# General Topics > Vivarium, Terrarium & Enclosure Discussion >  Pic of my Vivarium

## Bdimas

I'm new here. Just wanted to post a picture of my 150
http://

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## Sherry

Wow! That is awesome! How do you keep the humidity in?

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## Bdimas

Thanks a bunch! It has a glass top that completely covers it.

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## Sherry

Welcome :Smile:  Where did you get your supplies? And what is the background made of?

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## Brian

Very nice work.  What are you going to put in there?

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## Sherry

> Very nice work.  What are you going to put in there?


Darts! Not sure what kind though...

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## Heather

Very nice!

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## Jared

Looking good wish mine looked like that  :Smile:

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## Bdimas

Thank you guys. It took me about 3 months to build. The background consists of great stuff, tight bond 3, and peat. I made vines from different sized ropes and string, tight bond 3 and peat. The long branch I made from PVC , great stuff, and peat.

I plan on putting Citronella dart frogs in there, but that's not set in stone.

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## Heather

They'll love it in there  :Smile: .

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## Bdimas

Thank you!

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## bill

Very cool build. I think i saw the build thread on another board? I love working with big tanks, so much more room to play with allows for stuff you ordinarily wouldn't try otherwise. How long has it been up and running?

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## Bdimas

Hi Bill. Yes I am on another forum for dart frogs.  :Smile: 
I came here because I have other frogs too.

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## Bdimas

The viv has been going good for a couple months. Its ready for frogs now, but I'm not ready yet. I'm in recovery from foot surgery and I have to get on a step stool to access my tank.

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## bill

I thought the tank looked familiar  :Smile:  sorry to hear about the foot. Hope you feel better soon.  :Smile:  those little tincs are gonna look lost in that huge tank, but they are gonna be happy froggies!!

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## Bdimas

Thanks man, I appreciate it.

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## Lisa

Wow your tank looks awesome!! I'm in initial building phase of mine and I'm scoping ideas.  That is so freaking cool dude!  How will cleanup work? Did you use a false bottom?

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## Bdimas

Thank you. Yes there is a false bottom. The substrate doesn't need to be cleaned out like with other frogs. Dart frog tanks are basically self sustaining. Most folks have springtails and other micro fauna that do the cleaning  :Smile:

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## Lisa

I'm building a RETF tank.  Im thinking I'm probably going to go with the false bottom idea but I am still unclear on how to do it and what type of filtration system to use.  What substrate would you suggest?

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## Bdimas

For your false bottom you will need
Light diffuser also called egg crate
PVC for spacers to go under your egg crate.
Zip ties to tie spacers to egg crate
Fiberglass screen to go on top of your egg crate.

 For substrate I bought materials to make ABG mix. Atlanta botanical garden mix. Its great for drainage and plants. 
You will want to have access to either siphon or drain excess water build up from under your false bottom. My tank is drilled so it drains into a bucket under my stand.

You don't need a water pump unless you plan to have a water feature. I use a small pump made by zoo med for my water fall.
Hope that helps.

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## Bdimas

I forgot to add another step I did with my false bottom.

I added pea gravel for the first layer on the egg crate and then my ABG mix. Its not necessary to do it that way but I cut my FB short around the perimeter on purpose so that I could have pea gravel around the edges so that I would see pea gravel and not the false bottom.

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## Lisa

I don't think I'm going to do a waterfall for my first build but I think I'm going to leave a small "pond" filled with big pebbles (larger than my RETF can eat) so I can siphon the water out as necessary.  This may sound pretty retarded but, As far as cleaning, will that suffice? I'm still trying to understand the concept of cleaning the environment.  I understand that most of it is done by the plants and moss, but is that is or am I missing something.

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## Bdimas

I'm not to sure on the exact care of your frogs, but I would make your bowl/pond easily accessible to remove and replace it often for cleaning. If you regularly clean up your frogs poop, you shouldn't have to replace your substrate.

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## Lisa

Thank you so very very much.  I'm so lucky I have talked to so many nice people on here.  You have been such a huge help.  It is really appreciated!

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## Bdimas

Anytime. Post pics of your progress if you can?

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## Lisa

I sure will, I will post in an album. I will friend request you later tonight !

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

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## Lisa

Oh one more question, what type of silicon can I use?

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## Bdimas

Aquarium grade.  If you get it from Lowes or HD I believe the one to get is GE silicon 1.

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## bill

ge silicone II also works. stay away from the tub and tile stuff, it has mold and mildew inhibitors in it that leech some nasty stuff out.

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## NatureLady

Such a pretty viv!!!!

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## Bdimas

I added a few Liana vines today  :Smile:  . It really adds depth and a more natural look imo. The color is not as yellow as the pic and the tubs have some TADS that are almost ready to come out.

http://

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## Bdimas

I forgot to add that I'm not going to leave the bottom of the vines like that on the floor. They're just very stiff right now and will be pliable in a couple days. I'll probably cut about 6 inches off.

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## bill

I truly do enjoy seeing this tank. I would leave the vines the way they are. Looks very natural

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## Bdimas

Thank you Bill. That's what I'm shooting for in this build. I'm glad you see it. I wish I could capture the depth. It looks really flat in the pictures

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## Kristen

You're very skilled! Its a lovely vivarium and very natural. Lucky frogs  :Wink:

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## bill

It's a shame that pics just do not do vivs justice. I do get a good sense of depth from your's though. The vine in the front left hells. What kind of fern in that behind it? She's a beaut!!

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## Bdimas

I bought it at Lowe's and I totally forgot the name. I bought that one and the black rabbits foot, and button fern from there. It took them about 1 month to get used to the humid conditions, now they are all taking off.
I'll see if I can find the name of the one on the left though.

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## bill

It blows my mind that lowe's and hd have some truly stunning ferns. Not much else i like. But their ferns are awesome....lol

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## Bdimas

> You're very skilled! Its a lovely vivarium and very natural. Lucky frogs


Thank you very much Kristen  :Smile: 

Very true Bill. We bought a Kangaroo fern the other day for the living room. Its really cool.

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## Kristen

> Thank you very much Kristen 
> 
> Very true Bill. We bought a Kangaroo fern the other day for the living room. Its really cool.


You are most welcome! I can say in all honesty this is probably the best viv I have seen  :Smile:

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Bdimas

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## Bdimas

> It's a shame that pics just do not do vivs justice. I do get a good sense of depth from your's though. The vine in the front left hells. What kind of fern in that behind it? She's a beaut!!


Bill, I found the tag for the fern you asked about. It just had a common name, Autumn Fern. I really like it so far.

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## bill

that's why i hate buying stuff from big box stores. the growers never label them correctly, and only give common names. i guarantee you, another grower has an autumn fern that looks nothing like that one....LOL but of course, i am going to look for one...LOL

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## Bdimas

Hahaha! Yeah I hear you man. It had a really big root system on it, luckily I had plenty of room for it.

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## chocoboFFA

love it!!!

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Bdimas

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