# General Topics > Vivarium, Terrarium & Enclosure Discussion >  10 Gallon 70/30 Tropical Pacman Vivarium Build

## Poly

Hey Guys,

My "baby" pacman will soon have to by moved to a larger tank, as he has out grown his 2.5 Gallon tank.

So I'm making him a tropical set-up in 10 gallon. It is a 70-30 set-up.

Hmm... I need some way of getting the 1/8" line out of the tank... these tabs look good...


Cut out the tabs...


Looks promising...


Works perfect!


Tank, empty and bare.


False bottom supports, 2" ABS pipe couplers with holes cut in them for water drainage.


Egg crate cut, testing how it will fit.


70% land 30% water.


Frame made, couplers siliconed in.


1/4" Plexiglass divider cut, now just testing placement. This way there is room for only about 2" of substrate, and it makes the water section smaller, but it is on a nice gradual slope.


This way there is room for almost 5" of substrate (good for a burrowing from like a horned frog) and the water section will be subsequently much bigger. The only issue is that the divider is now on a steep slope. No worries, just mave to make a proper shoreline.


Rinsing the aquarium gravel.


All clean.


False bottom covered with plastic window screen mesh, sewed onto the frame (see yellow fishing line).


Left about 1/2" distance between the false bottom and the tank on all three sides fo it could be consealed by gravel.


Plexiglass divider siliconed in and drying, false bottom consealed, and my DIY misting system siliconed on.


Holding the plexiglass in place to allow for 24 to 36 hours of silicone drying time.


False bottom completed, just needs an extra layer of window screen so the horned frog can't accidently dig up any rocks. 


Thanks for looking, many more photos to come!

Royce  :Smile:

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## Poly

I plan to use a Repti-Clear F150 to keep the water section clean, and the waterfall flowing at a good pace. I will make the background out of Exo-Terra Tree Fern Tropical Background panels, hopefully I can get some bromeliads and carpet moss growing on them!  :Smile: 

I plan to use crepping fig, ultra short strand, soft & moist, carpet moss as ground cover along with the very tough lucky bamboo, I can't see a pacman knocking one of those over... unless it somehow managed to climb on it... lol  :Big Grin: 

I am hoping the more naturalistic set-up and the water section with waterfall will encourage my pacman to call (is he is a male that is...), but alos feel more comfortable is his vivarium.

Any suggestions?

Thanks  :Smile:

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## Autumn

Really nice false bottom you've got there Royce! I like how it's looking so far. I didn't know that the Critter Keepers (that's what you have right?) came in size 10gal....thought they only came in 20gal and up. Nice work  :Smile: !

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## Poly

> Really nice false bottom you've got there Royce! I like how it's looking so far. I didn't know that the Critter Keepers (that's what you have right?) came in size 10gal....thought they only came in 20gal and up. Nice work !


Thankyou Autumn!  :Smile:  Apparently they come in 10 gallons!  :Stick Out Tongue:

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## Poly

Started work on the background, waterfall and water entry ramp.

This is my Misting system, all set up. 





It will provide enough mist to civer the entire tank. I used roughly 2" of GE II clear silicone as the plug.


Trying to roughly position the eggcare for the water entry ramp:



Tie-wrapped together:


Made an awesome little bench out of carbboard to apply the GS:



After the GS was applied:
 
 
 
 
 
 


Made a small wall:


When applying the GS I made sure to make lots of gaps and small ridges so, for one; the pacman could easily climb out of the water, and two; there will be a lot of places to stuff the moss into to get it growing.

Placement of the background and waterfall:




Waterfall and stream:


The wall I made will make a nice background piece!


Whole shot of the tank how it is now:


This was my first time working with GS, and I have to say... I love the stuff! Where you see open spaces in the glass of the tank, they will be covered with Exo-Terra Tree Fern Tropical Background pannels.

More photos to come!

Thanks for looking! Suggestions, comments?

Royce  :Smile:

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## Colleen/Jerrod

How deep are you planning to make the water section? Remember Royce Pacman frogs are not good swimmers and water level can be no deeper than up to the frogs chin no deeper. Also you'll have to find a way to make ease of access from land to water and water to land. Nothing slick or the frog will have trouble getting out of the water. Also don't want anything for your Pac to get trapped under in the water.

It looks good, but it looks like once all substrate is in that youu be almost at the top of the tank correct me if I'm wrong. I'm trying to picture how its going to look :Smile:

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## Poly

> How deep are you planning to make the water section? Remember Royce Pacman frogs are not good swimmers and water level can be no deeper than up to the frogs chin no deeper. Also you'll have to find a way to make ease of access from land to water and water to land. Nothing slick or the frog will have trouble getting out of the water. Also don't want anything for your Pac to get trapped under in the water.
> 
> It looks good, but it looks like once all substrate is in that youu be almost at the top of the tank correct me if I'm wrong. I'm trying to picture how its going to look


The water section will be very shallow, the empty area you see at the bottom of the entry ramp will be filled with large river stones (ones the Tank won't be able to accidently consume).

The ramp will be coated with silicone and coco-fibre, so even though it is on an angle, Tank will have ample traction to exit the water. In the photos, it looks steeper than it really is.

There is nothing he can get trapped under, but when going down to sit in the stoney "river bed" section (the water will be about 3/4" higher than the stones) he will cross under the waterfall, so I figured having it like this would make him feel more secure to soak.

Also, there is a ledge extending about 2" into the substrate section which he will be able to burrow under, I thought this was another thing that will make him feel secure.

Huh, now that you bring it to my attention, yes the substrate will be about 3/4 to the top of the tank, will this make the 6500K CFL in my Deep Dome light fixture too intense? I plan to have moss and a few broms growing on the tree fern pannels, and on the GS wall, and I'll be planting crepping fig for ground cover, so I need to use the 6500K light.

Please let me know what you think!

Thanks!

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## Colleen/Jerrod

> The water section will be very shallow, the empty area you see at the bottom of the entry ramp will be filled with large river stones (ones the Tank won't be able to accidently consume).
> 
> The ramp will be coated with silicone and coco-fibre, so even though it is on an angle, Tank will have ample traction to exit the water. In the photos, it looks steeper than it really is.
> 
> There is nothing he can get trapped under, but when going down to sit in the stoney "river bed" section (the water will be about 3/4" higher than the stones) he will cross under the waterfall, so I figured having it like this would make him feel more secure to soak.
> 
> Also, there is a ledge extending about 2" into the substrate section which he will be able to burrow under, I thought this was another thing that will make him feel secure.
> 
> Huh, now that you bring it to my attention, yes the substrate will be about 3/4 to the top of the tank, will this make the 6500K CFL in my Deep Dome light fixture too intense? I plan to have moss and a few broms growing on the tree fern pannels, and on the GS wall, and I'll be planting crepping fig for ground cover, so I need to use the 6500K light.
> ...


It may be to strong at that diatance. Its really close to where tank will be and the full brightness of the light my harm his eyes. Even with your plant cover you plan to place within. I'm wondering if you will even have room for the bromiliads since they do get around 5 inches tall. You may have to rethink some ideas. He doesn't actually need 5" of substrate depth to burrow. 3" 0r 3 1/2" is plenty even for an adult. I'm not sure how much root depth you may need for the Brom since Don says that they don't even need soil to grow. A taller tank may have been easier to build on.

I'm pretty sure that you can get 10 gallon tanks with a height greater than the usual 12".

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## Martin

Just to add:
There are broms in almost every size, so there definitely some that can be used in there without a problem. Second of all, like you said, most (if not all) broms are air plants and do perfectly fine without soil (just attach them to whatever).

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## Poly

> It may be to strong at that diatance. Its really close to where tank will be and the full brightness of the light my harm his eyes. Even with your plant cover you plan to place within. I'm wondering if you will even have room for the bromiliads since they do get around 5 inches tall. You may have to rethink some ideas. He doesn't actually need 5" of substrate depth to burrow. 3" 0r 3 1/2" is plenty even for an adult. I'm not sure how much root depth you may need for the Brom since Don says that they don't even need soil to grow. A taller tank may have been easier to build on.
> 
> I'm pretty sure that you can get 10 gallon tanks with a height greater than the usual 12".


That's what I figured, but isn't that the purpose of the light? In the wild, I'm sure if a frog stayed in sunlight for 8 hours at a time, it would damage it's eyes too, so when the light comes on, the frog will know it is daylight and hide? I will be providing ample cover, and am going to make up soem vines out of rope, silicone and coco-fibre today to hang from one end of the viv to the other, I hope to get crepping fig or ivy started on these. 

Between the vines, crepping fig, bromeliads, large tropical plant I have been growing for this viv, and multiple hiding places, I'm sure he will have enough cover.

To be honest, I do kind of regret building this set-up in such a small tank, but it is practice for my tomato frog, and toad build, not to mention, my pacman has a lot of growing left in him, so this tank should be good for a while at least.

Yeah, and as Martin mentioned you can make a slit in the foam background, stuff the brom into it, use something to hold it upright, and it will grow. I will be using ones that get 3-4" tall x 4-5" around.

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## Poly

> Just to add:
> There are broms in almost every size, so there definitely some that can be used in there without a problem. Second of all, like you said, most (if not all) broms are air plants and do perfectly fine without soil (just attach them to whatever).


Indeed, every size is right, I can get broms from 35" tall down to 3" tall.  :Smile:

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## Poly

> He doesn't actually need 5" of substrate depth to burrow. 3" 0r 3 1/2" is plenty even for an adult.


I think the more substrate provided, the better.  :Big Grin:  I had an issue with my chubby frogs burrowing down and sitting on the bottom of their vivarium when there was only 3" of substrate, so I added another two bricks of plantation soil, making the substrate about 7" tall, and now they burrow down about 4" to sit in the semi-water logged soil area.

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## Colleen/Jerrod

Yeah he will avoid the light. With all that cover he should be fine. you have plenty of time to set it up and test it out. 

7":O that is pretty deep. I mentioned that they didn't need that much so you had more height room from substrate to top of tank. It should be fine.

Once you finish monitor your frog closely in there to see how he reacts.

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## Poly

> Yeah he will avoid the light. With all that cover he should be fine. you have plenty of time to set it up and test it out. 
> 
> 7":O that is pretty deep. I mentioned that they didn't need that much so you had more height room from substrate to top of tank. It should be fine.
> 
> Once you finish monitor your frog closely in there to see how he reacts.


Well, turns out the cover will mainly consist of ivy, so he'll have even more cover than creeping fig!  :Smile: 

Yeah, well I am kinda worried about my chubby frogs, haven't seen them in a week or so, and they arn't comming up at night to feed, so I heavily misted their tank today, stired up the coco-fibre a bit, and hopefully I will see them tonight, if not, I'm going to dig them up.

Will do. 

Thanks for the advice.

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## Poly

Ready to start covering the background with silicone and coco-fibre!  :Big Grin: 

I used GE II Window & Door brown and black silicone.

All set up.


Water entery ramp done, drying:


Background done, drying:


Waterfall ledge, I left it bare, just silicone, I think it looks more like rock like this than if I had of covered it with coco-fibre. The moss is sheet moss, hopefully it catches!


Three types of ivy.





Chlorophytum "green orange fire fash":
This plant will provide the main ground cover, and according to the ASPCA it is a safe plant to have around dogs and cats, so I don't think it is a problem for frogs!  :Big Grin: 



Money Tree:
I bought this for my Tomato frog vivarium to be planted in front of the waterfall. It's about 17" tall.


Exo-Terra "Small" Glow Light:


What it looks like when you shut the light off:



Lights up the 10 gallon with a nice erie moonlight for about 3-5 hours after the light is shut off.

Went to my local pet store, and they couldn't order the Repti-clear F150 or the tree fern background panels for another 2 or three weeks, so I may try to order them online somewhere... really wish I was old enough to get Paypal, only another 1 and a half though!  :Big Grin: 

Royce  :Smile:

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## Autumn

You've done a nice job Royce! Love the ivy plants......and the money tree is super! Your pacman is going to love it  :Smile: 

And that's an awesome lamp, where did you get it? ;P

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## Poly

> You've done a nice job Royce! Love the ivy plants......and the money tree is super! Your pacman is going to love it 
> 
> And that's an awesome lamp, where did you get it? ;P


Thanks Autumn!  :Smile:  Yeah, I love them too, that's why they came home with me  :Wink:  lol Honestly, when I seen the Money tree, all I could see was it in front of a water fall barely visible in fog... so it came home with me too!  :Big Grin: 

It's an Exo-Terra "Glow Light Porcelain Clamp Lamp", I just got the small one for the 10 gallon, but you can get large ones up to little over 10" across if I remember correctly. They look great at night!

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## Poly

Picked up some nice Malaysian Drift Wood today:
Piece one:




Piece two:




All my pieces of GS have been brushed off of excess coco-fibre and are fully cured.

Entry ramp:


Waterfall ledge:


Background:


Figured I was going to finish the rest in tree fern pannels, but I'm not waiting another three weeks from them to be able to place an order for the panels, so I have went ahead and made my "side ground" (lol) out of GS to match the background.

Same as the panels, I would have had to wait 3+ weeks to have an order plaved for the Repti-Clear F-150 filter/pump, so instead I bought a Repti-Flo F350 pump, should power the waterfall nicely.  :Big Grin:  I'll just have to change the water more often.


It's funny because the pump is almost the size of the water section!  :Big Grin: 


Thanks for looking!

Royce  :Smile:

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## J Teezy

you using eggcrate FB or hydroballs?

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## Poly

> you using eggcrate FB or hydroballs?


I had assumed by the above photos, in the first post of this thread I had made it clear that I made an egg crate FB...  :Big Grin: 




> False bottom supports, 2" ABS pipe couplers with holes cut in them for water drainage.
> 
> 
> Egg crate cut, testing how it will fit.
> 
> 
> 70% land 30% water.
> 
> 
> ...


 :Stick Out Tongue:

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## J Teezy

where you putting the pump under the eggcrate or i nthe pond?

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## Poly

> where you putting the pump under the eggcrate or i nthe pond?


The pump will be in the water section that is seperated by the plexiglass divider. It will be under the entry ramp, covered in large river stones, though it will still be able to draw the water through them because they do not pack like fine aquarium gravel would. I'll have a line from the pump running on the bottom of the water section, up to the side of the tank, where it will spill the water on to the waterfall ledge.

There is a line in the false bottom that comes out of the tank to pump out water buildup in the false bottom.

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## J Teezy

whats the required depth of water needed for your pumps intake to be underwater?

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## Kristen

> Waterfall ledge:
> 
> 
> 
> Royce


I really like the waterfall ledge! I like how you didnt put the coco-fibre on it, because it makes it looks kind of wet already (from how glossy it looks) and more rock-like.  :Big Grin:  good job!

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## Autumn

> Thanks Autumn!  Yeah, I love them too, that's why they came home with me  lol Honestly, when I seen the Money tree, all I could see was it in front of a water fall barely visible in fog... so it came home with me too! 
> 
> It's an Exo-Terra "Glow Light Porcelain Clamp Lamp", I just got the small one for the 10 gallon, but you can get large ones up to little over 10" across if I remember correctly. They look great at night!


Haha....plants have this kind of super power of persuasion, don't they lol!  :Smile:  I can see the Money tree just as you described.....beautiful!

Man, Exo-Terra always comes out with the "coolest" products for terrariums......

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## Heather

Looking good, Royce!

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## Laura

This is awesome! I agree with Kristen! Lovin' the ledge!

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