New viv for my Azureus

[Tony C]

Put this together over the last couple of days. This was my first time using a clay background and I'm really happy with the way it turned out.

 

[Enigmatic_Reptiles]

Looks awesome Tony. Every time you show me pics or we talk about frogs, it makes me really wanna get some.

 

[robin]

i wish i could do stuff like that! that is awesome. can you show us some more of your frog enclosures?

 

[Tony C]

i wish i could do stuff like that! that is awesome.

It was really easy, I'm sure you could do it.

The background is a bentonite clay mix. Take a jug of 100% clay kitty litter and soak it in water overnight, it forms this gooey mess:

Take the clay and mix it roughly 50/50 with peat, then apply to the back of the tank, sculpting as desired. After constructing the background, I added a few inches of LECA as the substrate:

Add plants. Terrestrial plants are planted in the LECA, epiphytes can be pushed into the clay:

The LECA is then topped with a very thin layer of orchid bark or sphagnum moss, followed by leaf litter:

Add some water, mist, and it is ready for frogs!

 

[Tony C]

can you show us some more of your frog enclosures?

Agalychnis annae - Had to shoot this one through the glass, they will scatter if I open the doors at night.

Agalychnis callidryas

Bombina orientalis

Phyllomedusa hypochondrialis

Pseudacris regilla

 

[Palor]

What is that, oh it is an AMAZING Viv. You do good work

 

[Tony C]

Thanks Dan. Most of my tree frog vivs are ugly though, I will be moving them into larger, nicer looking vivs in a month or two.

 

[robin]

wow you make it look so easy! awesome! you should do some tutorials :yes:

 

[Tony C]

wow you make it look so easy! awesome! you should do some tutorials :yes:

I'm working on another one for my Cobalts, I'll document it thoroughly and post a tutorial in the article section.

 

[robin]

awesome! i can not wait! does the cat liter and moss or whatever it is. does it stay hard and stand up up water?

 

[Tony C]

awesome! i can not wait! does the cat liter and moss or whatever it is. does it stay hard and stand up up water?

It stays solid but pliable. Ed K. has had a tank set up with a clay drip wall for over four years and it has held up to the running water. If you look closely you can see little pools that I formed for tadpoles, they are made from the clay and are holding water.

 

[Palor]

I wish my own vivs looked so good. Can't wait to see what you next upgrade looks like.

 

[Tony C]

Built another one today, for my Cobalts this time.

Breaking in the new home:

 

[Tony C]

I have posted a tutorial in the Articles and Caresheets section: Building a naturalistic vivarium

 

[robin]

you are THE MAN!

 

[Tony C]