# Double 3x2x2 paludarium - Completed with video 19/05/12



## bothrops (Jan 7, 2007)

Limited budget and limited time.

Need to make a nice display viv for amphibians that can be used for a number of different species and can easily be maintained and serviced by the unit staff and students alike.


Found this in the barn:










It was a 6'x2'x2' tank that was split into 6 1' x 2' x 2' viv's for an invert display that never happened. I've apprehended it and will be working on it in the next few weeks.


The story so far:

removed two partitions from both sides to end up with a lovely pair of 3' x 2' x 2' tanks.

Patched the cracked bottom with spare glass and lots of silicon (as the water level will be pretty low, it won't need to be super strong, just generally water tight.))












Then decided that the easiest way to deal with maintenance and water movement would be to follow the KISS principle. So a *k*ept* i*t *s*imple (*s*tupid) and went with a simple false bottom, overflow waste and a mistking. I'm planning on putting in a pipe down each side to allow water changes and regular 'flushing' of the system as needed.

This meant drilling holes in the base of the tank. Scary.











Still, it worked out in the end!










Top will need some modification, but looks like only minor adjustments will make this suitable for the misting nozzles, T5's and glass lid/screen mesh top.











Finally, got rid of the 'previous owners' wooden fascia and checked for leaks.













Looking forward to helping my students to produce a stunning display tank. False bottom, weed guard, wood and foam next thing to do......


(sorry about the poor pics - using my rubbish phone to take them as I haven't started taking my proper camera to work!)


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## bothrops (Jan 7, 2007)

Added drainage gutter, false bottom legs and two 'top up/syphon' pipes.


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## bothrops (Jan 7, 2007)

Ok, so the photo's are bad, the early stages of a build always look rough and its a quiet section but nobody wants to even ask a question? Have a go at fundemental design flaws? Abuse me for no apparent reason? 


...I thought this was RFUK?!:lol2:


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## OrigamiB (Feb 19, 2008)

I know what you mean, i posted a thread for my beardies new viv and had a grand total of 3 replies

Vivs are looking good though, what are the occupants gonna be? Also what college do you work at?


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## bothrops (Jan 7, 2007)

OrigamiB said:


> I know what you mean, i posted a thread for my beardies new viv and had a grand total of 3 replies
> 
> Vivs are looking good though, what are the occupants gonna be? Also what college do you work at?




The vivs are going to be designed as 'generic small frog' vivs. This isn't absolutely ideal, but for our purposes they have to be flexible in terms of occupants. Initially we're looking at fire bellys and possibly bumblebee walking toads with a view to putting in darts in the future, maybe some leucs, auratus or tincs in one side and a large number of epipedibates in the other?

I work at South Staffordshire College, Rodbaston campus.


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## boabloketony (Jan 22, 2007)

It looks great. You must have a really talented bunch working on it :whistling2:


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## bothrops (Jan 7, 2007)

boabloketony said:


> It looks great. You must have a really talented bunch working on it :whistling2:


They're excellent. : victory:


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## bothrops (Jan 7, 2007)

boabloketony said:


> It looks great. You must have a really talented bunch working on it :whistling2:


They're excellent. : victory:


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## bothrops (Jan 7, 2007)

False bottom going in


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## bothrops (Jan 7, 2007)

Extended the 'feet' as we decided the water should be a bit deeper.










Drainage system in place










False bottom all wrapped up!










False bottom in place (please ignore tatty overlaps, they'll get cut when the silicon is dry!)











How it looks now (wood just placed in not fixed). Ignore background as that will soon be covered with expanding foam! Note I added weed block to the land area as I felt the nylon insect mesh would allow the smaller soil particulates through.














Due to the size of the tank, it is impossible to lie it on its back for the expanding foam background, so I added a little eggcrate scaffolding and intend to do it in stages. I may get a chance to do this at the weekend.


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## bothrops (Jan 7, 2007)

Started the expanding foam....

(sorry, back to the crappy phone pics!)


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## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

This is looking Ace, good so far 

any idea of what exacly will be housed in there yet or is this still just planning?


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## bothrops (Jan 7, 2007)

Salazare Slytherin said:


> This is looking Ace, good so far
> 
> any idea of what exacly will be housed in there yet or is this still just planning?



Had a chat with the Animal centre manager today. Initially we are looking at fire bellies in one side and a group of epipedibates in the other. We were going to go for some bumblebee walking toads, but the semi aquatic nature of the vivs plus the wild caught nature of the toads made us think again.


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## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

bothrops said:


> Had a chat with the Animal centre manager today. Initially we are looking at fire bellies in one side and a group of epipedibates in the other. We were going to go for some bumblebee walking toads, but the semi aquatic nature of the vivs plus the wild caught nature of the toads made us think again.


 
LOL, fire bellies are cool...:whistling2:


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## bothrops (Jan 7, 2007)

Salazare Slytherin said:


> LOL, fire bellies are cool...:whistling2:


Sarcastic cool?

Remember this is for the students at the centre, so a couple of hardy small species to start with whilst they find their feet (we've plenty of 'bigger stuff' like cane toads, white's trees, bullfrogs and Argentine horned. We wanted a couple of nice displays vivs and need to make sure livefood cultures and general husandry of the smaller species can be managed. Fires and epis are common and hardy and so are perfect for this role. I've designed these so we can 'upgrade' the species in the future.


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## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

bothrops said:


> Sarcastic cool?
> 
> Remember this is for the students at the centre, so a couple of hardy small species to start with whilst they find their feet (we've plenty of 'bigger stuff' like cane toads, white's trees, bullfrogs and Argentine horned. We wanted a couple of nice displays vivs and need to make sure livefood cultures and general husandry of the smaller species can be managed. Fires and epis are common and hardy and so are perfect for this role. I've designed these so we can 'upgrade' the species in the future.


 
No not sarcastic cool, as in awesome cool, I would just dedicate the whole thing to fire bellies but that is just me , sorry if that didn't come out right, I certainly would love to do something like that for the living room eventually.
I remember you mentioning cane toads on another thread, they are also pretty awesome.

Either way it works out, I am pretty sure it is gonna look awesome.


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## OrigamiB (Feb 19, 2008)

bothrops said:


> Sarcastic cool?
> 
> Remember this is for the students at the centre, so a couple of hardy small species to start with whilst they find their feet (we've plenty of 'bigger stuff' like cane toads, white's trees, bullfrogs and Argentine horned. We wanted a couple of nice displays vivs and need to make sure livefood cultures and general husandry of the smaller species can be managed. Fires and epis are common and hardy and so are perfect for this role. I've designed these so we can 'upgrade' the species in the future.


I envy your students... I go to an Animal Management course in Glynllifon in North Wales and they would never organise something like this.... they can hardly even look after a beardie though. What course is it you teach?


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## bothrops (Jan 7, 2007)

OrigamiB said:


> I envy your students... I go to an Animal Management course in Glynllifon in North Wales and they would never organise something like this.... they can hardly even look after a beardie though. What course is it you teach?


This project is for my third year degree students doing my Herpetology module on their Zoo Animal Management degree. However, I also teach on the Extended diploma in Animal Management.


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## bothrops (Jan 7, 2007)

More:


Right viv










Left viv










Close up of right hand viv










Close up of left hand viv with experimental brown silicon/dry coir on slope. I reckon with the gravel, further bits of wood and plants, that'll look pretty good!












And finally how the whole thing looks at the moment...


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## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

:no1:

Fab!
can't wait to see the finished result.


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## beaniebopps (Oct 4, 2009)

I will be following this one for inspiration on my long-time-coming 4 foot planted viv I've been planning out :2thumb:

Looking great.


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## Bab1084 (Dec 9, 2011)

Its looking really good so far! Cant wait to see the end result!


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## The Animal Shed (Apr 16, 2012)

I like it, its going to look cool when finished :2thumb:


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## em_40 (Sep 29, 2010)

Looking good :2thumb:


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## wilko92 (Aug 29, 2011)

Really good work here :2thumb: looking forward to the end result :no1:


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## bothrops (Jan 7, 2007)

Did a fair bit more on this over the weekend.

Finished the silicon/coir
Added dendrosoil and gravel


Moved it into Aquatics, where it will live!





























Going to cut and paint a fascia to hide the 'behind the scenes' stuff -a bit like this.....











Going to try and source some golden mantella instead of the fire bellies!


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## Chris Newman (Apr 23, 2007)

bothrops said:


> Going to try and source some golden mantella instead of the fire bellies!


They shouldn’t be too difficult to locate as according to a new report they are highly invasive, apparently Doncaster is the epicentre. If you go to the IHS show in June I recon just should be able to find bucket loads by the lake, you also be able to get some gold dust day geckos as well!

Nice setup, will be interested to it finished.


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## bothrops (Jan 7, 2007)

Almost there!


MistKing set-up










Mistking nozzles and T5 lights in place, plus the plastic greenhouse screening stuck over the gap at the back for ventilation.










Another view (you can see inside better from here!)










Nozzles were attached by drilling 16mm holes in the glass at the front:











From the front:











Close up of the right hand side:













I've stuck a couple of little plants in the water but the main bulk of the vegetation should be arriving from JustAirPlants next week.

Just those to go in and then it's time to look for the frogs!

:2thumb:


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## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

:no1: Awesome


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## soundstounite (Sep 6, 2009)

Nice work Andy,looking forward to the finishing touches,you shouldn't hide these builds from the phib section,some of us don't get out much
Stu


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## colinm (Sep 20, 2008)

Nice,check out with Mantella keepers about the water,I dont think that many people keep them with permanent ponds.


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## bothrops (Jan 7, 2007)

colinm said:


> Nice,check out with Mantella keepers about the water,I dont think that many people keep them with permanent ponds.


Already on it mate! Substrate level (gravel!) increased today to make the water level approximately 1-3cm over the left hand side of the right-hand viv. Going to add a number of mosses, plants, logs and pebbles to leave a boggy area with a few puddles.

Min-max thermometer in viv to check it doesn't rise above 24degrees C throughout its 'cycle'. Will check this after plants go in too.


Bloody frogs hey? Who'd have thought they were so stupid as to drown themselves AND possibly overheat! :devil::lol2:


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## bothrops (Jan 7, 2007)

Plants have arrived:




















Planting time tomorrow!

:2thumb:


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## bothrops (Jan 7, 2007)

Finally finished.



































































...and a video (sorry about the quality, I have a really crumby phone!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20uWB_sbBBI


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## beaniebopps (Oct 4, 2009)

Stunning : victory:

May I ask what are the little plants you have half in/half out of the water? If they are suited to growing in those sorts of conditions I think they would be perfect for my next build.

PS Why did I do MSc Zoology at Sheffield instead of a nice easy (well, probably a bit easier) BSc at your establishment? :O 
I would love to have done something like this as part of my course - but its all science, science, science - no animal husbandry or management learning in site  Not even a herpetology module...


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## bothrops (Jan 7, 2007)

beaniebopps said:


> Stunning : victory:
> 
> May I ask what are the little plants you have half in/half out of the water? If they are suited to growing in those sorts of conditions I think they would be perfect for my next build.
> 
> ...


I have no idea what the little plants are. Those are the only ones (apart from the little bit of Java moss) that I didn't get from Gill!. Those ones were from a local aquatics store.



Regarding the MSc, I did straight Zoology at uni too. Everyone I told that to asked if I wanted to be a zoo keeper! It frustrated me no end! To be fair though, Zoology would never have been sold as an animal husbandry course and would always have been the study of the animals themselves.

(I liked the science bits best!)


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## wilko92 (Aug 29, 2011)

Looks amazing! can tell attention to detail was given, really an amazing set up there! :2thumb:


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## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

I absaloutely love it! what a great setup.


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## Evie (Jan 28, 2008)

Wow this looks amazing. I did a 6ft dart frog viv project with FdSc students this year but it's not in the same league as yours. Absolutely brilliant.


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

beaniebopps said:


> Stunning : victory:
> 
> May I ask what are the little plants you have half in/half out of the water? If they are suited to growing in those sorts of conditions I think they would be perfect for my next build.
> 
> ...





bothrops said:


> I have no idea what the little plants are. Those are the only ones (apart from the little bit of Java moss) that I didn't get from Gill!. Those ones were from a local aquatics store.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Quite a few plants sold in aquatic shops are actually marginal/bog plants- Amazon swords, Anubias and so on. They positively thrive when rooted in wet soil or water, but allowed to leaf out into the air.


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## pippin9050 (Dec 20, 2011)

what can i say amazing there is going to be some happy frogs soon:2thumb:


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## Tiliqua (Dec 6, 2008)

Have to say I'm very impressed with the end result :notworthy:


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## jambo1984 (Aug 1, 2010)

Cracking job mate I would love to make a setup like that


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## YOGI BEAR (Jun 3, 2012)

awesome tank:2thumb:


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## bothrops (Jan 7, 2007)

Thanks for all the comments guys!

Unfortunately we've had a bit of a disaster this week and the bottom of the tank has cracked! :bash:


Going to have to do a patch job! I'll sort it though. Even if I don't get a full seal, the tank will still function perfectly well without the standing water!


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## snake in the grass (Jul 12, 2010)

Fantastic end result, good job:2thumb:


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## Fordyl2k (Nov 29, 2010)

Thats awesome! soo jealous why can my attempts never turn out like this lol?
cheers,
Ryan


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