11/98
12/98
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Tank: 60 gallon acrylic aquarium, with an opening cut out of
the front using a saber saw, and a glass panel installed and kept in place
with an aluminum U-channel glued to tank along the bottom of the opening,
and two window screen swivel brackets on the upper top corners. The U-channel
sits on a square acrylic rod cemented to the tank to make a ledge. There
is a drain pipe in the lower left corner of the front, that will eventually
lead to a sump. The top opening is covered with aluminum screen in an aluminum
window frame, and held in place with swivel brackets that are screwed into
the acrylic. Foam rubber insulating strips are used to provide a tight
seal between the glass panel and the opening's edges.
Lights: 4-foot shoplight fixture, with two 40-watt tubes. I use
lights that have gotten too old to use over my reef tank, but still work.
A timer is used to turn the lights on late in the day, so the tanks will
still be lit when I get home from work.
Substrate: Drainage provided by plastic eggcrate raised on PVC
pipe sections, covered with fiberglass window screen and black plastic
WeedBlock material. The coverings are glued directly to the tank bottom
with hot glue to prevent animals from getting under them. Coconut fiber
covers the WeedBlock. The back of the tank is also covered with coconut
fiber, glued on with hot glue.
Water: Circulation provided with a MicroJet pump, that sends
water up a pipe, along the back, and down to a piece of driftwood
to produce a small waterfall. The entire front of the tank is a water portion,
though the water extends under the land areas too. The water drains down
through a screened plastic bulkhead to a sump where a pump sends the water
back up to the tank. A heater is used in the tank itself, to prevent it
from being left dry in case the sump's water level gets too low.
Plants: Philodendron scandens, Peperomia caperata
'Ruby Ripple,' Neoregelia 'Fireball,' Neoregelia 'Gorrion,'
Cryptathus
'It,' Guzmania 'Empire,' Alocasia 'Black Velvet,' Pilea
microphylla and P. spruceana 'Norfolk,' Pellionia pulchra,
Fittonia verschaffeltii argyroneura, Sinningia 'Freckles,'
Stromanthe sp., Spathiphyllum, assorted terrestrial mosses
and ferns, Tillandsia bulbosa and T. filifera, Pleurothallis
tribuloides, Psymorchis pusilla, Apendicula sp., Aeschynanthus
marmoratus, and Episcia sp. Planning to add aquatic and bog
plants.
Animals: Three Dendrobates leucomelas, two Phyllobates
vittatus and one Hyperolius sp. froglet. |