120 gallon Ghostviv Red Galact build

[joneill809]

Some shots from the grow out tank...I've pretty much left the group to self manage, and I've only pulled tads when someone asked for some froglets. I spotted a free ranging froglet in the 120 last night which was neat to see. Here are the ones I have in grow out - I enjoy seeing their transformation from orange to red:
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[joneill809]

Got motivated to clean up the 120 this weekend. I decided that I liked the carpet of Episcia "Silver Skies" so I removed the fern and overgrown Peperomia caperata and transplanted the larger sliver skies to the back of the viv. Two gallons of fresh leaf litter and some training of friendship pilea later I had a new layout:
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Here's a close up of the floor and the silver skies that has taken over. It has been staying pretty low, so I just moved one of the really big plants back and scattered some of the runners in the openings created by the removal of the fern and pliea. It's a bit leggy now but in a month it should be filled in:
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I also have a lot of silver skies growing epiphytically (which I think is one of the coolest features of the viv):
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Here's a close up, with a flower on the right (seems like the post is cutting off the image so you may have to click on it to see the full bloom):
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One of my three original African Violets is doing really well (one didn't survive a transplant, and another got overrun with pilea but is recovering):
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I'm getting some nice new growth on an orchid - it's right up front growing down parallel to the glass:
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The left side is a work in progress. I have been transferring cuttings of friendship pilea to this compound log with the hope of getting a nice thick covering of pilea over time. I suspect it will be a few more months before I get it to where I want it, but here's the start of the process:
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I've left an extensive deposition area since they have been fairly consistent breeders. There are usually 6 to 10 tadpoles in the pool at any given time. Here's part of the pool:
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And some tadpoles:
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And the froglet made an appearance - first on the floor:
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Then on the left halfway up a log;
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They really get annoyed when I poke my head in the tank:
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But sometimes they pose nicely - I like the contrast with the sliver skies:
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[Dendro_Dave]

Looks great, If you ever get an extra calling male drop me a line (Hopefully, I'll have some cash). Mine seem to be all females, or gay. Which is fine, I respect their life choice... but I want grandchildren

[joneill809]

Thanks Dave! I wish I could get a count on M/F but I basically see a few red frogs, hear calling from the depths of the viv, then tadpoles magically appear out front. Occasionally we see a spat break out between two males who go tumbling across the viv them disappear into the shadows They are a bit reclusive, and this time of year they essentially disappear when the temperatures drop. I suspect I have to button this viv up a bit more to push the temps higher (~70F during the day, maybe a degree cooler). They seem to prefer the heat of the summer. Anyhow I'll keep an eye out for an extra male...now catching it would be the real challenge lol.

[Dendro_Dave]

Thanks Dave! I wish I could get a count on M/F but I basically see a few red frogs, hear calling from the depths of the viv, then tadpoles magically appear out front. Occasionally we see a spat break out between two males who go tumbling across the viv them disappear into the shadows They are a bit reclusive, and this time of year they essentially disappear when the temperatures drop. I suspect I have to button this viv up a bit more to push the temps higher (~70F during the day, maybe a degree cooler). They seem to prefer the heat of the summer. Anyhow I'll keep an eye out for an extra male...now catching it would be the real challenge lol.

Well those are good problems to have I guess . I've had 2 groups of 4+ red galacts and never heard calling. Sadly the OK ice storm took out the first group. The new one is several years old, but nothing... They are pretty much my white whale at this point.

I get the impression they are more heat tolerant then many others. Can't be sure but I just don't worry about them as much as some others when I have a brown out or the ac can't keep up.

Thanks, I'll cross my fingers and try to save some cash just in case

[joneill809]

Well the 120 Ghostviv is getting a refresh. I had two problems. First, slugs AND snails. The hunt and squish method did not work, so I got fed up and ripped everything out. They had really gotten after my plants and especially the orchids. Second, I was tired of not seeing frogs. The galacts were just nowhere to be seen. I seriously began to wonder if they had gotten stuck and died somewhere, but as the tear down went along more and more turned up...this was the first pass...:
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A few more turned up when I started poking around the crevices in the cork. I can't believe how many frogs were in there, and I didn't manage to see one adult for the past three weeks! We did spot a few juvies here and there. They are in a temp tank now, and the 120 will get a reboot as a Robertus display tank. After a few hours of clean up, it looks like this:
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Now I'm off to pickle some snails. I'm going to use an alum bath which should nail the little buggers once and for all. I used to do this to kill aquatic snails in my planted tank days and I'm hoping it works here. I mostly want to salvage the african violet - most of the other plants were cuttings from my other vivs so no big deal. I'll post on how it turns out.

[joneill809]

I finished up the cork modifications last night. I was trying to make the viv more large tinc friendly for the Robertus so I added some sloped flats that I tried to make look like a root structure. I put in a new false bottom and cork bulk heads on the front of the false bottom.
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I have one more gap check to do then I can add the gravel out front an Turface in the back. The pool area looks bigger than it will be. The gravel will slope into the pool from the right which should make it smaller. It's hard to see but there are tiny bits of cork siliconed to the bottom of the tank that serve as mini retaining walls. This has worked for me on smaller builds to create gentle slopes into deposition pools.

I'm going lighter on the plants this time because we like the look of the hardscaping and we don't want to cover it up.

[Dan1990]

Looks really cool. Cant wait to see the finished project.

[frogfreak]

Looking good, Jim! I like all the terracing and the future pool lol

[joneill809]

Made some progress today. Finished my gap checks and added some cork retaining walls to the pool area. Added the substrate and it's air drying now as I clean plants.
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You might have to click on these two images to get the full perspective, but they show the left and right sides of the pool where I used cork fixed to the bottom of the viv to act as retaining walls to help maintain a gentle slope into the pool:
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Here are wider shots of the pool:
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Here's the viv with nearly 40 lbs of Turface added...
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And here are some "stairs" to help the tincs up to the cork work. This stepped set of mini-ledges are in the shadows along the back wall.
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And finally another angle shot:
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