Hemmdog’s 90gal Seaciety and 40gal Vale of Shadows

[Hemmdog]

Here’s what my tank looks like btw. It’s a 70 gal. I started it at the end of November. Just added the anthias last week. I’ve been able to pick up almost everything on Craigslist, including the coral. Haven’t lost anything yet and getting decent growth on most things, but some things haven’t grown much. I’ve had the anemone for about a month now, and I was fortunate that it has been content in the spot I placed it, but it just split today, so hopefully the new one doesn’t wonder off the island.

Niceee, looks good!

 

[Lowell Lemon]

I'm going to harass, er, um, I mean look you both up. (I'm not very active either.)

Just dropped the planted tank forum and what a mess! Every couple of minutes you get spammed or redirected to some anti virus site or a redirect to download this or that. What a disaster that site has become. I think you need to have prophylactic protection just to cruise by the site! I think I need a shower and a scrub after getting swatted by all the virus junk. I did see some great freshwater tanks briefly before the spammers showed up. Logged in or not it made no difference. They could learn a lot from R2R!

 

[Hemmdog]

Just dropped the planted tank forum and what a mess! Every couple of minutes you get spammed or redirected to some anti virus site or a redirect to download this or that. What a disaster that site has become. I think you need to have prophylactic protection just to cruise by the site! I think I need a shower and a scrub after getting swatted by all the virus junk. I did see some great freshwater tanks briefly before the spammers showed up. Logged in or not it made no difference. They could learn a lot from R2R!

Lol I agree. Dendroboard is archaic as well. Such a security threat along with little activity. It’s a shame. I have so many questions for this build and no where to ask them.
I really hate Facebook groups when looking for info like this..I assume the advice is similar to reefing FB groups, downright awful.

 

[Hemmdog]

Foamed in the back wall of the vivarium. My wife helped with placement.

 

[lilgrounchuck]

Lol I agree. Dendroboard is archaic as well. Such a security threat along with little activity. It’s a shame. I have so many questions for this build and no where to ask them.
I really hate Facebook groups when looking for info like this..I assume the advice is similar to reefing FB groups, downright awful.

Nice! I used to keep PDFs and was breeding r. imitators for a while. Dendroboard used to be a great forum, I wonder what happened? Anyway, what questions do you have about your build? Maybe I can offer some help.

 

[Hemmdog]

Nice! I used to keep PDFs and was breeding r. imitators for a while. Dendroboard used to be a great forum, I wonder what happened? Anyway, what questions do you have about your build? Maybe I can offer some help.

Very cool! It has good info on there but there isn’t much activity and a lot of the pictures on old threads won’t load and all sorts of issues like that.
My main questions I have as of now are: lighting and water feature.
It seems a lot of people use LEDs now, which ones are good for a 24wide 18 deep 18 tall? I’m not opposed to a warmer(thermally) light, I do keep my house in the high 60’s.
For the small pond I plan on making, do I need a pump and waterfall to keep water flowing or is a stagnant pond ok? I think it would be cool to have a pond that could support tadpoles if the frogs breed. I was planning to section off a corner of the vivarium with great stuff foam to create a barrier to contain the pond water.

Thanks in advance

 

[Mr_Knightley]

This could be helpful if you are planning a larger water feature.
For your situation, I would go with a similar filter to the one he uses, and installed in a similar way, but just do it in a plastic container within the vivarium itself. That way you have you water filtered and you have a waterfall, but no need for an entire paludarium.
Keep in mind, darts are not good swimmers. Most people who integrate ponds into their setups take the out afterwards, including me. They take up a ton of floor space too, and in a viv the size of yours, floor space is pretty big, even for leucs.
Just a penny for thought.
Good luck, and God bless! I can't wait to see how it all turns out.

 

[Hemmdog]

This could be helpful if you are planning a larger water feature.
For your situation, I would go with a similar filter to the one he uses, and installed in a similar way, but just do it in a plastic container within the vivarium itself. That way you have you water filtered and you have a waterfall, but no need for an entire paludarium.
Keep in mind, darts are not good swimmers. Most people who integrate ponds into their setups take the out afterwards, including me. They take up a ton of floor space too, and in a viv the size of yours, floor space is pretty big, even for leucs.
Just a penny for thought.
Good luck, and God bless! I can't wait to see how it all turns out.

Don’t you need a pond of some sort for tadpoles and a reliable place for the frogs to drink water?

 

[lilgrounchuck]

Very cool! It has good info on there but there isn’t much activity and a lot of the pictures on old threads won’t load and all sorts of issues like that.
My main questions I have as of now are: lighting and water feature.
It seems a lot of people use LEDs now, which ones are good for a 24wide 18 deep 18 tall? I’m not opposed to a warmer(thermally) light, I do keep my house in the high 60’s.
For the small pond I plan on making, do I need a pump and waterfall to keep water flowing or is a stagnant pond ok? I think it would be cool to have a pond that could support tadpoles if the frogs breed. I was planning to section off a corner of the vivarium with great stuff foam to create a barrier to contain the pond water.

Thanks in advance

I used both the beamswork and greenevo led lights when they came out. In fact, I still have them both and just recently used the evo on a planted tank. The evo's look more natural than the beamsworks, which were a bit too blue for my tastes. They both grew plants like crazy though. Not sure if you can still find these or if they've been replaced but growing plants in a viv requires nowhere near the price tag of a reef light. I even had some tanks that were growing great with 6500k t5's in a shop light and a 29 gallon that had three 6500k cfl's from Lowes or HD. I liked the LED's though because they kept heat down in the tanks. The 3w diodes and the lenses on the evos will definitely punch to the bottom of an 18" tank though. I had them on 18x18x18 vivs.

As far as water features go, they can really be more of a hassle than they're worth. Paludariums look awesome but I gave up on them. If you have one you'll want to keep the water moving so it doesn't get all gross, and you'll want to make sure it cycles before adding anything. Remember that all the waste runs through the substrate, down through the false bottom, and into the water, so it can get nasty. As the tank matures all of the terrestrial plants' roots will grow down into the bit of water under the false bottom and suck out all of that nasty stuff though. Springtails will get down in it and breed as well.

What kind of frogs are you planning on housing in there? If you go with thumbnails they don't need water for the tadpoles. They'll lay the eggs on the glass or a leaf and then move the tadpoles into the little pools of water in the brom pockets. They'll just crawl out after they sprout legs. One thing you can do is cut holes in the background now that you can put little shot glasses or film canisters in. The frogs will lay eggs in those and you can just pull them out and raise the tadpoles in little cups. That's what I did for a lot of them, but the imitators bred like crazy and I missed a lot of them. I found so many frogs in that tank when I finally broke it down.

 

[lilgrounchuck]

This could be helpful if you are planning a larger water feature.
For your situation, I would go with a similar filter to the one he uses, and installed in a similar way, but just do it in a plastic container within the vivarium itself. That way you have you water filtered and you have a waterfall, but no need for an entire paludarium.
Keep in mind, darts are not good swimmers. Most people who integrate ponds into their setups take the out afterwards, including me. They take up a ton of floor space too, and in a viv the size of yours, floor space is pretty big, even for leucs.
Just a penny for thought.
Good luck, and God bless! I can't wait to see how it all turns out.

I concur. I did a water feature in my first tank and filled it in after about three months.

 

[Mr_Knightley]

Don’t you need a pond of some sort for tadpoles and a reliable place for the frogs to drink water?

I personally have not had problems with my frogs not having a water source to drink from, because frogs drink through their skin almost entirely. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen any frog actually drink through it's mouth before. Any dewy surface will do.
As for rearing tads, that is where I can't help you. I know that many peopletake tadpoles out, and rear them in bins or cups with a sponge filter. I also know that a ton of people rear frogs in-tank like you want to. that way, they can eat drowned fruitfies and you don't have to move tiny, pinkynail-sized frogs into a separate tank, because the already established adult's viv has established microfauna.
I wasn't really trying to shoot down your ideas, in fact i think the in-tank rearing is the best method for tad rearing, from my research. I'm just sharing thoughts.
Good day and God bless you!

 

[Hemmdog]

I used both the beamswork and greenevo led lights when they came out. In fact, I still have them both and just recently used the evo on a planted tank. The evo's look more natural than the beamsworks, which were a bit too blue for my tastes. They both grew plants like crazy though. Not sure if you can still find these or if they've been replaced but growing plants in a viv requires nowhere near the price tag of a reef light. I even had some tanks that were growing great with 6500k t5's in a shop light and a 29 gallon that had three 6500k cfl's from Lowes or HD. I liked the LED's though because they kept heat down in the tanks. The 3w diodes and the lenses on the evos will definitely punch to the bottom of an 18" tank though. I had them on 18x18x18 vivs.

As far as water features go, they can really be more of a hassle than they're worth. Paludariums look awesome but I gave up on them. If you have one you'll want to keep the water moving so it doesn't get all gross, and you'll want to make sure it cycles before adding anything. Remember that all the waste runs through the substrate, down through the false bottom, and into the water, so it can get nasty. As the tank matures all of the terrestrial plants' roots will grow down into the bit of water under the false bottom and suck out all of that nasty stuff though. Springtails will get down in it and breed as well.

What kind of frogs are you planning on housing in there? If you go with thumbnails they don't need water for the tadpoles. They'll lay the eggs on the glass or a leaf and then move the tadpoles into the little pools of water in the brom pockets. They'll just crawl out after they sprout legs. One thing you can do is cut holes in the background now that you can put little shot glasses or film canisters in. The frogs will lay eggs in those and you can just pull them out and raise the tadpoles in little cups. That's what I did for a lot of them, but the imitators bred like crazy and I missed a lot of them. I found so many frogs in that tank when I finally broke it down.

Very good info thank you! I’m planning on either doing azures or fine spot bumblebees. The more I think about it the less desirable a water feature becomes. What about doing a shallow pool with rocks that accumulates a little water and evaporates throughout the day, Is that a bad idea too?
Do you run a glass top on yours? I’m still unsure how I’m going to set that up if I need to have a glass lid for humidity. Glass shops aren’t open during this pandemic around me.

 

[lilgrounchuck]

Don’t you need a pond of some sort for tadpoles and a reliable place for the frogs to drink water?

No, they'll absorb moisture through their skin, and if they really need to "drink" they do it through their rear end. That's actually how you get certain meds to them, you'll put it in some water in a little dish and they'll just sit in it. Get yourself a mistking and you'll never have to worry about making sure they're hydrated. Just make sure the bucket is topped off. You're already topping off your ATO res with RO, so this is just one more res.

 

[Hemmdog]

I personally have not had problems with my frogs not having a water source to drink from, because frogs drink through their skin almost entirely. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen any frog actually drink through it's mouth before. Any dewy surface will do.
As for rearing tads, that is where I can't help you. I know that many peopletake tadpoles out, and rear them in bins or cups with a sponge filter. I also know that a ton of people rear frogs in-tank like you want to. that way, they can eat drowned fruitfies and you don't have to move tiny, pinkynail-sized frogs into a separate tank, because the already established adult's viv has established microfauna.
I wasn't really trying to shoot down your ideas, in fact i think the in-tank rearing is the best method for tad rearing, from my research. I'm just sharing thoughts.
Good day and God bless you!

Very interesting! I didn’t know that frogs drank through their skin. Oh I know you weren’t shooting down my idea, it’s great brainstorming the layout with you guys. Thanks for helping me out!

 

[lilgrounchuck]

Very good info thank you! I’m planning on either doing azures or fine spot bumblebees. The more I think about it the less desirable a water feature becomes. What about doing a shallow pool with rocks that accumulates a little water and evaporates throughout the day, Is that a bad idea too?
Do you run a glass top on yours? I’m still unsure how I’m going to set that up if I need to have a glass lid for humidity. Glass shops aren’t open during this pandemic around me.

You can but it's not really needed. The broms you stick in there will hold water that they'll pop in if they need a soak. My tinc and leuc vivs didn't have any pools in them and they were fine for years.

Exo's are easy to rig if you don't have access to a glass shop right now, so you're in luck! Take the screen lid off, wrap it up in cling wrap, and stick it back on. Boom. Done. Make sure to leave about .5 - 1" unwrapped up front. As the tank heats cooler air will get sucked in through the vent at the bottom and the warmer air will go out the top. This will keep the front glass from getting all fogged up (mostly, anyway.)

 

[Hemmdog]

You can but it's not really needed. The broms you stick in there will hold water that they'll pop in if they need a soak. My tinc and leuc vivs didn't have any pools in them and they were fine for years.

Exo's are easy to rig if you don't have access to a glass shop right now, so you're in luck! Take the screen lid off, wrap it up in cling wrap, and stick it back on. Boom. Done. Make sure to leave about .5 - 1" unwrapped up front. As the tank heats cooler air will get sucked in through the vent at the bottom and the warmer air will go out the top. This will keep the front glass from getting all fogged up (mostly, anyway.)

What a great idea! Thank you!

The evo light you linked: is that for a 18 long or a 24?

 

[lilgrounchuck]

What a great idea! Thank you!

The evo light you linked: is that for a 18 long or a 24?

I think that was 12-18, but they used to make them in a bunch of sizes. If you get the 12-18 one, just stick two on there. You may be able to find more sizes on ebay.

 

[Hemmdog]

I think that was 12-18, but they used to make them in a bunch of sizes. If you get the 12-18 one, just stick two on there. You may be able to find more sizes on ebay.

I can’t find one that I like. What do you think about a two bulb 24inch t5?

 

[lilgrounchuck]

I can’t find one that I like. What do you think about a two bulb 24inch t5?

T5s work fine, though you can probably get one cheaper at a hardware store. I used to use the 48”shop light ones you get at Lowe’s. I had tanks on racks side by side and put one dual t5 shop light on each shelf.

 

[Hemmdog]

T5s work fine, though you can probably get one cheaper at a hardware store. I used to use the 48”shop light ones you get at Lowe’s. I had tanks on racks side by side and put one dual t5 shop light on each shelf.

Do they grow plants well and look good? All the leds I saw that were 24 long had a bluer spectrum than I am looking for.