My First Build - Exo-terra with false bottom and stream

[apaka]

Hello,
Thought I'd give back to the community a bit since I've used this forum so much for research in my build.


Tank right out of the box. Exo-terra 18x18x24


Background "organic-ized" with black silicone\eco earth and false bottom/stream mocked up


Stream covered in great stuff foam with tubing installed, the start of the carving


Rocks glued into stream bed


Eco earth glued onto outside of stream


Underside of false bottom showing tubing zap strapped into place, connections and the flow control valve


False bottom in place with pvc spacers, tubing connected to pump via a quick release fitting


Top view of false bottom back in place


Retaining wall siliconed together, wet eco earth placed in and a plant thrown in for good measure


Finally finished - front view doors closed


Finally finished - side view


Finally finished - front view doors open

I have a foam filter over the intake of the pump, and I had to drill three relief holes by the output of the pump for two reasons, #1 to allow a "blow off" for the water to go when I restrict the pump with the valve (in retrospect I should have gone with a variable speed pump) and #2 to circulate the water near the rear of the tank.

The pump is easily accesable\servicable (thank goodness) by removing about 12 fairly large rocks on the left\front side of the tank. The right side rocks of the tank where the water flows into all stays stationary but the left half of the tank has a removable eggcrate section that allows me to pull out the pump completely if needed, change the filter material, adjust the flow or deal with any of the (MANY) problems that you're bound to encounter when dealing with a pump setup like this.

I read in a thread on this site before I started this build, "Take the amount of time you plan to spend on the build, times it by 2, take the amount of money you plan to spend on the build, times that by 4 and you'll be done your build". What a learning experience!! Thanks to every1 for already asking the questions that were going through my head.


Jake says thanks!

[brp4e.]

You should get some broms or some other type of epiphyte and mount them on your background. You should also add some more branches and that to fill the top part of tank out some more. So far it looks good.

[RecycledAgain]

Looks like a quality build. Nice Work!

Were you planning on growing in that back ground? I was thinking some creeping fig would set off that carving work you did. I would also think a sturdy plant or a brom or two would look very nice and give a few more hide spots for the frog till that vine gets going.

Dan

[gillenws]

that does look really nice! i'd agree with the broms/vining plants for the background to cover all of that open area.

[apaka]

I was definitly planning on mounting something into the background, at this point I'm just unsure as to where to buy a good candidate for doing that, ill just have to take some time and go out and look. I was battling with pump difficulties for a while but I've got that all sorted. I do want to build "up" more in the tank tho, need more hiding / shade spots and I want to use up more of the empty space, although I'm sure the frog will just continue to want to cram himself in between the top of the background and the mesh, lol. Build this massive tank and he likes it best there, figures. The soil stays moist all the time, temp and hum are in a good range, the frog stays quite active and he's constantly changing colors to adapt to whatever section of the tank he's in...I swear he's part chameleon.

[beckdg]

Cloud Jungle Epiphytes - Plant Catalog

viv looks great... figured you could use a link to cloud jungle.

don't forget black jungle too. they should be advertising on the left there.

[Epiphile]

You know, that Philodendron sp. (hederaceum?) will climb if the back wall stays moist enough, but you're going to have to keep it in check, as the leaves will get larger as it progresses.

[Skullflower]

Hi, how do you go about filtering the water? Just change it? if so how difficult is it? Are you just siphoning it out? Ack sorry read it in your post never mind, :P Thanks Looks great!

[LadyBug]

it look amazing!
where did you get the stuff to make the fake bottom? and what's it called?

[Ozymandias]

we call it egg crates but another name for it is light diffusers or something. it's usually found in the lighting section of home depo or lows though it can be hidden away some times