150 gallon/6 foot palu...1st time build.

[kitcolebay]

My son and I spent some time in the garage and made some good progress. He's always a lot of help. We put some screen down on the landing around the waterfall. Got the background cut. Put shelves in the background and mounted some planter cups. Siliconed rocks on the inside of the "pond". Planned out some of the plumbing since I made my filter trade this morning...Got 3 Magnum 350 canisters for my sump filter. I'm going to use two of them. We also got the background covered in Great Stuff.
Here is a pic before we put planter cups and GS on background or finished putting some more rocks on pond wall-

Hopefully I may make knock out some smaller things over the next week. I may wait two weeks to do some of the bigger steps for when my son and I can spend another weekend toying around with it.
My Hydroton and ABG should be in around Tuesday.

[kitcolebay]

About to head out the door for work, but wanted to get some feedback on critter selection. For several reasons, I was thinking something somewhat simple...I hope. I know I've read many people don't think it's a good idea to have several types in a tank, but some people like to and have no problems. After talking to my wife and kids, they like the simple green anoles and tree frogs. Is it generally fine to have these together? I've been told yes at our local store, but I like to get multiple opinions to best base my own. Also, is it ok to mix tree frogs? For example, green's and red eye's? For the water portion, I was thinking maybe a few cichlids. Any advice, suggestions, and recommendations would be greatly appreciated!
Just a reminder, it is 6 ft. by 25" by 18" and 150 gallons. Quantities of suggested critters for that size would be great too.

[jermajesty]

Im not sure about the two different frogs (not really a frog guy, more reptiles) but the anoles and frogs should live fine together considering the amount of space...they put them together at the pet stores and though many die-hard animal lovers would say that they are stressed and too crowded, the animals survive and even have better lives than they would in the wild despite the "harsh" conditions.

As for the cichlids, since they are pretty aggressive fish and the water area so large and deep they may eat the frogs and lizards that fall in.....probably wont happen, but if it does they larger animals stand a better chance at not drowning when not being nibbled on haha. More passive fish might be more friendly, but I'm sure the cichlids will work just fine if you're determined to keep them.
-Jeremy

---------- Post added at 06:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:58 PM ----------

OH yea, and the amount of critters.......It's your choice. I was telling you that they survive fine in the pet stores with 30 anoles in a 18" cube so i think any number of them would survive in that large of an environment, though i would suggest 6-10 or even less depending on the frogs you put in there (idk about the frogs).

[kitcolebay]

Thanks Jermajesty!
It'll still be some time before I had any live little fellows to the tank. I like to research a fair amount to help make knowledgeable decisions. Also, I want to plan ahead enough to hopefully have the tank design/conditions compatible without having to limit myself or rework the tank.
Next question to toss out there...Will clear silicone work ok to coat the background/GS with coco fiber/husk? I see a lot of people prefer to use the darker colors, but I'd think if you coat it well, then the silicone shouldn't be visible though the coco cover. The reason I ask, I have plenty of clear and it is much cheaper than the brown or black.

[jermajesty]

Yea clear works fine, people just dont use it cause it may be harder to cover..it doesnt matter haha. Just make sure to cover completely and press the coco into the silicone for the best hold.
And yea, better to finish up. let a little growth happen, check the temps and humidity, then you can choose the animals.

[kitcolebay]

I thinking I may go with Gorilla glue for the background.

Wish me luck! Tomorrow morning I'm picking up what I hope to be another Craigslist deal. 60" 8 bulb HO T5 fixture with 6 month old 6500k bulbs in it for only $75. I assume it's one of the cheaper fixtures, but I'd think it should meet or exceed my requirements...I hope!

No more construction yet. I hope to get some or all of the plumbing done this week. Yesterday my order of substrate materials from Josh's came in. I also picked up another cork round I like that will provide a "land bridge" over the "creek" and another couple good places to plant.

[jermajesty]

Nice..sounds good. GOrilla glue works fine but you may find the price running up..but whatev.
ANd YEA...THATS A STEAL haha
You might want to replace a few of the 6500k bulbs with some other ranges like a 10000k (brighter light) and a 2700k (for blooming) especially cause they are old...but any light like that should be fine..good luck.

[highvoltagerob]

I currently have green tree frogs and green anoles together, and there have been know problems. With a tank your size you have lots of room, and with lots of visual barriers it shouldn't be a problem. I think that a large group of fire belly toads would love it in there. You could have twenty fire bellys in there!

I wouldnt mix green tree frogs with red eyes, the retf stress very easily.

Your build looks good so far!

[kitcolebay]

Thanks Rob.

Busy week(like most people have). Hope to get some work done this weekend(once again, like most people). I did get my lights picked up yesterday morning. Pretty happy with them. They are the cheap China made ones, but they are still 8 working T5 HO 6500k bulbs that light up pretty good. Eventually I will buy new bulbs to brighten it up even more and put a couple different strengths to hit a wider spectrum of color.

My LED lunar lights showed up today. I have these same lights for my salt water tanks. I don't think you can beat the price...72" bar(3x24") that has 54 LED's w/dimmer control for $55. They are also in clear tubes to make them water resistant(not waterproof). Thanks DigiKits.com.

Other than that, just a whole lot of reading and thinking about the next steps.

-Chris

---------- Post added at 01:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:05 PM ----------

Here is my new LED's out of the box...



And my existing ones in my 55 gallon reef tank...



In my reef tank, I have them at full brightness. I imagine I will have them dimmed down to one of the lower settings for the Viv.

[jermajesty]

I love how the LEDs come as 3 24" bars rather than just one clumsy 72"...I may get those for some vivs for night viewing...
THanks for introducing me haha
Hope to see some completed viv pics soon
-Jeremy