# 12g Mantella Waterfall Build



## whuppity (Jul 30, 2015)

Another member suggested that I should post this on the amphibian section of the site rather than habitat, so that's what I'm doing! This is a fairly ambitious project (by my standards) to make a suitable habitat for a pair of golden mantella frogs I plan on getting at some point in the future and I hope that a handful of you might find some of this info useful. This post will be picture heavy and I'll try to include as many stages of the build process as I can so you guys can see exactly what I've done.

Also, I have to preface this by saying that I'm not especially good with my hands - I can safely say that this was my first experience of using power tools! - so when I first considered putting this tank together, I had to come up with a really simple method of converting it that even a chimp with a drill could do.

First of all, the tank itself:










This is a 12g tank from Komodo that I bought on sale a few years ago, originally used to house my crested gecko when I first got him but he quickly outgrew it and I upgraded him to the tank next door. 










This was a top opening tank but the mesh lid that it came with had unfortunately warped under an old heat lamp of mine and rusted in the humidity so I decided to discard it. There's just no way that puppy was going to prevent fruit flies escaping no matter what I did to it. 

I decided the best thing to do would be to tip the tank up on its side (since I understand that mantellas like a bit of arboreal space as well) and make my own door out of plexiglass. It was a fairly simple process, put together using clear, aquarium safe silicon. Youtube may tell you differently but I managed to cut a decently straight line across the length of my plexiglass using nothing but a sharp pocket knife and a ruler. A little more time consuming than using a power saw, I admit, but infinitely easier and cost effective.


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## whuppity (Jul 30, 2015)

Phase two: Waterfall construction! :roll2:

This was by far the easiest part of the whole build. I bought a bag full of small pieces of corkbark for a ridiculously low price on e-bay and, once they arrived, proceeded to lay them out in the tank to see what I had to work with. I switched different pieces of and broke some in half until I had a shape that I was happy with and that would divert the water in the direction I wanted it to go.










I stuffed bits of rolled up newspaper underneath different pieces to create different angles, in the hopes of diverting the water flow into the right hand corner. Once I'd decided on all of that, I just siliconed everything down and puts weights (read: rocks. Big 'uns.) on them to keep them in place (the sophistication of my methods is unmatched). 










I left it to cure over night and this was the result:










I left a few centimetres of space on the right hand side, where I'll be putting the airline tube from the pump, the idea being that I can hide it behind the largest piece of cork bark and water will trickle down from there. What you can't see in the picture is that that side of the cork bark isn't siliconed completely in place, so the pump should be able to fit behind it without dislodging it entirely. 

Because this tank is small (though quite large enough for its future inhabitants) I wanted to save as much room as possible when constructing this waterfall. Most other methods I've seen either require that the pump and tubing be hidden behind egg crates - which would have taken up far too much valuable floor space in a tank this size - or that it be siliconed in behind expanding foam, rendering it impossible it remove the pump or airline tubing should it need maintenance. 

And this was my solution to the problem. So far, so good, I think!

Next up: The Background.


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## whuppity (Jul 30, 2015)

While in the process of putting this tank together, I've had only one key goal and that was to conserve as much space as possible. I hate seeing any space in a tank go to waste, it just irks me, which is why I decided not to go with the expanding foam and silicone method. It's isn't an especially costly method but I do feel that, in order to have an interesting surface to scamper about on (I'm thinking of my crested gecko when I mention this) and also to have enough room to accommodate plant growth, expanding foam takes up far too much space in a tank. (Not to mention that the process of siliconing eco earth to the foam is a loathsome chore that I absolutely hated but that's a story for another time :whistling2

That said, I also wanted to get some plant growth on the back wall with the intention of making this as much of a self-sustaining and bioactive tank as possible. After a bit of research, I decided to use some hygroton that I bought from dartfrog.co.uk. The smallest piece they had was more than enough to cover the footprint I wanted, top to bottom and, since I knew I would be using a false bottom for the waterfall anyway, it just made the most sense.










This is the hygroton, cut to fit around the waterfall and, I have to say, it's an absolute pleasure to work with. It's really easy to cut and mold into place and it seems to wick water extremely well, especially for such a small tank. If you have a larger project, I may suggest using something else or perhaps incorporating it into a drip wall system. It _does_ wick water up from the bottom of the tank but not very far. Misting it doesn't seem very practical unless you have an automatic misting system to do the job for you. 

Anyway, before I siliconed the hygroton in place, I decided to add a bit more of 3D element to the back wall. And it just so happens that one of the items I'd ordered from e-Bay recently came with some bubble wrap! Yay!

(In case you don't know what bubble wrap looks like ): 









I just bunched this up and glued it down where I wanted before laying the hygroton over the top. 










And then it was just a case of leaving the silicone to cure. It was a really simple process and quite effective. I just hope that I'll be able to grow some mosses on it and, with any luck, a few orchids as well. (I've always wanted orchids but my big fat gecko would just crush the life out of them so this is my opportunity! :mrgreen: )

Here's the (kinda blurry, sorry about that :blush result once I had the tank standing again:


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## whuppity (Jul 30, 2015)

Next up is the false bottom. 

Use egg crates. That's my main advice here and I really can't stress it enough because it will make this whole process a lot easier. But because I'm an idiot, I decided to improvise and just use whatever I had lying around the house. Don't get me wrong, it worked! Eventually. But it's by far less of a hassle and a lot more aesthetically pleasing if you just use egg crate. 

Reasons I didn't:
1. I wanted to keep costs down and challenge myself to a bit more of a DIY element to this build.
2. I live in a really remote part of Wales, where delivery isn't cheap and where it's actually impossible to get anything you need for this at local shops. In fact, my nearest hardware shop is a 30 minute drive away and, as usual, they didn't have what I needed.

Moving on!

First, make sure everything's water tight. My tank wasn't -- there was the tiniest leaks in each corner -- so I went around with more silicone and sealed everything up. Let it cure for longer than you think it will need, just in case and, to be extra safe, I added another layer of silicone over each seam that would be in contact with water. 

To make the false bottom, I decided to use excess pieces of acrylic I had lying around after making the door. It was simple enough! I raided my uncle's tools, grabbed a drill and the smallest drill bit I could find and drilled lots and lots of holes over the whole thing. 










This is a scrap piece I wanted to test first. Your acrylic may crack but it's really not a problem. You just want to make sure that the water has a way of getting into the bottom of your tank and out of your substrate. 

To prop the false bottom up, I went into the greenhouse, grabbed a handful of cheap plastic plant pots (that, conveniently, already have holes in the bottoms) and cut each one down to size. All you need to do is make sure that your false bottom is above the level of your pump, so you can fully submerge it. 

I didn't take any photos of this part (it was really fiddly to put together and I ended up forgetting, oops) but I cut out semi-circles in each side of the plastic pots to allows for water flow. You really don't want any standing water under there. Then it was a case of putting everything together. 

I placed my pump and my airline tubing where I wanted in the tank, arranged the re-purposed plant pots on the bottom and laid my acrylic flat over the top. 

You can just see the layers in this picture: 










And what did I use as a mesh barrier between my soil and the acrylic? The humble dish cloth, of course. I just happened to have a cheap brand in the kitchen that doesn't hold much water and layered a few on top of each other. Place that over the flooring of your false bottom, add soil and you're done!

Or so I thought...

Up next: The Apocalypse.


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## Cicindela (Nov 28, 2014)

Hi there, the viv is looking great and it's an interesting project, I'm doing something similar at the moment so am picking up some tips from you, I was going to try my waterfall with cork tubes cut long ways in half and used for the water to flow down, I wondered how well silicone would stick painted on it to further waterproof it but corks pretty good anyway. I will get some egg crate, I would probably of tried to use something else but as you say it's easier and better to use the crate. I'm looking forward to seeing the next stage, sure it's going to look great.:2thumb: Cheers


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## whuppity (Jul 30, 2015)

Cicindela said:


> Hi there, the viv is looking great and it's an interesting project, I'm doing something similar at the moment so am picking up some tips from you, I was going to try my waterfall with cork tubes cut long ways in half and used for the water to flow down, I wondered how well silicone would stick painted on it to further waterproof it but corks pretty good anyway. I will get some egg crate, I would probably of tried to use something else but as you say it's easier and better to use the crate. I'm looking forward to seeing the next stage, sure it's going to look great.:2thumb: Cheers


The silicone should work just fine! My only advice where that's concerned is less is more. I find that the thinner you apply the silicone the better it seems adhere things together, as counter intuitive as that sounds. The one I used just doesn't stick to itself very well. 

Good luck with your project! I hope things turn out well for you!


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## whuppity (Jul 30, 2015)

A disaster happened. 

Just as I put in the soil and the leaf litter, _after_ I'd decided that everything was up and running and introduced woodlice to the viv to get the substrate cycling and build up a good layer of micro fauna, the pump broke. 

It just died. I wasn't expecting miracles -- I bought it from Amazon for less than £10 -- but it'd been running for precisely three days. What. The. Hell. But this is where the pros of this sort of setup really came into their own. Because I hadn't used foam and because I have a completely removable false bottom, it was just a matter of getting a bucket and scooping all the soil into it. I even went to the trouble of timing myself and I took out all the soil, the components for the false bottom, the pump and did a full water change in an hour and a half. 

Which isn't bad going if you don't have to do it on a very regular basis. 

The day, as a result, was saved! Because once I had the pump back out, I took it apart and got it up and running again. It was just a piece of debris that managed to get into it. Lesson learned!

As I said, I did a full water change and cleaned the bottom of the tank a second time (and this time layered it with more dishcloth so that, should I ever need to do this again I'll be able to use the dishcloth to scoop up any dirt that falls into the water as a result of removing the false bottom with ease). I put everything back where they belonged, set the pump back up and everything's running brilliantly!










The humidity and temps are looking good (they're a little low in the evenings but it's what I'd expect this time of year) and are within range. So now it's just a question of planting!

Another thing I've added is some sponge around the pump (tied on with strips of clingfilm. What did I tell you guys about my methods?  ) just to try and limit the size of the debris that passes through it. And to get the false bottom to fit completely snuggly, I've wedged pieces of sponge into even the tiniest gaps around the edge of it. I'd looked at it previously and thought to myself, "Meh, it'll be fiiiine!" but that was obviously a mistake. 

And also, my java moss arrived! Yay!


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## Reece125 (Oct 24, 2015)

Looking good.


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## whuppity (Jul 30, 2015)

Now that everything's up and running as it should -- considering how cheap the pump was, it's surprisingly quiet and powerful. I have to keep it on it's lowest setting to keep water from shooting out uncontrollably  -- it's just a matter of planting!

I've installed a small Exo Terra canopy with a single 20w bulb. This one to be precise: Bright White Natural Daylight 6500K Low Energy Saving CFL Full Spiral Bulb | eBay










It's been running for about two weeks now and the moss I'd transferred into it from another terrarium of mine hasn't begun to lose any of its colouring, which is a surprise. In fact, it's been running so well that I'm seriously considering replacing the canopy I currently have on my crestie tank for a 45cm Exo Terra with the same bulb. It just seems to be a brighter, purer light than the Reptisun LED fixture I'm currently using. I'm sure it would work brilliantly on a shorter tank but I feel like the plants at the bottom of my tank are really struggling for light. 










This one bulb seems to be doing the job really well but there's still plenty of space on the top to add a second canopy if necessary. Altogether, the lighting cost me £27 for the canopy, the bulb and the timer. Not a bad deal! 

Now, as for the rest of the plants, I didn't want to overload such a small tank but I also needed to make sure that the frogs would have enough foliage to hide in and to break up their line of sight. I'd originally intended to go for a carnivorous plant or two but the ones in my local garden centre were a bit too large so I had to revise that idea. 

I went for this pretty little fittonia instead:



















It naturally split in two when I took it out of the pot and cleaned the roots off so I took advantage of it and spread it around the tank a bit. It has a bit of height to it, which is great because the frogs should have a good time scampering around underneath it. 

But the plant I was _most _ determined to get was some baby tears or mind-your-own-business (_helxine soleirolii_). I tried ordering online but the sight I ordered from was, unfortunately, out of stock but I just happened to stumble on it at the garden centre! I really wasn't expecting that, not in my remote little corner of Wales. 










It's so green and lush! I'm really pleased with it and it should adapt to the humid conditions really well. 

Lastly, I took a cutting from a species of fern I had in yet another terrarium of mine. I bought this fern about two years ago and I can't for the life of me remember which variety it is but I'm hoping that by next summer it will have established and grown really well, despite how dinky and pathetic it looks at the moment. 










Now that I have everything where I want them, I just added a generous layer of orchid bark and a bit more leaf litter and that's it! This project is more or less complete now and there's no real danger of the substrate ever being flooded. Because of the design of the waterfall, I have two places from which I can siphon any excess water, it's just a matter of removing a few rocks and sticking a syringe in there. I'll be doing this every couple of weeks to do water changes and it shouldn't be hassle. 

Everything that's left to do now is purely decorative. I'm still waiting on a few miniature orchid seeds in the post before I can make the moss mix for the hygrolon background and I need some black contact paper to stick to the outside of the tank to hide the false bottom but otherwise, the project is more or less complete!





































I may try to grow a cutting of the baby tears on the background as well -- it seems like the perfect plant for draping over things -- but we'll see! I'll see how the moss mix goes first and whether or not it'll grow into a lovely green carpet over the next few months! I'll keep you guys updated anyway. 

Expect some pictures of froggies soon! And I may post a couple of videos of the waterfall in action and the frogs once they're settled. 

Thanks for reading!


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## whuppity (Jul 30, 2015)

Just a quick demonstration of the waterfall/drip wall in action.


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## s6t6nic6l (May 15, 2010)

whuppity said:


> A disaster happened.
> 
> Just as I put in the soil and the leaf litter, _after_ I'd decided that everything was up and running and introduced woodlice to the viv to get the substrate cycling and build up a good layer of micro fauna, the pump broke.
> 
> *It just died. I wasn't expecting miracles -- I bought it from Amazon for less than £10 -- but it'd been running for precisely three days. What. The. Hell. But this is where the pros of this sort of setup really came into their own. Because I hadn't used foam and because I have a completely removable false bottom, it was just a matter of getting a bucket and scooping all the soil into it. I even went to the trouble of timing myself and I took out all the soil, the components for the false bottom, the pump and did a full water change in an hour and a half.*


no appliances should be running inside an enclosure due to any issues that may arise, like yours.
easier to maintain and keeps valuable space needed in any small setup.


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## whuppity (Jul 30, 2015)

s6t6nic6l said:


> no appliances should be running inside an enclosure due to any issues that may arise, like yours.
> easier to maintain and keeps valuable space needed in any small setup.


I agree, it's one of the downsides of this sort of setup but every build has it good and bad points. 

But here's my reasoning! (I may have spent too long researching -- and yes, probably justifying -- my choices for this before I'd even started this build . I just want to provide the best possible care for any future inhabitants.)

Since a false bottom is more or less mandatory for any terrarium that requires such a high level of humidity (I've had one or two instances where, when using clay balls as a drainage layer, the terrarium has flooded and the soil has become waterlogged, despite how vigilantly I kept an eye on the water level), adding a small pump (measuring 5cm by 3cm, if I remember rightly) in a corner doesn't take up anymore space than a foam and coco background. As you rightly point out, conserving space in a small enclosure is an absolute must and the point of this was to, hopefully, show how it can be done.

It all comes down to personal preference in the end, especially since the humidity from having running water in the tank will benefit the frogs, both in terms of their health and in their behaviour. A bit of inconvenience in terms maintenance should the pump break down ***8211; which it inevitably will at some point because, hey, nothing lasts forever! ***8211; seems a small price to pay, especially when said inconvenience really isn't any greater than draining what had, in one memorable instance, become a marshy swamp :blush:.

(It was very first terrarium and, like a lot of newbies to the hobby, I couldn't figure out why my plants were dying. The solution? Give them all the water! *facepalm*)


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## whuppity (Jul 30, 2015)

Completeness!

I declare this tank ready for inhabitants. I feel like I should cut a ribbon or something . Basically, there's been a change of plan. I'd originally intended to make my own moss mix and paste it onto the hygrolon and wait 3-5 months, but it turns out I'm significantly more impatient than that. Instead, a friend with a green house gave me a ton of her moss! These were collected from plant pots and from around the base of her orchids and bonsai and I just thought it was the prettiest thing! I have absolutely no idea what species of moss it is - at a glance, there appears to be two or three variants -- but I just love how vibrantly green it is. 



















And from a distance it looks like one complete carpet rather than a jigsaw puzzle, which is always a benefit. I just glued these in place using the *tiniest* amount of aquarium safe glue in their centers -- again, a really cheap brand from eBay -- and arranged them over the hygrolon. 

As for the orchid, it didn't come with a specific genus, it was just listed as a "baby orchid" whatever that means, so I'm hoping it's a dwarf variety. I wrapped its roots in sphagnum moss and, just using some needle and thread, sewed it into the hygrolon (yet another great benefit to this material, I really can't express how thoroughly impressed with it I am). 

The java moss is doing really well, too! It's really taken hold, especially around the top of the waterfall. It's sprouted lots of new growth (and at a really surprising speed, I'm more used to moss being a slow grower) and has already firmly attached itself to the background. I'm hoping the new moss, being in a slightly drier area of the tank, will do the same.










Also, I cleared out some space on my shelves and bought some fresh, appropriately sized tupperware boxes for my feeder insects, so it's just a matter of buying a starter culture and getting those little guys breeding. With any luck, I'll have some frogs in here by Christmas!

My final attempt at getting some photos that aren't blurry (they honestly don't look that rubbish when I'm taking them, I swear ):


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## demon3000 (Nov 23, 2013)

Well done...very nice :flrt:


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## ItsExiled (Oct 24, 2011)

Looks great mate, update us when you get the lil guys.


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## whuppity (Jul 30, 2015)

Quick update!

Nope, I haven't got any frogs yet (though I am currently discussing courier charges and such with a breeder so, fingers crossed, hopefully by next week! :2thumb but I thought I'd let you guys have a gander at how the tank is doing and how things are growing (or not growing in some cases). 

First of all, I had a switch up of some of the plants a couple of months ago because I just wasn't really digging the previous look very much and I didn't think it provided much cover for my froggies. Since I'm looking to get some mantellas (which I'm told are quite shy when they feel insecure but are otherwise relatively bold vivarium subjects), I figured you couldn't have too many hiding places. 

Anyway, here's how the tank looks today:










It's gone through a few changes. The orchid is gone (replanted in another tank of mine, probably destined to be trampled by my crested gecko) for no other reason than because it simply didn't seem to fit into the little corner where I'd placed it. 

The mind-your-own-business plant had significant die back, for which I really have no explanation except for shock but it's bounced back quite successfully. It isn't as compact as it was but it's beginning to spread over the substrate as I'd intended. 



















The moss has also aged beautifully and you can even see the beginnings of some tiny plants growing into the hygrolon. The moss itself has had some significant growth as far as mosses go but it seems only to be growing upwards instead of over everything as I'd intended, which is fine. 

That's why I've planted this little cutting of creeping fig, which I also got from another tank of mine:










And it is just LOVING the conditions in this tank. It won't be long before I'm ripping it out in chunks because it's taking over. Pathetically enough, that's a day I'm really looking forward to. 

The only other major change that this tank has seen is the introduction of 
some new decor and, most significantly, this gorgeous piece of mopani wood:










Which I hope the frogs will enjoy scampering about on. 

Otherwise, nothing new to report! The waterfall is running like a dream still and I have lots of extremely happy critters running around in there, waiting to be gobbled up. Not to mention an overabundance of springtails. Seriously, I have more springtails than I know what to do with at this point, there seems to be no end to the amount of plastic tubs I can fill. 

Bring on the frogs!


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