Terry's 24x72x40 Build w/ pics

[no694terry]

I started a thread on the viv-general but i guess its not as popular over there. Anyway, at home i had a large african cichlid tank, a saltwater setup and soon to be a small peice of the rain forest. For critters I'm thinking tree frogs and anoles. Plants i'm still researching.

I started with 3 sheet of 3/4" oak plywood, 8 2x4's and a lot of glue and screws.










then used GE II paintable silicone to seal up the seams.



And then some Duraplate 235 Epoxy to make my box waterproof.





Thats where i left off last night, tonight depending on if epoxy is cured i will start add some great stuff to build up my landspace.

to be continued....




rest of the pictures can be seen here.
https://picasaweb.google.com/terrytu...eat=directlink

[no694terry]

its back to the drawing board. Seven 16oz cans of Great Stuff got me just about nowhere so i'm going to have to make some design changes or find some filler material. and any one like to elaborate on the titebond mixture. i did a quick search but didn't find too much.

[Enfinite5]

Tank looks awesome! Ya it seems like not a lot of people are on this form, its unfortunate cause its awesome.!

[Mink]

egg crate backing for the great stuff foam can greatly cut down on great stuff needed. Expanded clay pellets are also quite useful in creating stuff on the base

also the titebond mixture is

titebond woodglue 3
coco (or some other substrate IE peat, sand, etc)

get coco slightly damp
mix with wood glue
form sticky goop
apply to foam
allow a couple days to dry
???
profit

[no694terry]

thanks mink. i assume you still soak and dry the coco before starting?

heres where im at with the 7 cans, its basically a skim coat. The basis of it is 3 levels for plants, bottom, middle back and top left. Along there will be caves and such for hiding, and the waterfall on the right. i recently read that tree frogs aren't great swimmers so i decreased the size and depth of the pond on the right dramatically. the tank itself is currently set up to be sealed with two acrylic lids on top for access. I can easily add vents and fans in needed. And i'm not sure if the the water fall and the water heated to 75-80 degrees will keep humidity where it needs to be or not.

[EvilLost]

well a few tips for you...


-GE II Silicone has been known to have issues with spindly leg syndrome. Many people use it, myself included, but be warned that in a fully sealed frog environment problems have been noted. Most "serious" froggers use GE 1 (way more indepth info can be found at dendroboards) This is not a major issue at all, but something to be aware of esp if you used a lot of it and plan to have PDFs.

-Mixing species is generally for the very advanced user....mixing animals is NOT like mixing fish. Tree frogs and anoles do habitate the same environment, but care must be made to provide each with appropriate areas of housing (otherwise they might all fight over the "best" spot in the tank)

-You don't need to heat your water imho. You DO need to keep the entire tank at an appropriate temperature.

-I can GUARANTEE you that keeping a river/waterfall will not suffice for humidity. I still wonder how you would plan on watering your plants with this idea anyway...?

-When using the coco / foam background method, I find it works best if the coco is BONE DRY. Any moisture prevents it from sticking in my experiences, but I also use silicone not wood glue to bond them. I have not yet tried the wood glue method.

-It is too late now, but i would have ***HIGHLY*** recommended you to use egg-crate backing and make your foam piece removable. If you ever need to gut the tank, it would make rebuilds way easier (and I find its easier to work outside your tank and then "drop in" the background after)

[Gallis]

Dont even soak the coco. I just broke the brick up with my hands and a butterknife, then threw the chunks into a blender. It was a little dusty but cuts out a ton of time waiting for the soak then drying or cooking.

[EvilLost]

That sounds like a much more difficult method honestly...

I just soak overnight and then lay it out on a cookie sheet for 20min in the oven and its nice and dry

[no694terry]

here's tonight. I think a couple more days should do it. i got some 2" foam to help shape some ledges but still need to fill in areas so it does look like a hampster cage. im still pondering the water feature, mostly so it doesn't splash onto the glass.

evillost, im taking your comments seriously. i had original thought plants in a sealed system used humidity alone as the water source but i'm now looking into a misting system. im also going to start with just a couple of one species until i see how they behave. For the texture i'm going to be using the titebond method. On the water areas i'm going to try a sand type mix of some sort. i do however think i am going to heat the water, in a tank this size i dont think the lights alone will keep it warm.

[Enfinite5]

is this going to house plants and soil? cause I notice you did spray foam on the bottom and dont have a false bottom?

I know a lot of people like to use misting systems but I Was able to get my humidy and temps perfect with just a water fall and fogger.

you could def keep the tank hot with the right lights...I use 2 65W light bulbs to heat my tank and 1 6500k light bulb for good lighting.