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I like that setup very much. It's hard to visualize without the expand-o-foam and coco matting in there yet, but I like the placement of the hardscape very much.
Are you worried that the tank might look too small when it's all finished and you have all kinds of broad-leaved plants in there?

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

Well when it came down to doing business, I found out that I needed to do the waterfall first, completely because once I get the DW in the way I like it it will be impossible for me to get in and silicone the waterfall. So I got the waterfall great stuffed and here are the pics:







As you can see the setup is for the most part, permanent. I won't be taking the pump out for cleaning. I'll be putting a bit of filter floss at the intake and clean that instead. The rock I had to make removeable so I could at least do that much maint on the pump. So there are a couple gaps that I may fill in with a little more great stuff, but overall I'm pretty satisfied with my first attempt with this stuff.

Now I need to silicone it, and throw on the gravel/coco fiber around the sides. I'm thinking of leaving the waterway black silicone. So it will be black in the center, a bit of gravel outside that, then coco fiber down the side.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

I like that setup very much. It's hard to visualize without the expand-o-foam and coco matting in there yet, but I like the placement of the hardscape very much.
Are you worried that the tank might look too small when it's all finished and you have all kinds of broad-leaved plants in there?

Thank you for your comments illustrae. I'm having the same visualization problems, so I'm just kind of hoping it will look good.

Well, the tank is a 10g. So IMO it's going to look small whatever I do. But there are a few things I can do to make it look a bit bigger. I can chose smaller plants, which I will try to do, and maybe a smaller frog. I'm not too sure as I really like the azureus, so I probably won't get any smaller ones. So it's mainly the plants I can play with. Small ferns, mosses, anubias nana. Those will be around the water, and I'll probably try to find some smaller epiphytes for the background. Maybe one small bromiliad. In the end I'm hoping all my hard work on the background will be mostly invisible.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

My first thought when I saw the pictures was "hey, where did the front panel of the tank go?" Only then did I realize that the tank is lying on its side Silly me

Anyway - I guess you did not only affix it so that you can do maintenance on the pump, but also that you are able to completely remove it, in case it breaks and needs replacement. I mean the wire is not fixed, right?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Nope, I'm not going to be removing the pump any time soon. The wire is fixed in there, for asthetic reasons. These are pretty reliable pumps, and I've already run it for a while to make sure it works. Like I said the only thing I'll be able to do is change the mechanical filter type media I put around the pump. Otherwise it's stuck there. I have my fingers crossed that it will work for quite some time.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

I've already run it for a while to make sure it works

So - if I go ahead and have a light bulb on for a few days to see if it works, and it actually does, this would mean it will work for a long time to come. Right?

Very risky Matty, but - of course - this is only my opinion, but you knew that anyway,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

So - if I go ahead and have a light bulb on for a few days to see if it works, and it actually does, this would mean it will work for a long time to come. Right?

Nope, all you know is it works. Then you have to cross your fingers and hope that it continues to work. You can also buy one of those fancy screw in compact fluorecent bulbs which are known to last longer. So what's a light bulb got to do with my waterfall.

I tested it to make sure it works out of the box. 90% of returns happen when things just don't work out of the box. Shipping damages or faulty craftmanship or something. Then 9.8% is misuse. These are all just theoretical numbers based on working at a LFS for a couple years, also these don't include rio pumps which just catch fire and/or fail for no particular reason 50% of the time(hence my analogy to the screw in PC that lasts longer ). If a pump fails that wasn't misused or not just opened it's usually an old filter and just needs a new impellar or something simple. I've only seen a couple people bring something in that just stopped working after a couple months that didn't show signs of obvious abuse. You're right it's risky, but if I had these odds at a race track, I'd bet the farm. I'm willing to ride on those odds for the sake of asthetics. If it somes down to it, I can cut out the pump with a little work and tempororily house the frog in a plastic shoe box for a couple days. It's easier to whip up a temp frog house than a temp fish house(you know the whole deficating in the same substance you breath thing).

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Well I got a lot of work done on this thing last night. I got almost all of the great stuff work done. It looks pretty good so far and I even have the startings of a ledge. That's all I need to finish today, as I had to do it in layers. There's some parts I need to rip out a bit of because I put down a bit too much stuff. But on to the pictures...There's lots.

The waterfall after siliconing(note how awesomely that rock fits in place ) :


A couple minutes after the great stuff was laid down:



After it set for an hour or so:


With a second layer for the ledge:


What it looks like as of now:


So after the last little layer on the ledge, I'll silicone little sections at a time and mash the coco fiber into it. Then lay a bit of a mixed substrate down on the false bottom. So I had to get that ready for today.

The brick of coco fiber(eco friendly):


In a 2.5g bucket of water for expansion:


3/4 full 2.5g bucket:


Little baking to dry out for use today:

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Hmmmmm, Brownies

Looks delicious Matty

Anyway - very interesting, I have to say that with each new picture I have been tilting my head in all kins of directions just to try to see how it would look upright.

I have to make you a major compliment. Your vision of things to be is fantastic. I would not have been able to pull this off. Right now it looks like a major construction zone, but I am sure once it is completed one will not see anything from this stage anymore

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Hi
Absolutely fascinating to watch this go from idea to
fact.
I'll bet that drying session made the house
smell - well, "funny."
Frank

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Very interesting process to watch. Keen to watch the next step.

Cheers
TW

I have to make you a major compliment. Your vision of things to be is fantastic. I would not have been able to pull this off. Right now it looks like a major construction zone, but I am sure once it is completed one will not see anything from this stage anymore

Thanks Ingo, I hope we don't see any great stuff or anything else from the build.

Frank...There was a bit of smell, but I thought it smelled pretty fresh, nice actually. No complaints from the lady friend.

Thanks Robyn, the next step is already in progress, and I have more than half of the background covered. I want to finish it up tonight after work...but who knows.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

hey matty, do you know if the great stuff is toxic to fish? or do you have to cover it up with silicone?

-Vincent

I'm not sure if it could be used or not Bud. Unless someone states otherwise, I'd use it with caution. It probably would be ok covered in silicone, or marine epoxy or something like that, but I wouldn't try it out on my prize discus first if you know what I mean.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

I found some pet moss at Letchworth St. Pk. whilst on a feild trip for sedimentary geology class. I have it temporarily on my fish tank for constant temp, and a bit of light from a daylight pc bulb. It's in a tupperware with some of the eco earth(coco fiber) under it. Will keep moist until the viv is done....which seems to keep getting pushed back due to school and work.

Attached Image:

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Nice looking moss Matty but I don't think you are soposed to take things in or out of state/national parks. Maybe state parks are alright. When I was in TN for my honey moon I saw all sorts of neat mosses growing on water falls that I was very tempted to take home with me. There were signs everywhere saying to not mess with the plant life though.

Things are starting to look pretty neat. I can't wait to see the next steps.

BTW: some of your pictures really mess with my eyes! Takes me a little while to things figured out.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

I didn't see any signs about plants so I figured it was alright. The only thing they didn't want us to do was litter and feed the wildlife from what I read on the signs. Oh they also thought that climbing the slippery shale gorge was a bad idea. I agreed.

BTW: some of your pictures really mess with my eyes! Takes me a little while to things figured out.

I'm sorry. The only directions I take pics from are from the top looking down, and from the front I think. I have to take them at some funny angles because of how I'm currently working on them at the time. For the most part the tank is on it's back so that the coco fiber can set into the silicone, or so the great stuff doesn't set funny.

So here's a couple shots from my feildtrip and one pic of some of the coco fiber setting into the siliconed background.







And for an explanation so you guys don't have to strain your thinkers so hard...This one is of the tank lying on it's back and I am taking the pic through the top opening. You can kind of make out the ledge which connects from the high part of the false bottom to the driftwood.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Nice shots Matty!

Thanks for the discription of what we are looking at!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Thanks Wings.

Well I managed to get the rest of the great stuff siliconed and coco fibered. Hopefully I wont need to do any patching cause I ran out of silicone. That's two whole bottles of silicone in that 10G tank. I never thought I'd use that much. Anywho, I'll give it a couple days to cure before I give the tank a wet run. Can't wait!

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Hi,
Isn't it a terrific place? So filled with history.
When we used to go on field trips, we would camp out with
sleeping bags and tents. Hot dogs/burgers and... Beer!

Going in the fall allows most of the plant cover to be
gone and allows you to study the strata... But, it can
be cold, snowy, and rainy all in the same trip.

Have fun in Sedimentology, that is where I hung my hat.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Frank, I've gathered that geologists are quite the drinkers. I guess if my specimens weren't going anywhere any time soon a drink wouldn't be such a bad thing.

It wasn't all that bad when we went, cold wise. It got a bit hard to take notes at the end with my fingers about freezing off and all, but lots of fun nonetheless. Just wish I'da brought some gloves.

You shouldn't have told me you were a geologist, I might come after you for some help.

Well it seems I got a break in my schedule tonight and as I said I got the rest of the great stuff siliconed and coco fibered, and now the tank had its photo shoot. I turned the tank upright for this one and put the hood on it for some light. It really helps in the exposure and picture taking.

This is from the front and before I put the substrate in:


Closeup of the driftwood/waterfall area:


With substrate and rocks. I will be putting gravel in as well to hide the eggcrate even more.


And this is from the top so you can see the substrate and what not. The ledge is most definitive in this shot.


I'm pretty happy so far with the way this has turned out. That could change in the future of course, but for now I'm happy.

The next step is to give it a wet test and see how the waterfall looks. Then I need to get the fogger set up. The last thing on the list is to securely fit an acrylic hood. I've taken the warping factor into consideration and will put some ribs on the hood for support. I think after that it will be ready for plants, and eventually a frog or two.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Hi Matt,
I'm curious why the "plastic" hood vs a nice custom
fitted piece of glass. Over time the light will warp
and even yellow the plastic.

Yes, I found I was more interested in
"soft rx" Sedimentary, than "hard rx." My wife insists
I just never grew up and am most content "playing in the
"dirt."

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

My wife insists
I just never grew up

Frank, Just remember that one must grow old but one does not have to grow up. Stay young my friend!

Matty,
Things are looking good. You have a great amount of vision as you build things. W

What are your plans for a substrate?

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Nice,

I imagine that it will take quite a while until the interior of the viv is going to be clean, meaning all loose pieces of the brownies are out and don't fall in the water anymore. Oh, wouldn't this stuff clog up the pump?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Frank - I don't want to use glass because I have to cut holes for things and it has to be nice and tight so fruit flys and frogs don't get out. I'm pretty good with the DIY stuff, but cutting glass isn't my thing. I guess the major piece could be glass and I could have a smaller acryllic piece to cut up and open for feeding and what not.

Wings- I'm going to use some left over flourite for the substrate. I intend to have some plants in the water so they'll benefit a little from that substrate.

The coco fiber is mostly out of the tank. I held the tank upside down and sideways and shook most of the loose stuff off the walls before I put the bedding down. The pump will be allright. I have some filter floss to wrap around it. If it's real bad I'll do a fill and drain deal until it's clean before I run the pump.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Well LF you were right. As soon as I plugged in the pump, sure enough it seized up. I blame murphy. Anywho, I got out my least favorite steak knife and cut a single incision and pulled out the wire and was able to get the pump out without too much damage. Somehow some junk got into the impellar even though the water was pretty clean. After I cleaned it out it started back up and I put it back into the tank. Best of all I was able to fit the cord back through the incision and it doesn't look to bad. The pump is now running and I have a waterfall, cool! I also put in the flourite and the river rocks and it's lookin' pretty sweet (IMHO).

I also bid on a humidifier on ebay. Hopefully it won't run to my max bid or over. This is probably one of the more expensive parts of the setup, but one I don't want to skip out on. It will save me some work, and looks really cool when in operation.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

I just bought an ultrasonic humidifier at walmart for 10$, but it looks like the kind of thing that will break in a day or two. I also had a problem with coco fiber getting in my pump. You have to make sure every little piece is gone

Nice shots too... I love Letchworth. Good times.

Waiting for LF to say: Told you so!

I am glad you were able to cut, remove and replace the pump without too much trouble.

Flourite will look nice in there and any plants in the water will like it too!

I am guessing that pictures are coming of it up and running?

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Nate, I looked at wallys and they only had $40 ultrasonic humidifiers and it was the same at HD and target. That's why I decided to try to win a bid on ebay. Usually it's just the plastic construction on those things that are built all crappy. If that breaks take out the parts and put it in a 5 or 2.5 gallon bucket.

Yeah I had to fill and drain a number of times before all the coco fiber was out of the pond area.

Yeah, I know LF is going to come around here sooner or later with an "I told you so". But even with a slice down the waterfall it looks better than a wire hanging down through my jungle canopy. Maybe I could have turned it into a vine. That would'a been cool. I'll get some pics later today.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Your pics look great matty. Look forward to your next shot with the substrate & water.

Cheers
TW

Hi,
"Ultrasonic Humidifier." Is that a brand name instead
of a process name?
Arn't those critters sensitive to sounds? I'm sure they
are sensitive to changes in pressures (bird wing movements
and vibrations on the surface that they sit on) I would
think that they are also sensitive to sounds.
I would think you some sort of misting system similiar
to that in a grocery store over the fresh produce.
Ah well, just thinking.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

I think he means a ultrasonic mister (http://www.mainlandmart.com/foggers.html). They're often used in decorative fountains to create a fog effect that looks very neat, and does an amazing job of raising humidity.
I've often wondered about their use in vivariums as well, though. I know people use them in ponds where there are koi and such, but I've never heared any reviews about how the sonic vibrations effect livestock.

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

Yeah, Illustrae has it right. They can be found cheaply in humidifier units where only minimal DIY must be done to run a tube into the vivarium. Which is the second point. This item won't be in the vivarium, it will be stored underneath it, and I'm sure they won't be able to feel vibrations from it. They are as the name stated ultrasonic, vibrating at very very high speeds, making them silent and probably undetectable. They are used pretty frequently with succes from what I've read. Major hobby brands like zoomed are starting to market these useful tools.

And about the produce misters. I'd love a setup like that. I think the ultrasonic humidifiers are pricey, but those misting systems run at least $100 for one nozzle. That's the cheapo unit that you can't aim the nozzle. On my setup I think I estimated $200 or so for a couple swivel nozzles. So I'm going to use the ultrasonic humidifier to maintain humidity at 90-100% and use a hand sprayer for plants and removing frog dookie from plants and glass.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Well LF you were right

I told you so



I am glad you could fix it without creating a major redo. At least it gives you more confidence that even if the pump should give up you will be able to replace it in no time.

Have fun,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Thanks LF .

Without the humidifier the tank got up to 75% humidity partially sealed. I'm guessing once I get it sealed up I shouldn't have much problem keeping the humidity high.

Another obstacle I'm faced with is that my waterfall is not self contained. I thought I made rims on the side that were sufficient to keep water flowing into the water area, but some is escaping to the land portion. From what I understand, this isn't the best way to do things. It seems that non aquatic plants don't like consistantly submersed roots, and that what I've learned from textbook ecology, so it looks like I'll be doing a little more siliconing. Since I'll have to buy a whole bottle, I'll be doing patchwork on my waterfall incision and other places that the eco earth didn't entirely stick to. And while I'm at it I figured I'd dress up my waterfall a bit with some rocks pokin out and whatnot. As of right now I feel as if I didn't do my best with the waterfall. So it seems I've digressed a bit and will have some work to do this weekend other than my previous plans.

So onto the pics:

Full Frontal:


Acouple of the waterfall area, it's not really possible to see the water in the picture, but I swear it's there! In the first picture you can see the agitation that the waterfall makes as it hits the surface of the pond.




From the top you can see how the substrate on the bottom is starting to get waterlogged. Compare to the ledge:

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Hi,
I believe you could grow plants such as anubis emerged and
tied to your drift wood especially in the areas where the
roots would be constantly damp or wet.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Thanks Frank, I too imagine it would do well. I was thinking about some anubias coffeafolia coming up and out of the water in places. However, I think I want mostly terrestrial mosses on the land portion and epiphytes elsewhere. Those won't do too well on such permanently soggy substrate I don't think.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Hey,

Don't bash yourself too much here. Given that this is your first try you did (and still are doing) a great job. I am sure that your current water fall issues are nothing you could not fix.

About plants: so you are saying that the Brownies substrate is good to grow plants on directly? As in "no soil or ferts needed"?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Hey Matty, with your DIY skills, you'll have this little hiccup fixed in no time

Cheers
TW

At this point I'm kind of wishing my viv would get a little more water-logged. Some of the parts inside it are still really dry even though it gets fogged 8 times a day.

As I don't have personal experience with the "brownies" as you call the coco fiber, I can't really say how well it grows different types of plants other than I've seen some nice setups and healthy plants using it. I think it's compared to peat. And we al lknow peat is a pretty nutritious substrate. I feel that I may need to do a bit of ferting here and there, maybe with some of my fw tank's water.

Don't worry I'm not bashing myself. I can fix anything with some duct tape and a screwdriver, I'm just saying I wasn't impressed with the way it looked. I'll dress it up a little and I think I can make it look better. Overall I'm pretty happy with my first attempt at a vivarium.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Overall I'm pretty happy with my first attempt at a vivarium.

And so are we all

I think to remember that I have seen a few vivs in pictures that have some pots basicaly integrated into the scape. First, they made a dent in the scape into which they then placed the pot, with planting soil. I wonder if they didn't have your brownies available

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Matty,

So I leave for a month and planted aquaria has become DIY tropical rainforest. Kodos to the mods for keeping it here in planted aquaria.

Your herp endeavor has brought back some memories of my days as a member of the New York Herpetology Society.

Great job and thumbs up for sharing your effort in unfamiliar territory. I'm not that up on coco fiber but how is the maintance going to be with that stuff. Any chance your going to extend the habitat by creating a taller canopy with the mesh-type enclosure.

Are you going to put any fish in there. If whiteclouds could withstand the heat they might enjoy the waterfall splashing into the water.

My Scapes

Kodos to the mods for keeping it here in planted aquaria.

I agree, thanks

First, they made a dent in the scape into which they then placed the pot, with planting soil. I wonder if they didn't have your brownies available

I had thought about this. Let's say that a pot is 2-3 inches deep...that means the background has to be that deep at least in a small area around the pot. That's almost 1/3 of the tank front to back. So I decided that would take up too much space, and/or look funny. I've basically settled on using epiphytes and mosses or some other type of nonrooting plant for the wall. I'll use the main substrate for a rooting plant or two.

how is the maintance going to be with that stuff.

Thanks for writing tetratech, glad you are back, hope you won your bet. Have you had any experience with dendros? I was hoping you could assist. Any pics of past setups?

I think I'm supposed to change it out every 6-8 months. Not bad IMO. The stuff is really cheap so it's basically disposable. I used less than 1/3 of a $2 block for everything so far. What did you use when you were into herps?

Any chance your going to extend the habitat by creating a taller canopy with the mesh-type enclosure.

I hadn't considered it, the frogs I'm looking at are mainly ground dwelling frogs that climb around some. It would be neat for the tree dwellers. Plus I would think it would be problematic with keeping the humidity high enough for the dart frogs.

Are you going to put any fish in there.

I don't think I'm going to be putting fish in there. There's no filtration and I don't really want to try and keep the water clean enough with all the frog poo and drowned FFs. Plus there's only a tiny amount of swimmable space(what you see in front), everything else is netted off. Maybe one day I'll get a large enough tank to try something like that. It would be pretty cool.


Oops: I got so excited that tetratech is back that I almost wet myself j/k ...I mean I forgot to tell everyone that I got an ultrasonic humidifier today. I didn't win the bid on ebay, it jumped up to $20 (plus 10 shipping) in the last hour. I'm able to find them around here for that price brand new, so I decided to just go out and buy one. I ended up spending $25. Now I just have to figure out how I can mod this thing...I haven't opened it yet, but I'm confident in my abilities . I'll post pics when I actually get something done.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Oops: I got so excited that tetratech is back that I almost wet myself

Almost, I guess I'm not missed as much as I thought

Anyway, I don't have any pics of my old herp setups it was back in my teen years. Back in those days my setups were either terrarium or aquatic, nothing like your DIY setup. In the terrarium I do remember using layers of gravel, peatmoss and soil and they usually housed small tropical lizards and contained plants that were safe for eating and climbing. Some of the residents included a breeding pair of three-horned jackson chamelons (the best reptile available IMO) and many others including tegus, california king snakes, alligator snapping turtles, soft shell turtles, many salamanders and I also had a 6 foot iguana that was paper-trained. The iguana lived in my room and basked in my window under a heat lamp. Although I love some of the gecko species (had a flying gecko) they are quite boring since they don't move around much with the lights on.

My Scapes

'Kay, update time.

The ultrasonic humidifier looks dang simple to mod straight out of the box. All's I'm going to need is a gravel vac and some tubing. I may or may not even need to silicone it in there.

Also to keep your interest, I got some photos. I fixed up the waterfall and let cure. I'm quite impressed with myself. I fixed the leak and made it look better at the same time. Check it out:

This is the top part of the waterfall, Most everything is siliconed in place:


And the water coming out the bottom:


A little bit wider angle(still from inside the tank, no glare!):


I had to bring the camera out of the tank to get the whole thing in one pic, but nasty glare made me take it from an angle, this is the best I could do:


Finally a shot of the whole tank, how it looks as of 10 minutes ago:


Hope you enjoyed

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Matty ,

That looks good. I guess the next phase is plants, right?


Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

Wow Matty! I can't wait to see what you do with the plants! Looks really nice already!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Hi Matt,
A suggestion. I think I'd remove the rounded rocks
that are piled about at the bottom of the falls.
The rounded rocks look out of place in this setup.
While they were probably readily available, they are
water rounded and would not normally be found in such
a placid scene. The impression one gets from looking
at the background of the "cliff" and guessing at what
is behind the ground cover, would suggest fractured
pieces of rock that would have weathered out of the
face and fallen to the ground below.

"Chunks" of some rock might be more appropriate and
look more natural.

Other than that, I echo everyone else's comments. It looks
great. I can't wait to see the critters in there.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

WOW. No need to say anything else

Cheers
TW

While all shots again boggled my mind when I tried to identify what I am looking at, and in which angle, the last one shows how nicely you set up this rather small tank. If I wouldn't know that it is only a 10G I would have assumed it to be much bigger.

Now, when is it time for plants?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Thanks guys

Frank - I know, something I've learned so far in sedimentology is that roundness is a function of distance for the most part, especially in streams. I caught myself thinking the same thing, those round rocks don't belong there. I'll grab some more of the same rock, I think it's siltstone, and do a bit of my own weathering with a hammer.

LF - All of the first pictures were taken right side up from the front inside the tank and were closeups of the waterfall. No funky angles this time, except the one from the side. Maybe a new pair of glasses? Just joshin' ya. It's not under water so all the shots are a bit more difficult to take because I'm not used to it...so that might show in the pictures. Thanks for the nice comments!

As for plants - I could probably get the plants in the water that I want there, but the plants that will be on the drier areas will need to wait until I'm done with that anyways. So I'd like to finish the hood and the humidifier first before getting any plants. I expect I'll finish that stuff this weekend.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Nice waterfall - can't wait to see this thing planted The hardscape for this seems to have taken up a good deal of room, more than I expected, so i think sticking to smaller leaved plants would work well here - nothing bigger than a. nana-sized leaves.

Incidently, this thing isn't going in your bedroom, is it....?

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Back in the saddle!

I really hadn't planned on anything larger than that, but I'm not sure what size any of the epiphytes and ferns get to get to This is still going to be a learning process. I want to try out a few different plants. I'd think I have plenty of light for most things.

Incidently, this thing isn't going in your bedroom, is it....?

No....why? It's going next door to the reef tank in the living room. They both have a little splishy splashy noise, but I wouldn't mind it in my room if that's the concern.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Out of curiousity, are these frogs "vocal"? I know that's a reason I wouldn't want them in a bedroom...lol The waterfall would be calming but the croaking would drive me insain. Nice job Matt!

-Josh

I really hadn't planned on anything larger than that, but I'm not sure what size any of the epiphytes and ferns get to get to This is still going to be a learning process. I want to try out a few different plants. I'd think I have plenty of light for most things.

Sounds good.

No....why? It's going next door to the reef tank in the living room. They both have a little splishy splashy noise, but I wouldn't mind it in my room if that's the concern.

Oh ok... I only ask because that splashy/ dribbly noise would make me have to use the bathroom every 3 minutes That's an important thign to know before you place a tank anywhere

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Back in the saddle!

The frogs are vocal when mating. The male will call to the female. They tend to do thier business in morning light I think. I've heard some sound tracks of different species, some of which are beautiful and some are like scratching nails on a chalkboard. All however are pretty soft and difficult to hear outside the vivarium, especially if it's in another room.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

In a 10G tank, hopefully "He" won't have to call too
loud for a "Her."

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

id like to suggest that you get a philodendron plant(its a terestrial ar rooting plant) in a pot beside your tank and have some vines trailing in, if you have a couple of vines siting in the water they grow great root systems.
i have this in my 55G planted tank, looks good

@ Frank

Coop, you know I'd like having plants trailing in or popping up out of the tank, but I have to be able to seal off the tank pretty well to keep the frogs and fruit flies in. So unfortunately I won't be able to use that good idea.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients