Evolution - 40G Breeder w/Eggcrate Topper - Page 3

froggsong · #21 06-02-2010, 11:33 AM

Alright, I'm experiencing MUCH faster upload speeds at the moment, so here's the best I have for now:

And here's one of Joe being beautiful!:

froggsong · #22 06-02-2010, 11:37 AM

And it shrank the images again... It never USED to do that... I wonder why it's doing it now... Perhaps Marty changed something? It says I have no file size limit, and there's no box saying it will shrink the image... Weirdness!

beckdg · #23 06-02-2010, 12:22 PM

looking really good.

maybe it's the 12 mega pixels you're using?

froggsong · #24 06-02-2010, 12:44 PM

No, some of those were from my 3mp camera on my phone... None of them were 12.

EDIT: I'm still not 100% happy with the tank, mostly it's the land portion and the bare glass around the sides and back. There's not a natural transition between the topper and the tank either. I just don't have any way to fix it, since I don't have anywhere to put the inhabitants. Maybe some day, lol... I would love to foam the top of the glass so that the topper transitions into the tank perfectly (while still leaving it removable). This will also help with feeder escapes... There are alot of little gaps in the foam around the tank frame.

I might build a new topper for the tank at some point. One that's a little more elaborate and taller too. I'll keep the current one, if I do that, so that I can switch back to the shorter build if space requires it (being in the military, we move alot). I'd like to do the next one out of sheet foam to eliminate warping and make it easier to install doors. I'd like to have doors that open out rather than down (although the door I have now is completely out of the way when it's open, which is a definite plus).

I was thinking that if I DO build another topper, or if I fix this one to go down into the tank the right way, I can stick glad press and seal to the glass and tank frame and them foam down onto the glass. If I let it cure for a few days (instead of the few hours i usually wait, lol), it shouldn't shrink at all and I can just pull it right off of the glass. That would make the topper fit better in the tank frame too (I seem to have mis-cut the thing... It's not square, unfortunately).

EDIT, again: You know, I could probably do that with the press and seal wrap without having to move the critters for TOO long, just a few hours. Then I can let it cure for a while and then take it off to paint it (takes very little time, it can go back on within hours). That would solve my feeders issues without stressing the inhabitants too badly.

Ok, I'll stop going back and editing now, lol...

froggsong · #25 06-12-2010, 11:43 AM

I'm most likely going to get some work done on this today as I get some housework done. I want to get some plants in the water, and I'll be installing a hinge on the door (FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!). I'm not sure whether I'm going with a single long hinge or two shorter ones (I bought both). I forgot to get epoxy, so I'll have to see about shortening the screws and using them. I'll be so glad to get the thing done. The tape hinge I'm using is failing badly, and I'm worried about escapes. I MIGHT remove the inhabitants and get all the holes to the outside plugged. This is on my kitchen counter, and since it's starting to get warmer here, I don't want the roaches escaping like they have been. They generally die pretty quickly (get's into the 50s here at night still), but that's not the point, you know? My recommendation for anyone that wants to try to build a topper out of eggcrate is to be 100% sure that there are no holes in the foam that feeders can fit through.

I'll see about getting pics up tonight of the new hinge and any new scaping I might do.

EDIT: also, if I DO remove the inhabitants, I may foam the BG down into the tank like I mentioned before.

froggsong · #26 06-19-2010, 05:18 PM

Well, as you may have read, I ended up having to COMPLETELY tear down the tank because the female J. splendida escaped. This turned out to be a good thing, in a way. I got the FB fixed (it was dumping substrate underneath and I didn't know it), plugged all the holes, installed the hinge (actually did that before taking everything apart, but had to redo it), and even got my lighting 100% better!

I DO need to get a new piece of plexi (might pay the extra for lexan this time), this piece isn't cut straight on the (now) top edge; I'll be having it cut at the store this time... The curved edge was the bottom of the door before installing the hinge, and it's why my tape hinge was failing. I got some more clips installed to hold the door shut and it's much tighter now, so there shouldn't be anymore feeder escapes, especially since I plugged all the holes in the topper.

The substrate comes all the way up to the tank rim now, allowing me to add in a thicker drainage layer and keep the soil from staying to wet and spoiling. I DID have to trim my beautiful schefflera down to almost nothing, but hopefully the cuttings will root well (read: hopefully I don't forget to take care of the cuttings).

I changed my lights around. I took clamp laps from other tanks and have 4 of them on top now, one with a 13w 6700K CFL bulb, and the other three with 26W 6700K CFLs. This is SO MUCH BETTER, even though it's only one extra bulb. This is because the reflectors are covering more of the tank. The hood I had on there before was actually LIMITING the light. I put it on the fish tank (it takes two standard bulbs and has a spot for a tube, but the ballast fried, so it's got two of the 26W 6700K CFLs in it, and the fish tank is SO BRIGHT NOW! WOW, what a difference, I'll post pics of it later). Because I'm getting so much better light now, the water area is really lit up! I don't think I'll have any trouble growing plants, it's brighter down there than my fish tank used to be. I added several clumps of ambulia, one clump of the moss I had on one of the rocks before (does really well completely under water, much better than being in air at all), a tiny bit of what I think is guppy grass (a little teensy piece that was caught up in some java moss), and some more java moss on the waterfall and in the back under the FB (the light comes into the back of the tank from the window. I did this on purpose to grow algae, btw, guppies like algae and algae does help keep the water parameters stable, plus I bought an otto for the tank.

). I have some more plants coming, and I'll be putting them in here for now. The fish tank is mostly full, lol (I can't wait to show you guys the growth of the plants since the last time I posted a pic of it). I'll be getting some lace java fern, a crypt or two(not identified), 3 stems of Bacopa caroliniana (two over a foot long), and some riccia, which I'm going to float (I might put that in the fish tank).

I might eventually take my schefflera out of this tank and put in something that won't get so big. Now that I have less upward space for the plant to grow tall, It's going to be difficult to keep it trimmed, especially at the rate it grows. Also, after I get the cuttings rooted, I might sell some, so PM me if interested.

The tank looks a bit bare now. I'll have to get some new things to mount to the BG or something. Sure, it's nice to see the animals more, but I really like a thickly planted tank. On a happy note, my licorice fern is starting to produce ferns again, so that's great! Soon there will be more cover on the back wall as the ferns open up. I might put some moss on the BG where the fogger outlet is, it should do well there.

Anyway, I know you just come here for the pics, so here they are!:

And here's a shot of just the poor schefflera... I had to chop off so much of it.

Now it's time to go work on the frog tank.

beckdg · #27 06-20-2010, 04:56 PM

looks fantastic.

froggsong · #28 06-20-2010, 05:01 PM

Thanks.

froggsong · #29 08-03-2010, 02:41 PM

So, I don't think I actually updated this when she passed, so I'll do it now. My golden tree frog, Joe, passed away a couple of weeks ago. I was expecting her to go soon, she was pretty old. She did outlive her life expectancy though, so that's good. I'll miss her, she was my first frog (other than WC frogs I kept in jars as a kid).

The schefflera is growing into the space again pretty nicely (this thing grows SUPER fast). I need to get in there and fiddle with the pump again and get the waterfall running like I want it to. After I do that, I'll post some more pictures. I hope to get to it sometime today.

froggsong · #30 08-03-2010, 02:41 PM

So, I don't think I actually updated this when she passed, so I'll do it now. My golden tree frog, Joe, passed away a couple of weeks ago. I was expecting her to go soon, she was pretty old. She did outlive her life expectancy though, so that's good. I'll miss her, she was my first frog (other than WC frogs I kept in jars as a kid).

The schefflera is growing into the space again pretty nicely (this thing grows SUPER fast). I need to get in there and fiddle with the pump again and get the waterfall running like I want it to. After I do that, I'll post some more pictures. I hope to get to it sometime today.