Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey everyone. Just wanted to show you the tank I just finished:

I wrote some descriptions in its gallery that you can see by clicking this link

imageevent.com/audiomaster/40gallonhexagon/

The frogs are in there, but they are all hiding in the leaf axels of the large vriesea bromeliad in the center. Anyway, hope you like it. Talk to you later.
-David Taylor
My gallery

Hey,
Looks very nice. Few questions though

1. What type of foam is it and are you positive that it won't start breaking down after a while and ooze out some toxic crap

2. Same question about the concrete mix

3. Can you post the details about the mix. I was thinking of getting the mix that they use in Europe called flavpol. Is this the same stuff?

4. How do you attach the concrete mix to the back? Is it held on the foam? or do you have a piece of ply behind it?

5. Is this where you got the idea? http://www.poison-frogs.nl/e030223.html

It looks great btw !

Marty

1. What type of foam is it and are you positive that it won't start breaking down after a while and ooze out some toxic crap

Its the "great stuff" polyurethene (sp?) expanding foam. No, Im not worried about decomposition unless the tank is still around in a few thousand years

2. Same question about the concrete mix

No, its non-toxic and Im not worried about decomposition

3. Can you post the details about the mix. I was thinking of getting the mix that they use in Europe called flavpol. Is this the same stuff?

Unless you live in Europe, you wont be able to get it. I tried emailing the guy who runs the poison frog website asking him if he could mail a bottle to me. ITs illegal to export chemicals unless you have some permit. The stuff I found is basicly the same stuff. Theres more detail about it in my gallery: ImageEvent.com/audiomaster/

4. How do you attach the concrete mix to the back? Is it held on the foam? or do you have a piece of ply behind it?

Yeah, its just held on the foam. If you make it tacky enough by adding enough concrete primer, it will even adhire upside down!

5. Is this where you got the idea? http://www.poison-frogs.nl/e030223.html

Yep. Thats the best site on poison frogs IMO.

It looks great btw !

David,

I saw your vivarium on the gardenweb forums last night. I had been planning to email you to ask about the mix you coated the PUR foam with. I'm especially interested in brand names of the products you used and the cost. I am just getting started with a 90 gallon tall with expandable foam and your mix idea seems to be the best I've seen so far (sure beats brushing silicon over the entire background!). Please, let me know! Thanks.
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David Knight
Tempe, AZ

D. imitator
D. leucomelas
P. terribilis
D. azureus
D. tinctorius (Alanis)

Hey cool! Gardenweb is a great site. I gave good detail about the product I used in the gallery for the tank. ImageEvent.com/audiomaster/40gallonhexagon If you still have any questions let me know, but I think I covered it all. Not the price though, it was 8 bucks a pint. Talk to you later, let me know if you have any other questions
-David Taylor

After reading through your reply to Marcin and reading your gallery, I have two questions:

1. Is the Acitate copolymer the only thing you mixed with the substrate materials? You mention a concrete primer and a bonding additive, but I'm not sure if these are referring to the Acitate copolymer.

2. At $8 a pint, how many did you go through? Someone in the Frognet gallery used dried sheet moss siliconed to the foam, which of course didn't require layers of silicon since it was sheets of moss, and not loose substrate (like a lot of people are using). I'm trying to figure out which method would be more cost effective, because they both look equally impressive.

Thanks again.
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David Knight
Tempe, AZ

D. imitator
D. leucomelas
P. terribilis
D. azureus
D. tinctorius (Alanis)

really nice, it seems this is hte new trend in vivarium design lol. Is that a 20 or 35 gal hex tank? looks like a 20. WE have a 20 gallon aquarium that i am trying to keep plants alive in

aj
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Click Here to see my vivarium and steps on how to make a basic vivarium UPDATED 7.18.03 Now complete! All that is needed are some New River Tincs!

kungfu28181: My god. You are insane. -Mon Jun 30 21:41:05

Yeah, its the only stuff I used. I just wrote both things because the product name is concrete primer & bonding additave, and the ingredients are water and acitate copolymer. Marc from the poison-frogs website used water with his mix because flevopol is a concentrate, but I didnt since the stuff I used has water already.

As far as how much to use, I ended up using half a pint to cover about 690 sq inches. Not bad. I guessed the tanks size as 40 gallons, but I could be wrong. I know its larger than a 20. I dont know how to calculate the volume of a hexagon.
-David Taylor

This definitely seems the route to go. Thanks!
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David Knight
Tempe, AZ

D. imitator
D. leucomelas
P. terribilis
D. azureus
D. tinctorius (Alanis)

i was guessing 20 or 25 ause thats the only sizes all-glass makes (i think). still nice!
aj
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Click Here to see my vivarium and steps on how to make a basic vivarium UPDATED 7.18.03 Now complete! All that is needed are some New River Tincs!

kungfu28181: My god. You are insane. -Mon Jun 30 21:41:05

wonderful tank, what type of darts are in it?
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Nate
1.1 alanis tincs
and some day, if it cools down...
0.0.2 Azureus (soon)
0.0.3 imitators very very soon

4 Surinam cobalt tincs.
-David