# General Topics > Vivarium, Terrarium & Enclosure Discussion >  Custom Vivarium Build Log

## VicSkimmr

Ok, so a few months ago I decided that I was through with saltwater reef tanks and I wanted to get back into keeping poison frogs. I've been in the planning stages for months trying to figure out the best way to create a large display enclosure, but in the mean time I decided to try out my techniques on a small scale first.

So, I decided to build an 18x18x24 vivarium. This one is actually built out of 3/32" glass, but if I were to do it over again I would build it out of 1/8" glass to make measurements easier. Feel free to ask any questions about the techniques used  :Smile: 

Day 1
The bottom, back and both sides are in place. Painters tape was used to hold the pieces in place. 

WIP - Day 1 by jasonwithers, on Flickr

Day 2
The "frame" for the front is in place

WIP - Day 2 by jasonwithers, on Flickr

Day 3
I let the tank cure for 24 hours and then water tested it for leaks

WIP - Day 3 by jasonwithers, on Flickr

Day 4
I siliconed the aluminum rail in place to support the door

WIP - Day 4 by jasonwithers, on Flickr

Then the door is test fitted and secured with 4 1/2" x 1/8" rare earth magnets. The magnets are placed so that one is inside the vivarium and one is outside the door, so it is glass on glass in between, essentially fly proofing the door setup

WIP - Day 4 by jasonwithers, on Flickr

Closeup

WIP - Day 4 by jasonwithers, on Flickr

Day 5
I had to wait for a 1/2" diamond hole saw bit to come in to finish the top, so I started on the false bottom construction first.

WIP - Day 5 by jasonwithers, on Flickr

Day 6
Top glass pieces installed and misting nozzles in place

WIP - Day 6 by jasonwithers, on Flickr

Day 6
Installing the mesh screen. I went through 2 versions of this and aren't happy with either. The first isn't fruit fly proof

Ventilation Closeup by jasonwithers, on Flickr

And the second is too difficult to work with, and as such is too messy

Ventilation Screen Installation by jasonwithers, on Flickr
More to come after lunch...

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## clownonfire

Jason, what a great process so far. And nice looking place! 

MikeM670 and DonLisk I think you will both enjoy this.

eric

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## Brit

Wow that is a great viv build. Looks amazing and completely professional. Great work.

Can you explain more fully about the magnets to hold the door? Is this just temporary or do you plan on using magnets long term, and how does it work? This is so interesting. I will probably be modifying a 10 and 30 gallon tank later on and the door seems like the hardest part.

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## VicSkimmr

Thanks! 

I'll try to take a better picture of the magnets and how they work tonight. They basically hold the door in place. The magnets aren't so strong that they'll break the glass, but they're strong enough to hold it in place through both pieces of glass and they let go easily if you go to take the door off. 

I was originally planning on going through Protean terrariums but I decided that I didn't like a couple of things about the sliding door design. 1: I don't like the plastic border around the doors that are needed to make it frog proof, 2: I don't like that you can only have access to half of the viv at a time, and 3: I don't like that you have to make such a ruckus to open the viv, which disturbs the frogs. 

I wanted something that was as seamless as possible. I can't take credit for the design though, Tropical Ecos use magnets for their doors as well, but they don't ship so they weren't an option for me.

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## VicSkimmr

So here it is in its final resting place

Living Room / Kitchen by jasonwithers, on Flickr

Background in place. It's ecoweb, which turns out to be a giant brillo pad

Background in place by jasonwithers, on Flickr

Here's how I plumbed the misting system

Pump and Reservoir by jasonwithers, on Flickr

Which fits nicely into this basket

The reservoir hidden in its basket by jasonwithers, on Flickr

Which then fits into the bookshelf. The light fits on top of all the plumbing up top, but it looks like this underneath

Closeup of the hidden misting set up by jasonwithers, on Flickr

I slightly modified the light fixture (it's an exo terra 18" fixture) so the tubing could run under it

Light modification by jasonwithers, on Flickr

Wood secured

Securing wood by jasonwithers, on Flickr

Substrate in place (ABG Mix)

Substrate Added by jasonwithers, on Flickr

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## VicSkimmr

Annndddddd plants. This is where it currently sits

Initial planting

Initial Planting by jasonwithers, on Flickr


Initial Planting by jasonwithers, on Flickr


Initial Planting by jasonwithers, on Flickr

Water area substrate and plants. This is actually going to be a dry river bed that I'll flood periodically to coincide with the rainy (breeding) season. At least that's the plan

Water Area Planted by jasonwithers, on Flickr


Water Area Planted by jasonwithers, on Flickr


Water area planted by jasonwithers, on Flickr
It has since been covered mostly in leaf litter. I've got ferns coming in soon so I'll update at that point  :Smile: 

A couple of closeups of bromeliads

Bromeliad Closeup by jasonwithers, on Flickr


Bromeliad Closeup by jasonwithers, on Flickr

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## Grrrit

wow! im digging that for sure, amazing. what kindof pump do you use for that mist system? and what kind of frog do you plan to keep?

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## Michael

Jason,

First off let me say congratulations on building a very clean modern looking vivarium.  I like how you were able to take the exo terra light and hid the misting nozzles and tubing under it.  Nice touch hiding the water reservoir in the basket.  Never would of thought of that.  

The thicker glass you recommend would be much better as far as a safety factor.  I have found 1/32 to be a bit fragile and could easily crack.  

Have you fired up the misting system?  Have you had any issues with the front glass fogging?  On my 55 gallon I still get some fogging immediately after misting the tank which can last for hours.  The top is the only place for ventilation in my case and I built some custom screen covers to handle that.  Did you give any thought to putting in a lower level air vent to allow air to flow up the front glass and out the top?  If so any thoughts on how you would build this?  

Building a vivarium like this really lends itself to custom designs to fit specific locations!

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## VicSkimmr

> wow! im digging that for sure, amazing. what kindof pump do you use for that mist system? and what kind of frog do you plan to keep?


Thanks! The misting kit is a 6 year old mistking set up, so the pump is whatever came with his systems back in the day. It's loud as hell.

This tank will initially house a group of R. imitator intermedius so I can keep an eye on them while I set up the big tank. After they've been moved to the big tank I'm not sure, but maybe a pair of R. vanzolinii or a group of R. benedicta.




> Jason,
> 
> First off let me say congratulations on building a very clean modern looking vivarium.  I like how you were able to take the exo terra light and hid the misting nozzles and tubing under it.  Nice touch hiding the water reservoir in the basket.  Never would of thought of that.  
> 
> The thicker glass you recommend would be much better as far as a safety factor.  I have found 1/32 to be a bit fragile and could easily crack.  
> 
> Have you fired up the misting system?  Have you had any issues with the front glass fogging?  On my 55 gallon I still get some fogging immediately after misting the tank which can last for hours.  The top is the only place for ventilation in my case and I built some custom screen covers to handle that.  Did you give any thought to putting in a lower level air vent to allow air to flow up the front glass and out the top?  If so any thoughts on how you would build this?  
> 
> Building a vivarium like this really lends itself to custom designs to fit specific locations!


The glass is pretty thin, but I'm not overly concerned about it cracking. Barring someone slamming into it or something getting thrown at it I'm confident that it won't crack, and structurally it is very sturdy, even with it being compromised somewhat in the front and top  :Smile: 

I don't get any fog on the front after misting, and so far I have it set to mist for 1 minute every day and twice on Saturday and Sunday. It does fog a bit near the soil but that's usually gone in half an hour. 

I had considered building a euro vent type setup into it but I ditched the idea since I knew I wouldn't do it in the large tank (paludarium). I felt like the euro vent would take away from the seamless look of the tank. If I hadn't done the dry river bed / water section I probably would have done a euro vent.

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## Grrrit

I thought it was a mistking. I want to get one herr in the next wk or two with spring here now so that all of my frogs can experience spring without the annoying torture on my hands lol I was kind of hoping it was a cheaper alternative lol

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## VicSkimmr

lol, sorry to disappoint. Still, at $99 I think it's well worth the piece of mind, plus they can handle multiple tanks at once  :Smile:

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## Grrrit

no worries, all is well. The manifold for the multiple tanks is where they get ya haha  but yes a worthy investment. It should handle my 5 tanks when the others are done and a rain chamber just fine I would hope lol

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## VicSkimmr

I'm actually down to using just 1 nozzle now for misting and all of my plants are getting plenty of water, so don't order too many. With 2 nozzles I had no way of keeping the water off the sides of the viv, and it was really more water than I needed.

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## VicSkimmr

I found a couple of decent plants at Home Depot today  :Smile: 

White Rabbits Foot Fern


I have no idea what this is but I decided to take a chance on it 


General shots

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## lnaminneci

Jason,

Great job!!   :Big Applause:  :Big Applause: 

Very nice build and photographs!  I love the set up and the way you documented the progress!  I can't wait to see it with your darts in their new home!   :Frog Smile: 

Well Done!

~Lesley

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## Leefrogs

it looks great, but I'm still lost on the door. I've been planning a viv, and want glass, how's the magnets work? If I understand right, there's no hinges and the door magnets hold it on?  What's the dementions of the door and what do u think the max weight/for door size with this approach?

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## VicSkimmr

That's exactly right, there are no hinges. The aluminum rail on the bottom supports the entire weight of the door with no problem, and the magnets keep it attached at the top. So far I've noticed 2 downsides to this design.

1. fingerprints are inevitable
2. you basically have to remove the door to do work in the tank

I'm thinking about picking up something like this to make it a bit easier to work with, especially with the large tank  :Smile: 



I want to say that this door measures 16" x 16" and is made out of 1/4" glass. Basically I wanted to make sure it overlaps the "frame" on the front by 2" on each side and 4" at the top. I'm sorry I forgot to take a picture of it last night.

This video explains it pretty well
YouTube - Magnets for a vivarium door

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## VicSkimmr

So what type of dart frog do you guys think would be best displayed in this tank? I have an affinity for Ranitomeya, but really I would consider any of the thumbnail frogs. I potentially will only be able to have this one tank aside from my display tank so it needs to be a damn nice frog. As such, price is pretty much not a variable in my decision.

If you could only keep one kind of dart frog and are restricted to this size enclosure, what would it be?

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## clownonfire

As it's vertical, I would personally stay with thumbs. On top of the list, maybe a pair of R. vanzolini or R. fulgurita if of course if they were available...

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## VicSkimmr

Is anybody working on bringing fulgurita into the hobby (captive bred)? mmmmmmm

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## Don

:Big Applause: Very nice work.  I love the modern look and the door design is so clean looking.  

Thanks for sharing this....  I'll be putting some of your design ideas into my notes to reference back on for some build :-)

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## Brit

Wow it turned out great looking, wonderful job! I love how clean and modern it looks. The magnet thing is a cool thing to think about for my 10 gallon conversion I'll be doing within the next few months, thanks for sharing! And that video explained everything I needed to know, thanks for putting that up too, I was a bit perplexed. XD;

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## itzjezze

I have a really important question.....
...
...
...
WHY IS YOUR LIVINGROOM BLUE?  :EEK!:

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## VicSkimmr

Haha, it looks blue in a lot of pictures but it's actually a pretty neutral gray. The complex answer to why it looks blue is that the lights on the frog tank are a lot bluer than the lights in our kitchen, so the white balance of the picture is messed up to the point where I didn't feel like trying to correct it.

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## itzjezze

Lol well on a more serious note, very very impressive tank. Very artistic, very creative, I love it, I love how it focuses on that amazing wood piece and how it looks very modern as well. I am just starting to get into darts now and just got done setting up my first small viv with an exo terra tank. Hopefully someday after I get a bit more experience ill be able to make a larger more creative and complex tank like yours ^_^

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## VicSkimmr

Thanks! What size Exo Terra did you end up with?

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## itzjezze

12x12x18. Its much smaller than I thought it was gonna be XD but I think its a good start, im going to put a pair of thumbs in it.

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## VicSkimmr

That's the size I was going to build too but I decided it was a bit small for what I wanted. It'll be great for a pair of thumbs though  :Smile:

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## itzjezze

Well you picked a good size, everything fits in there very well.

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## VicSkimmr

Well, I made an in-viv air circulation system over the weekend and took some pics, but this thing doesn't move much air at all. I'm not sure if it was worth it considering how much room it takes up. I guess I'll just wait and see if it has any effect on the plants.

Here's the guide I started with
DIY Air Circulation | GlassTropics

Naturally I had to mod it a bit because I'm crazy like that.

So here's what I used


Right to left: 1/4" to 1/8" brass nipple, 1/2" PVC coupling, 1/2 plug x 2 (only 1 shown, I changed my design halfway through), 2" to 1.5" reducer, 2" to 1" reducer, power supply, 40mm PC fan. 

This design requires no silicone at all, so it can be completely disassembled and rebuilt if something breaks. The pics will probably speak for themselves

Step 1 - Drill hole in 2" to 1.5" reducer (for wires)


Step 2 


Step 3


Step 4


Step 5


Step 6 - drill a hole just large enough so the brass nipple screws into it in one plug, drill a hole in the other large enough to feed wires through


test fit


Step 7 - Insert plugs in both ends of coupling (not pictured)

Step 8 - Glue coupling/plug contraption to fan housing

Step 8 - drill hole in tank (i had to use the mesh)


Step 9 - feed wires through through the nipple, screw in place


Step 10 - wire the fan to the power supply (see original link for instructions)

Done!  :Smile:

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## Don

Now that is awesome.  My 20 long dart viv can definitely use this and you made the walk thru thorough.
Thanks Vic.
 :Big Applause:

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## VicSkimmr

Sweet! It took about half an hour to put together and I found everything except the power supply (monoprice) and the PC fan (newegg) at Home Depot. Total cost was about $20 I think.

I wish it moved more air, but to do that I'd need a bigger fan which would require bigger PVC parts and it would take up too much space. There might be a way to overdrive the fan but I don't know how to do it.

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## Don

> Sweet! It took about half an hour to put together and I found everything except the power supply (monoprice) and the PC fan (newegg) at Home Depot. Total cost was about $20 I think.
> 
> I wish it moved more air, but to do that I'd need a bigger fan which would require bigger PVC parts and it would take up too much space. There might be a way to overdrive the fan but I don't know how to do it.


I think the main thing is that its added the air movement that the Broms need and looks clean.

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## Brian

Nice work! I especially like the look of the magnets on the door design. I've used a piano hinge and a small bolt thinger for a front door and it takes up some of the front viewing real estate. The magnets and aluminum rail look much cleaner, though maybe at the cost of ease of access. It looks worth it for where you have it on display :Smile: .

You can speed up your computer fan by running more voltage through it, too much and it might go fizzle though :Wink: .

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## VicSkimmr

Thanks man  :Smile: 

One last shot before frogs (shipping tomorrow yay!) I'm working on the fan system for the big tank too and might try one of it's fans (80mm) out in the little one to see it's effect on humidity.

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## itzjezze

How big is the fan? If its a 80mm then you can just get a fan that has more power, newegg has some fans that are pretty powerfull in the 80mm size, and if its to powerful u can just use a controller on it. Lemme know if you need help picking out a better fan, I do alot of orders from newegg for my business.

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## VicSkimmr

The one that's in there right now is 40mm. The ones I bought for the big tank are 80mm and put out TONS of air.

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## JSG

Jason, beautiful viv and awesome plants. Love it! 
How long would the wood last though? Would all that moist and humidity not cause it to slowly but surely rot away?
Also read that once a Bromeliad has flowered that specific plant will never flower again  :Frown:  , hope it is not the same for the orchid I saw in your tank as earlier photos showed that in bloom.
Waiting to see the frogs in their viv!  :Wink:

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## Grrrit

> Jason, beautiful viv and awesome plants. Love it! 
> How long would the wood last though? Would all that moist and humidity not cause it to slowly but surely rot away?
> Also read that once a Bromeliad has flowered that specific plant will never flower again  , hope it is not the same for the orchid I saw in your tank as earlier photos showed that in bloom.
> Waiting to see the frogs in their viv!


The broms that flower usually generate pups that grow off of the stolon. Once the pup reaches 1/3-1/2 the size of the mother plant you can break it off and mount or plant it. The broms don't really need soil to thrive. The roots are more for stability as apposed to nutrients. 


And vic, way too cool. I'm going to check out that other link you mentioned for the fan. I need some of those!

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## Michael

Jason,

That fan setup looks really good. I don't think you need to worry about the size of that fan,  as it really is not a distraction. As for the circulation I imagine what you have is just fine for that tank size.  You don't want too strong a breeze in the tank but one just strong enough to get some air movement so things are not stagnate.

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## Don

I've seen wood in tanks for almost 20 years that have not been replaced and still going strong. I always wondered why it didn't just rot away.

I'm sure some wood will have to be replaced over time due to rot and I guess thats when you just have to do some maintenance and change the look.

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## VicSkimmr

Some kinds of wood holds up to humidity better than others. I used Malaysian driftwood, which is supposed to be pretty resistant. They use it submerged for freshwater aquariums so it should do ok  :Smile:

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## itzjezze

So I have a question since im still learning about darts... is circulation required?...

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## VicSkimmr

Definitely not, this is the first time I've tried it. It most definitely helps the plants and it probably has some benefits for the frogs too, but it definitely isn't required.

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## smashtoad

This tank is sweet, but going to all this trouble to make such a great display enclosure and then using a tree fern background is like re-building a Hemi Cuda and buying the new rims at Walmart.  Your landscaping eye is awesome...really beautiful.  I just can't get past the background...too flat and uniform.  Doesn't do justice to your obvious ability and eye for natural form.

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## VicSkimmr

In sticking with the "euro" theme I thought it was appropriate. Clay backgrounds look great but I'm not convinced that they'll stay in place long term (or rather, that I could build one that would stay in place). Since this tank is meant for testing all of the features I'll be using in the big tank I wanted to go with something simple for the background. 

All of my favorite European tanks use either tree fern panels or an equivalent, and they look awesome when grown in, so I'm not too worried about it  :Smile:

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## smashtoad

Makes sense...gotcha.  Patience is a virtue.  I made a great stuff and coco background for mine, looks great, but man was it a pain to do.  It has long since grown over for the most part.  I'm with you on the clay...hard to believe it will stay long term...but some say they will if you keep it humid.

But again...freakin stunning landscaping, man.

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## VicSkimmr

Thanks! I've used great stuff in the past but it never held up well enough for me, and the plants didn't really like to root in it. We'll see how this ecoweb stuff does  :Smile:

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## VicSkimmr

YAY


It's going to be a long afternoon at work  :Frown:

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## Grrrit

awesome! when are you introducing then to the viv!?!?!

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## VicSkimmr

Tonight. I know I should probably quarantine them, but I trust Chris Miller (the breeder I got them from). They look healthy and I've been waiting for them for over a month now.

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## Grrrit

i would imagine they would be ok then. thats what i did as well with my milkys. what species are they? they look cool from what i could see.

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## VicSkimmr

They're Ranitomeya imitator intermedius from the Uhern line. They're pretty much identical to imitator chazutas except that we don't have any locale info to prove that's what they are.

I took the lid off and snapped a couple of pics of the small one with my iPhone.




I'll post some better pics tonight provided they don't go into hiding. I don't imagine they will as they've been exploring their shipping container non-stop since I got them.

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## Grrrit

Good stuff. If/when I get some darts they will be some sort of imitator locale. I'm intrigued by their breeding behavior.

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## VicSkimmr

Better pics of the big one. The small one is so far pretty shy

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## Don

Beautiful frogs.   If only I had another viv built....  definitely jealous here.

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## Grrrit

Those are some sweet little guys

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## VicSkimmr

Thanks!  :Smile:

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## itzjezze

Awsome pics!  :Smile:  Im sure your frogs' jaws will drop when they see there new home.

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## Brian

Gorgeous pics.  There's a museum-like artistry to your designs. 
I'm curious, what camera/lens did you use for the closeups?

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## JSG

Jason, those frogs in the viv you've build will only compliment one another, BRAVO! And please keep us updated with pics as the viv settles in...I would love to see those tree fern panels as they grow in! You mentioned that the Great Stuff doesn't do so well, so yeah I'm waiting to see your experiment going!

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## VicSkimmr

Thanks! They were taken with a Canon 40D / Sigma 150 f/2.8 macro

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## VicSkimmr

> Jason, those frogs in the viv you've build will only compliment one another, BRAVO! And please keep us updated with pics as the viv settles in...I would love to see those tree fern panels as they grow in! You mentioned that the Great Stuff doesn't do so well, so yeah I'm waiting to see your experiment going!


Other people seem to have better luck, but the silicone holding the dirt that I plaster over the great stuff always seemed to break down and fall off over time.

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## Grrrit

I heard about that, so I tried mixing the silicon and dirt into a mud and smearing it onto the GS. It came out nice and looked neat but, the different densities of the "mud" separated while drying. leaving white cracks of GS all over. -_- I bandaged it with the typical method of pressing dirty into the silicon and came out way better than before.

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## Grrrit

I heard about that, so I tried mixing the silicon and dirt into a mud and smearing it onto the GS. It came out nice and looked neat but, the different densities of the "mud" separated while drying. leaving white cracks of GS all over. -_- I bandaged it with the typical method of pressing dirty into the silicon and came out way better than before.

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## VicSkimmr

More frog pics, they seem to be acclimating well  :Smile: 

This is the previously pictured one


And the smaller one

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## Michael

Jason,

Those are some great pictures.  I'm hoping to get a new camera soon to take better images with.  My phone camera just does not cut it.   :Wink:

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## itzjezze

I finally got my frogs  :Smile:  i got 2 froglets, hoping for male+female but I guess I wont know till they mature lol. They are both doing alot of hiding right now, wish my camera was good enough to get some pics of them :/

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## Brian

I don't know what I want more, those frogs, that setup, or your skills  :Frog Smile:

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## Grrrit

Way cool! I hope they do well. I'm sure they will in a home like that.

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## Adam R

> Annndddddd plants. This is where it currently sits
> 
> 
> A couple of closeups of bromeliads
> 
> Bromeliad Closeup by jasonwithers, on Flickr
> 
> 
> Bromeliad Closeup by jasonwithers, on Flickr


where did you get your broms? ive been looking everywhere for ones similar to these with no avail??

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## DiggenEm

Any updates?

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