Devo

Thanks Sophia & Twinkles Those LED's came from LED World:- http://www.ledworld.co.nz They had a good range, I got one strip that was already made up, waterproof, & ready to go. Cheers, Andrew.

Your Whistler's got a mini-me :slfg:

Sounds good NZ Natives...let's see it :spop: I decided to... PIMP MY VIV As these frogs are pretty much nocturnal, I wanted to add a moon light of some type. After looking around at options, it seemed that blue LEDs were the way to go. So a few components were put together…a strip of blue LED's, plus a dimmer...now the viv’s all pimped up :sml1: Here’s the viv with the fluro lights, plus the LED’s. And just the LED’s. The frogs seem to like it, and are not bothered by the blue light at all :happy1: They’re often seen out hunting under the LED’s, and are quite active, especially when food is around! Cheers, Andrew.

My first thought was the hiwihiwi, Chironemus marmoratus; We used to catch small ones around the rocks on the Coromandel. http://www.seafriends.org.nz/issues/res ... eed_fishes Possible that one got up into an estuary, or stranded in a rock pool??? Edit...just found a better pic of the hiwihiwi, & they have no spines on the gill covers, so thornfish it is. Interesting species.

Thanks Jason. Are misters easy to retro fit Fruju? Might be a good option. Hey Sophia, the water section holds about 35 litres. Not a large volume of water, but the fluval canister filter makes sure this volume moved a number of times each hour.

Looks good Jason. Can you give the details on your misting system? And whats that neat little vine with the heart shaped leaves? Cheers, Andrew.

At long last here is the final instalment…planting time... :spop: I’ve had a pond / water feature outside for some time, and when that was set up I spread around a heap of java moss. It has since done well out there, so I had some nice established sections from which to cut out pieces for the viv. I started covering the central branch by cutting a section of the java moss to size, & then binding it on with fishing nylon. I have heaps of bromeliads, so it was a difficult choice what to include in the viv. I settled on just 2 species. This one is Tillandsia somnians, a much underrated brom IMO. It’s one that doesn’t like to be planted, which is ideal for a viv set up. So I just cut a few plants, & positioned them where I wanted. The other brom is Neoregelia lilliputiana. This is a neat mini neo and it fits in with the scale of this viv. Close up of the java moss over my suspended branch. I had run a couple of the home made vines down this branch, & into the water, then covered them with java moss. The plan was that the java moss would allow a sort of capillary action of water up to the branch, & keep the whole area moist…it has sort of worked, but additional spraying has been required. Now the java moss “island” is in place, & behind that (back right corner) is an area of live sphagnum moss. This area was reduced a bit, as it took up too much of the water space. Gravel & a few flat stones are added. And here it is…the finished viv! I've played around with the plants a bit, and added a couple of orchids, but the viv has pretty much run to plan since set up & no major issue so far. I just give the plants & moss a spray of pond water from time to time, & do the occasional water change. I guess the test will be to see how it looks 6 – 12 mths on. Thanks for putting up with my drawn out build! Cheers, Andrew.

Thanks Fruju...yep we're really enjoying it. And the viv has become the centre of attention when the frogs are being fed. We had family around for dinner the other night, and they arrived just as I was adding the days catch of flies to the viv. We all stood around cheering as the frogs got the flies...great entertainment :sml1: Cheers ID, it was some of your frogs pic's that inspired me! Now I want to build another larger viv and track down some of those amazing lutino Golden Bell Frogs !drool: Just sorting out the final batch of pic's showing the planting...should be up soon. Cheers, Andrew.

Wow! Great enclourses...what are you doing with this one now??? The pic of Water Dragons chiling is cool 8) makes me want to get me some...

Nice! What are you feeding them?

:spop: Yes please.....

That's a real complement hovmoller...THANKS! Yep, you got it si sphinx, unheated viv, so no condensation. One issue I do have is that the frogs like to climb all over the glass when they're out hunting for food at night...and they're just like little kids with sticky fingers...so I have to clean up on a regular basis. Hey Twinkles...your biotope build looks amazing...and now you've got me thinking that I NEED to set up a large native aquaria!

...and nek minnit...snake got 'em!

:spop: On with the next stage… The whole background is now positioned back into the viv and an extra piece of driftwood is set into position. This piece was selected to give a nice line down towards the front of the viv, & to also give a suspended branch effect that I could cover with moss. This shot is from a different angle, and shows how the planting pots fit in behind the manuka, the vines are added to give a bit of an edge, & to help hide the pots. I had made space for that green basket. It was to hold a clump of live sphagnum moss, but it proved to take up too much space, so I ended up using a smaller version. Here’s a closer pic of the water fall area, & another pot that is set up to hold the Neoregelia lilliputiana in place. Now water is added, & the fluval filter is turned on to activate the waterfall. A few final tweaks to get the water flow just right. Then the viv is left to run & settle for a week before I begin to plant it. I kinda like this stark look...

Glad I'm not boring you Sophia...next stage on its way...RIGHT NOW... Thanks Caryl…I’ll now give the Paradise Fish idea a miss. Hi Fruju, pleased you like the set up! I’ve use a fluval canister filter, it sits in the cabinet under the viv, so it’s easy to access, and clean if & when required. The filter inlet sits in the back left corner of the viv, & it is positioned in behind a block of filter sponge that also acts as a pre-filter. The filter outlet is a shortened piece of a standard spray bar, & gives me a good spread of water that then forms the waterfall. Have a look at the 2nd & 3rd to last pic’s in the next post, & you can see the filter pipes coming out at the back right corner of the viv.

Not sure if I'm smart or just obsessed Zeebee...I know what my wife would say :sml1: There's more to come Sophia... :yaw1: hope all the waffle is not too boring... mts sufferer (?) Yes, we do have fish in the viv...glad you read it! At this stage there are a school of 10 White Cloud Mountain Minnows, mainly the Gold form plus a couple of long fins, also have peppered cory...which seem to cope with the cool water temps. I want to add a Paradise Fish or 2, but concerned they may give the others a hard time...what do you think?

:spop: OK...here's the next instalment… :cofn: Once the waterfall area had been carved out, I cut the background again, so it could be removed from the viv…I wanted to be able to work on the final stages outside. The background is tipped on its back, so I can seal it. About 3 coats of pond paint are applied over the foam, then I add silicone sealant to some areas, and work in dry peat. Now for the fun part :happy1: I begin to add my “home Made” vines to the background. These vines were made up using nylon rope, silicone sealant & peat. After a number of my home made vines were added, I felt another type of vine / root was needed to link with the manuka wood. A few aerial roots of the pohutukawa did the trick…I added them in bunches, thinking I could easily cut a few out as required. More pohutukawa roots, & a few more of my vines are added until I think it’s about right. Then some brom’s are added just to give me a hint of what the background will be like once it’s all positioned back into the viv. During this part of the process I was also working on the waterfall area in the back right corner. I wanted more of a trickle effect, rather than a full on torrent, so this meant I kept tinkering with the waterfall to get it right. While I could control the amount of water flow with the outlet valve on the fluval, I wanted to have the fall & spread of water about 90% right before the background was put back into the viv. I reckon I could have saved myself about a week if I hadn’t decided to do the waterfall thing, or been so fanatical about it :roll: I kept reminding myself & of what someone had told me… “Including a waterfall will add about 100% to difficulty factor, but it will add about 300% to the enjoyment factor”. They were right!

Thanks! You were lucky to spot the tuatara Sophia...we spent ages trying to see them. Love that huge space they have...made me want to do the same at home...but then we can't keep tuatara I'd just have to fill it with dragons :slfg:

Decided to take a family trip to the Auckland Zoo yesterday. Seemed everyone in Auckland had the same idea as the place was packed!!! Anyway, I was pleased to see they’ve done quite a bit of work on NZ animals, & most are now located in a new area down by the original NZ bird aviary. One of these areas has tuatara…but couldn’t see any when we were there. In the same area as the tuatara are some nice large enclosures for geckos & lizards. This guy was out, basking under the light (which gave the pic’s a greenish tinge). It’s a Three Kings Islands Skink Oligosoma fallai, and it was quite a good size for a lizard. Almost like a mini komodo dragon :slfg: Cheers, Andrew.

Yeah...they really go thru' the live food. It was my daughters job to catch the frog food, but there's not so much around this time of year, so we've had to buy it! Somewhat ironic as last summer (before the frogs) we paid to rid the house of flies...now we're paying to get house flies &c:ry OK, a couple more pic's.... Now the background is positioned back into the viv, as I had a few issues to resolve before moving on. Since we had decided to keep fish as well as the frogs, I had to work out a design that would suit both, plus I wanted a nice transition between water & land. The idea of just sticking in a piece of glass to divide water & land didn’t appeal, as it would have created a “dead” area on the land side that could become anaerobic and possibly stink. I did like the false bottom idea that most Dart Frog viv’s use. After a bit of research, I found the false bottom is typically set up to allow water to cycle, keeping the viv environment healthy. These false bottoms can be set up in different ways, one of which is to use sponge. This idea appealed as I like using sponge as a filter media for biological filtration. So after some trials with different foam, I ended up using one section of filter foam that would work as a pre-filter for the fluval, & a couple of sections of foam from Para rubber. The foam was cut to size, & set into position. Then another layer of expanding foam was applied, focusing on the right back corner, where the waterfall would be created. You can see the filter outlet, it's covered with blue masking tape.

I've seen the gold form around...but assume this one came in from overseas? When I used to breed them, there were just the whites, & the dark speckled axo's.

Sounds great....looking forward to the pic's. I found some black "Pond Paint" at Mitre 10, used it on poly, & after a couple of coats added dry peat moss, & I'm happy with the results. Frogs & fish all ok with it too Cheers, Andrew.

Ok, now for a bit of waffle…just to give some background, and to set the scene :yaw1: :yaw1: :yaw1: I’m a newbie on the forum, but I have had a bit of history with FNZAS. During my life before kids, I kept tropical, coldwater, native & local marine aquaria, along with frogs, turtles, and axolotls. I was involved in a few of the early FNZAS shows, & was a member of the North Shore Aquarium Soc’ (BTW…what’s happened to that group???). I really enjoyed setting up planted tropical aquaria, even had some that took out interclub prizes at their peak. My reason for this brief historic synopsis is to identify with anyone who has given up the hobby, but held onto a desire to get back into it at some stage. For the last few years I’ve been into bromeliads, & often I’d come across photos of amazing viv’s where brom’s were used as feature plants. Many of these viv’s were for Dart Frogs, or Tree Frogs, and it seems no expense was spared on some of the elaborate builds. Seeing these viv’s revived my desire to one day get back into keeping a few frogs (even though we only have 3 sp to choose from :an!gry ). Early this year I had the chance to satisfy this desire to build my own viv. My daughter bought some Whistling Tree Frogs tadpoles from Trade Me, so we decided to set up a viv for them when they morphed. I picked up an Exo-Terra with a light fitting from Trade Me, then I sorted out some bits and pieces I’d saved from the aquarium days, like sheets of poly, a fluval canister filter, gravel, stones etc. By this stage my daughter really wanted to keep some fish as well…who was I to say no...so we worked out a list of requirements for the viv, to satisfy her & me! It had to provide a good enclosure for the frogs & for fish, feature a few bromeliads, and some sort of waterfall sounded like a good idea. As I searched the web for viv ideas, I found it really useful to see build projects start to finish, to read about the different techniques, and to discover what problems had to be solved. So hopefully some of the details here will be useful for anyone thinking about a build or rebuild. I’ll put in a bit of detail with the pic’s, and please feel free to fire off any questions / comments as we go :sml2: OK, on with the pic's :spop: To line the Exo-Terra a background was made up using 15mm poly. The viv was to sit in a corner with walls behind & to the right, so viewing would be from the front & left sides. As I mentioned, I did have some aquarium stuff stored away, so wanted to use as much of that stuff as I could & keep costs down. The poly was just standard sheets I’d used to sit aquariums on. It was cut to size, & set into the viv in 3 sections, just so I could remove it easily. I made up a cavity for the filter pipe in the right rear corner, & marked out the position for my main focal point. I’d found some nice old gnarly pieces of manuka, & then cut them down to the size. I wanted the main feature piece to sit just right of centre, then everything else could be set up from this point of reference. Also marked out the proposed water level which was dictated by the Exo-Terra front vent. Next the poly background was removed, & everything set up outside for the next stage. My selected pieces of manuka were positioned, and a few plant pots were added (these were for the broms). Now ready for the expanding foam…neat stuff to use! Stay tuned, I'll be back with more soon...

Now that is a good idea...could be my next project :digH: just dont tell the wife...!!! Thanks for your comment Redrachie :thup:

Thanks for the comments :mbh: The 1st pic is taken with the Exo-Terra on our dining room table. That’s a window behind, & out the window is a fence, with star jasmine & a few broms. Now that the forum is up & runnning again, I’m sorting out a few more build pic’s and preparing a bit of waffle to go with it…maybe it would easier to just do that article Caryl Anyway, you’re welcome to use info from here & I can email you any pic’s you want. Cheers, Andrew.