Litoria caerulea "biotope" vivarium - Northern QL/Torres Strait Islands

[Seisage]

Although I still enjoy fish, I'm finding my interest moving away from them over time and my focus shifting more towards vivaria. Even though this is an aquarium forum, I figure some members here might take interest in vivarium construction and assembly.

I'm using the term "biotope" here rather loosely. Without visiting the places myself, and without extremely large enclosures as well as illegal plant cuttings, soil samples, water data, etc., it would be impossible to accurately recreate any part of the habitat. Instead, I have to rely on lists of native plants and a handful of photos. That said, I'm aiming to evoke the slightly drier tropical forests of northern Queensland, Australia and especially the Torres Strait Islands. Future posts will delve further into this aspect of the viv. I know we have a number of Australian members here. I don't know if any of you live in the region I'm emulating, but if you do, I would love some firsthand insight.

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I decided to build my own tank from scratch, since I have some unique space restrictions that wouldn't work well with traditionally shaped pre-constructed tanks. My living spaces are generally small and awkwardly-shaped due to the building's construction to accommodate multiple tenants, with most areas being communal. This makes tank placement difficult, so I had to go with custom dimensions to make things work. I ended up going with 30"x12"x24". More depth would be better; I wish I had the ability to fit an 18" deep enclosure, but I hope to have at least slightly compensated for that by extending the length to 30" instead of the typical 18". I also plan on decorating in a way that adds as much depth and reduces as much negative space as possible to make up for the narrower tank.

This is my second time putting this tank together, if that tells you anything about how the first go went. I was really shaky and nervous the first time around, and also didn't cut the silicone tube tip enough, which meant my silicone beads were too small and I ended up with a lot of air bubbles in my seams. Even though this thing won't be holding water, it seemed like bad news for long-term stability, so I tore the whole thing down and spent many, many hours scraping off every last bit of silicone with razor blades.

This time went much better. Here's the assembled base tank, complete with ominous (and necessary) warning message to my housemates. It'll need a lot of clean-up, but at least it's assembled. The glass is woefully dirty from sitting around for ages as I slogged my way through silicone scraping. I did make sure to thoroughly clean the faces and edges where new silicone was applied, don't worry.

Next steps (after cleanup) will be background construction, then installing the sliding glass door tracks. After that, it'll be moved to its stand and I'll construct and install the screen lid, put in the false bottom and substrate, finish decorating/planting, and install the doors.

 

[Seisage]

At long last, background construction has commenced on this tank. I've actually just finished applying the expanding foam and most of the background elements, but I'll wait to show progress shots until it's cured and I've carved it into the final shapes I want. For now, I'll introduce the plants I'll be using.

Starting on the top right and working clockwise:

1. Ficus microcarpa — this is ordinarily a rather large shrub, really more like a small tree, but it's a fairly popular houseplant as a bonsai like this. I've had it for months now and it's only put out one new leaf on its crown. Perhaps it'll grow a bit faster in a vivarium setting, but keeping it at its current size should pose no trouble. The aerial roots are really fun.

2. Asplenium hybrid (A. dimorphum x A. difforme) — normally I wouldn't have ever gone for an ornamental hybrid, especially for a more "biotope" direction. This plant is probably my biggest "stretch" in terms of its inclusion because neither of its parent species are native to the area I'm aiming for. However, I'm letting it slide because I definitely wanted Asplenium representation, but the majority of those found in north QL are either difficult to get or would vastly outgrow a vivarium of this size, so this is my compromise.

3. Epipremnum pinnatum — A native "pothos"! It's no longer considered an actual pothos taxonomically, but is often still referred to as such. This one is a "cebu blue" variety, which isn't found in Australia, but the species' native range extends down to the Cape York Peninsula, so it actually is an Aussie native member of its genus unlike E. aureum, the golden pothos (although the latter is well naturalized in Aus at this point).

4. Nephrolepis obliterata — Can't really go wrong with a sword fern. It's grown rather lush and beautiful in the few months I've had it, even though it's still in its nursery pot. It almost certainly won't be able to reach its fullest potential living in the viv, but I plan on letting it fill out as much as it can and pruning as needed.

5. Hoya australis — I really wanted to have a hoya in this viv and I'm so happy I was able to find one that was native. I had a few other options for species, but they were all rather uncommon and expensive. Australis is common enough that I was able to find one at my local rural nursery, although only in the ornamental "tricolor" variety. I can't wait for it to climb the branches, and hopefully it'll flower for me at some point too.

These species are also found on the Torres Strait Islands, with the exception of the two ferns, although there are other Nephrolepis and other Asplenium found there, so I'm calling it close enough.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

My kind of project! Will you be keeping any animals in this tank? Please keep us updated.

 

[Seisage]

My kind of project! Will you be keeping any animals in this tank? Please keep us updated.

Yes! I have two Australian green tree frogs that'll live in this tank once it's done. Right now, they're in a DIY modified storage tub