea sp.

[red_goby]

WOW! Very nice! Now I'm afraid to post my 29.