# General Topics > Vivarium, Terrarium & Enclosure Discussion >  Diggenem's 56 Column

## DiggenEm

This is my new build I'm working on. As of right now I am about 80% done with it; I held out as long as I could lol. My idea for this tank was to have it look like a dugged out area of earth that floods (but not really flood). 

The tank is a Marineland 56 Gallon column that has 4 bulkheads drilled to accommodate the plumbing for the drip wall and fog system. It has a typical egg crate and window screen rfalse bottom. The background is made out of TB3, and peat with some long fiber spahgnum and Seachem Flourite mixed in at certain spots for variation. I also embedded cork tubes and flats in the background as well as mounted my drift brances. The tank is lit by 2 Kessil A150 Amazon Suns LED pendents lamps. This will be my Leuc show tank and I'm looking to go minimal with the planting with only two types of broms, ferns, moss and maybe 2 or 3 different peps. 

I know I am being long winded, here are a few pics and a video.
VIDEO0001 - YouTube

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## bill

killer man!! it looks awesome. i love the fact that you added the flourite in for a different texture. can't wait to see it grown in!!

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## DiggenEm

Thanks Bill! I hope to have this thing fully planted in a couple of weeks

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## DiggenEm

OK people, here's an update. Got it planted and up a running. 



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## bill

sweet!! looks great. you did and excellent job with the planting buddy!!

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## DiggenEm

> sweet!! looks great. you did and excellent job with the planting buddy!!


Thanks! Planting is not one of my strong points , but I like the look of it. Im thinking of adding some tillies or maybe some mini orchids to fill out the top. What do you think?

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## DiggenEm

Update!!!

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## Staffaz

_Wow Dig, you did an awesome job ! _  :Big Applause:

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## Meefloaf

what are the cool little swirlies in the middle of that branch

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## DiggenEm

Those are Tillandsias, which are a type of bromeliad. Most blush color and have nice flowers. Some of mines are coloring up nicely. Air flow will be your friend if you decide to keep these guys.

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## Carlos

Plants and decor look very nice  :Big Applause:  !  When are frogs coming and what kind?  Thank you  :Frog Smile:  !

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## DiggenEm

I was originally thinking  of a group of D. Leucomelas, but now that it is close to be complete, Im thinking a group of imitators. I'm going to let it grown in for about another month.
The microfauna is close to booming already




> Plants and decor look very nice  !  When are frogs coming and what kind?  Thank you  !

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## smashtoad

> Thanks! Planting is not one of my strong points , but I like the look of it. Im thinking of adding some tillies or maybe some mini orchids to fill out the top. What do you think?
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


Looks to me like it is. I love your tillandsia arrangement. Amazing tank. Some folks have a tendency to stuff so many plants in that you cannot see the personality of the landscaping nor the frogs.  Very, very nice.  I have a 56 column too, and they are great frog tanks.

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## DiggenEm

Thank you!!! 

With so many nice specimens of plants I can see why a viv gets stuffed to the brim with plants lol. I am going to add a group of Neo. Pauciflora to the branch below the Neo. Hannibal Lector and then pull the Hannibal. To the right in the very back corner there is a ledge that i'm planning on mounted a few cuttings of Hoya Carnosa




> Looks to me like it is. I love your tillandsia arrangement. Amazing tank. Some folks have a tendency to stuff so many plants in that you cannot see the personality of the landscaping nor the frogs.  Very, very nice.  I have a 56 column too, and they are great frog tanks.

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## Isaac

how did you make the dripping system?

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## Heather

This tank is really beautiful! Very nicely done  :Smile: .

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## DartEd

Great wood work and planting, Dig.  Definitely thumbnails.  :Smile:

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## Gail

Beautiful viv, happy to see you didn't over-do it w/plants.

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## DiggenEm

> how did you make the dripping system?


The tank is drilled with too bulkheads near the false bottom. My intake hose is attached to the bottom of the false bottom so it could operate with as little as an inch and a half of water. The output hose is split into two hoses that run into two, six way drip manifolds made for landscape irrigation. I attached aquarium airline tubing to the outputs of the manifolds and the foam the hoses in various places through out the background. A canister filter powers it. 

I have since drained the pond and I'm just running a fogger and hand mist, because the water was starting to smell.

Thanks for all of the comments, Ill post again when my broms come in

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## DiggenEm

As promised  :Embarrassment:

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## DartEd

Everything looks phenomenal.  What type of lighting are you using?  Your tillandsia colored up nicely.

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## DiggenEm

I'm sorry I really didnt cover that did I? I'm using 2 of the Amazon Sun version of these Kessil LED Lights

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## bill

yeah, you covered it in the first post Digg, Ed was just being lazy and didn't want to read back  :Wink:  the tank looks amazing. that fog pic looks like it came right from the rainforest at dawn. very naturalistic. you should be extremely proud of the job you did on this one!!

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DiggenEm

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## DartEd

Hahaha. I didn't realize he had covered it.  :Big Grin: .

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## bill

i read it twice before i noticed it.....LOL

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## DiggenEm

I didnt even remember I did so I just as bad lol. I'm glad you guys like it, because I'm never really satisfied with my builds, I always find something i could have done differently. Despite my urges to scrap everything, I'm going to sit back and enjoy this one :Embarrassment: . As far as frogs go, I'm definitely going to go with a group of thumbnails with this one because of the thin branches and overall canopy look. I talked to a guy on another board about some R. Ventrimaculata tads, but since this will be the first thumbnails and darts  I have ever kept, I'm looking from something easy, bold, and does well in a group. Suggestions?

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## DiggenEm

I've been toying around with making mushrooms for the viv. I used poly clay, acryllic and glow in the dark paint and then sealed them with hodge podge. They lost a lot of the color using this method and dont glow as bright as I would have hoped but they turned out pretty nice in my opinion. I removed the big tillies mostly and i think im going to replace them with orchids. Everything else is taking off nicely and sprouting roots like crazy. The hoya I added 2 weeks ago has already grown a 10" stem and is curving back up towards the light. I also got some green growing out of the background so very happy about that :Stick Out Tongue:

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## lilblack94gt

Holy..... WOW!!!! Looks amazing!  I am itching to build a better tank for my darts. I think I will  have to use your build here for inspiration.

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## DiggenEm

> Holy..... WOW!!!! Looks amazing!  I am itching to build a better tank for my darts. I think I will  have to use your build here for inspiration.


Thanks!!! I actually changed it up a bit. I'm interested in adding some orchids and I have some rare dischidias coming in.

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## Willster

Any update? I know it's an old thread but you're the only person using kessils that I have found and I was wondering if you've had positive results thus far.

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## DiggenEm

> Any update? I know it's an old thread but you're the only person using kessils that I have found and I was wondering if you've had positive results thus far.


 
Well I have since tore down this build and completely reworked it. The Kessils are gone but they were great. Depending how big your tank is you might need a few for full coverage. 

I have a thread for the new build but this is how the tank looks as of today


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## DiggenEm

Well it has been a few months and I have rearranged this thing more times than I can count. I finally settled on a layout. The plants that are in there are the ones I'm going with and now I'm going to let it grow into a jungle  :Embarrassment: 


Look who came out to check out the new digs...he really needs some company :Stick Out Tongue:

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## bill

Looks great buddy!! I love the curly wood on the floor. Looks awesome!!


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

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## DiggenEm

Thanks! I like this setup better than the rest I came up with

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## DiggenEm

Well I got some new toys in the mail yesterday, three Current USA LED+s. 

They are very slim and attractive. They look a lot better than my previous light setup



So far I am impressed with them and the light effects, I just wish there was a way to automate everything. They light up the tank well IMO.

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## bill

Welcome to the dark side! You are gonna love the led's. 


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

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## DiggenEm

I do like them. I have already noticed some new growth coming from most of the plants. The bulbo mounted on the background is sprouting new leaves but still no flowers from either. The restrepia flowered for me a few times this past spring!

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## DiggenEm

More random pics...


Tomorrow I am picking up 4 more E. Anthonyi tads from repticon, can't wait :Big Grin:

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## bill

Nice!! Love this tank!! Can I get one of the girls to share it on the frog forum fb page??


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

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## DiggenEm

Sure!!!

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## DiggenEm

Thanks Bill!!! I don't know if I mentioned it or not but I ended up going with E. Anthonyi SI for this viv. There is one frog let in the tank now who I see daily and I picked up four tads yesterday at Atlanta Repticon.

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## bill

Nice!! I love the Isabel's.  They will look fantastic hopping around that tank. Be sure to update us on their progress!


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

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## DiggenEm

Well came home to find 2 of the tads had passed.  Don't know what caused it.

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## bill

Dude!  That sucks. Sorry to hear that  :Frown: 


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

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## DiggenEm

Yea it does. And I set them up the way I did the lasts two, but I used smaller containers this time. I put the remains two in larger container and keeping my fingers crossed. 

On a good note, I repaired my fogger today! 

So the zoomed reptifogger has a fan that pushes the fog up the tube. The fan in mines went out. (It makes a noise for a while before it goes out). Zoomed knows about the fan issue because it is very common with these things and instead using a more durable fan, they sell the crappy one as a replacement.  

Fortunately for me, I was commenting about it on another thread and found out that if you call zoomed and tell them the symptoms, they will send you a replacement IF you have had the fogger less than a year. If it has been more than a year, you have to purchase the replacement part.

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## Lynn

> Well came home to find 2 of the tads had passed.  Don't know what caused it.



Sorry  :Frown: 
What species ? 
Are they your tads or did you 'acquire ' them ?

Oh, I see, sorry .....You got them a show.

They need to be kept in the water they came in.
If you can contact the person you bought them form - perhaps you could duplicate the water _exactly as they had it_ for the tads ? 

Again, sorry the hear this

 :Butterfly:

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## DiggenEm

Well I diluted the new water (distilled) with the water that they came in. I also added some Indian almond leaves pieces, weeping moss and aged water out of the monkey bowls in tank.

Sorry the species is E. Anthonyi SI

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## Lynn

> Well I diluted the new water (distilled) with the water that they came in. I also added some Indian almond leaves pieces, weeping moss and aged water out of the monkey bowls in tank.
> 
> Sorry the species is E. Anthonyi SI


Well that sounds perfect! 
Sorry  :Frown:

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## DiggenEm

Here's a pic of the setup after u moved them to larger containers.

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## DiggenEm



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## Josh

Lol, that first blue image really makes it looks like an aquarium. If you look closely, the small leaves look like bubbles even.  :Smile:

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## DiggenEm

I can see it :Wink:

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## TeenyToad

Wow, this build is incredible! Amazing job!


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DiggenEm

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## bill

Glad to see you got the fogger repaired. Next build, you gotta step up to modded out humidifiers. Those reptofoggers are garbage  :Smile: 

Tank looks excellent, my friend! I love the pics with the filters!!


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

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## DiggenEm



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Cliygh and Mia 2

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## bill

Oh hey!! There's the little darlin!! 


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

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## awelcome

love your tank!  In the probably distant future I want to do an upgrade and was looking at tanks with a more vertical look and found one that I asked about on the forum and Bill linked me to your thread because it's the same tank.  It definitely has the look I have in my head and what I hope to go for some day.

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## DiggenEm

> love your tank!  In the probably distant future I want to do an upgrade and was looking at tanks with a more vertical look and found one that I asked about on the forum and Bill linked me to your thread because it's the same tank.  It definitely has the look I have in my head and what I hope to go for some day.


Thanks!! I really like the marineland tanks. I just picked up a Marineland 27 gallon cube. I'm probably going to do a planted aquarium in it because it's so short or maybe some terrestrial frogs. 

Any questions you have I am happy to answer

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## awelcome

Thanks, I will definitely keep that in mind if I end up getting something like this or at least when I can be more serious about looking.... To start off though, have you had any issues with yours thus far?

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## DiggenEm

> Thanks, I will definitely keep that in mind if I end up getting something like this or at least when I can be more serious about looking.... To start off though, have you had any issues with yours thus far?


No issues really. I wish it was a few inches taller. The only gripe I have is that light fixtures never span the full 30" they are always 24", but it's not the Marineland's fault.

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## awelcome

what about this one?  I was looking at the 24" that extended with brackets to 30" but maybe this would be better.... I just liked the blue light option of the 24"

EVO 24 LED Reef Bright

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## DiggenEm

> what about this one?  I was looking at the 24" that extended with brackets to 30" but maybe this would be better.... I just liked the blue light option of the 24"
> 
> EVO 24 LED Reef Bright


It looks ok. I don't really know the specs but it looks similar to Marineland's LED fixture.

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## awelcome

So in the beginning you had quite a different set-up from what you settled on.  Did you keep things like the false bottom, and whatnot in the final build, I can't really tell.  Does it have a water feature on the final one?

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## DiggenEm

> So in the beginning you had quite a different set-up from what you settled on.  Did you keep things like the false bottom, and whatnot in the final build, I can't really tell.  Does it have a water feature on the final one?


No I started completely over. New false bottom and everything. No water feature this time, the jungle pods are filled with water.

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## awelcome

So how did you do your false bottom then?  Did you still do it with pipe and egg crate or just like the false bottom drainage layer stuff? I really love all those twisty bits you have in there.

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## DiggenEm

The false bottom is eggcrate. I make a box out of it instead of using pvc legs. I used my original idea of attaching a drainage hose to the bottom of it so I can syphon the water out. 

It actually works pretty well because there is always water in the hose so all I have to do is put the end of the hose that's outside the tank in a bucket and the water syphon itself out.

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## awelcome

cool.  I was considering for my next build a false bottom with at least a small pondish area to allow for siphoning as needed just to make it easier in the event that I need to siphon.  I just have a drainage layer in my current tank and I am dreading the chance that it might rise high enough that I need to remove some water.

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## Paul

awelcome - you can do a drainage layer and install a tube into the drainage layer to use for syphoning as needed so you don't have to tear a corner of the tank up. You can also drill the tank and install a drain on the side of the tank so the water drains out as it rises.

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## DiggenEm

I drilled the 56 but the reason why I zip tied the inner hose to the bottom of the false bottom is to keep the false bottom thin. the false bottom is only about 2" tall.

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## awelcome

you lost me at drilling.... I am definitely not even close to ready to try something like that... especially if I finally get a nice bigger tank lol.

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## DiggenEm

It's very easy. Just go slow and keep the bit cool

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## DiggenEm

Just a slight update. Moved some things around and added a few plants.

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## bill

Looks awesome Digg!! And the frogs look like they are diggin it as well!!


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

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## Josh

Looks great! Sorry, no puns from this guy  :Wink:

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## DiggenEm

Somebody let mw take a great picture this morning :Embarrassment: 

And finally I think this orchid is finally going to bloom

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## bill

very cool!! what species orchid? lepenthes genus?

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## DiggenEm

Bulbophyllum

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## bill

sweet! orchids are so difficult to id without a flower. it does look like it is ready to bloom for you. very exciting!!

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## DiggenEm

I'm always excited to see the orchids bloom.  It looks like its going to be a big pretty flower too!

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## bill

> I'm always excited to see the orchids bloom.  It looks like its going to be a big pretty flower too!


you can always tell the plant geeks. we are the ones who get way too excited over a tiny flower. lol

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## DiggenEm

Indeed I am very excited today!!!!

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## Josh

Just wait till Bill sees this, lol. Very pretty  :Smile:

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## Paul

Wow that is gorgeous!

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## bill

Awesome Digg!! Very exciting!! I love a good mini! So happy it flowered for you!!

Is it sad that I'm more excited to see your orchid bloom than seeing the frogs? Lol


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

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## DiggenEm

Well it puts a smile on my face when I see the frogs hopping around. I'm sad that out of 4 tads only one made it, but I'm supposed to hook up with somebody local next month to get a 2.1 so I'm very excited about that. I also have another bulbophyllum that I'm going to mount in the tank this weekend and another one on the way. I also ordered a couple of more plants when they arrive in the mail.

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## DiggenEm

Changed the tank up again. Added another orchid as well.

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## Josh

Lookin' smexy  :Wink: . In a year, this tank's gonna look like a jungle!

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## DiggenEm

Thanks!!! I really hope soo!

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## bill

Looks great buddy. She's getting there!


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

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## Randy

do the brown leafs give you issues with decomposition all the time and  make you have to clean it out a lot? opps never mind i see you changed it up again lol

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## DiggenEm

> do the brown leafs give you issues with decomposition all the time and  make you have to clean it out a lot? opps never mind i see you changed it up again lol


The brown leaves you are referring to is leaf litter. It's beneficial to dart frogs and other tropical or semi-tropical frog enclosures because it provides shelter and habitat and food for microfauna. The microfauna in returns provides food for the frogs, especially froglets and keep the tank "clean".



> Looks great buddy. She's getting there!
> 
> 
> Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

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## bill

> The brown leaves you are referring to is leaf litter. It's beneficial to dart frogs and other tropical or semi-tropical frog enclosures because it provides shelter and habitat and food for microfauna. The microfauna in returns provides food for the frogs, especially froglets and keep the tank "clean".


Also, the decomposition of those leaves helps to enrich the soil, thereby fertilizing the plants  :Smile: 


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

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## Carlos

Orchid bloom was a treat  :Smile:  !

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## DiggenEm

Update pics :Embarrassment:

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## Josh

Wow, it's looking great! The lighting is perfect for this tank  :Smile:

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## Strider18

Three words, I  LOVE IT!!!

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## DiggenEm

> Wow, it's looking great! The lighting is perfect for this tank


Thanks!!! I have four 24" Satellite + over it now and the plants and moss is starting to grow well.



> Three words, I  LOVE IT!!!
> 
> Sent from my HTC Glacier using Tapatalk 2


Thanks. Maybe I'll enter it again in the contest at the end of the month. Trying to get a bit more growth before I do  :Wink:

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## Josh

YOU HAVE FOUR SATELLITE + ?! How much did that cost you?!!!

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## DiggenEm

$300.

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## Josh

* faints in shock *

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## bill

Dude, do I need to say it? Lol


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

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## DiggenEm

> * faints in shock *


Yea I know, I probably could have gotten 1 really great fixture for that amount but I started with two and added the extra fixtures over a couple of months. I'm satisfied now.

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## Riptide

How has your plant growth responded to the LEDs? I'm thinking of getting some of the satellite + for my 36" exo-terra

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## DiggenEm

Pretty well, but I sold the Satellites and going with another LED solution.

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## Riptide

What are you going to use instead? 

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## Vivariums In The Mist

Love that you used a ton of Monkey Pods...

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## DiggenEm

> What are you going to use instead? 
> 
> Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk


I'm moving to 50w LED floodlights. They are not the prettiest, but they are simple and provide pretty good lighting for the price.



> Love that you used a ton of Monkey Pods...


Thanks!

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## DiggenEm

OK so I sold the Currents and here is the 56 illuminated by two 50w LED spot lights. I really like the look. Also I don't have to deal with a mess of wires anymore. 




These are a couple of weeks old but I picked up another male at the last Atlanta Repticon. Within the first hour he already gave me a belly shot!



Also have some new additions...
R. Benedicta  
and R. Vanzolini 

I picked the guys up tanks and all from a local hobbyist a few weeks ago. He gave me a great deal on the lot. I will be rebuilding the Bennies tank and a 29G very over the next few weeks.

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Cliygh and Mia 2

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