Canuck Caudate Room

[duncan]

I thought I 'd share some pics of my Canadian herp room. No where near the exquisite use of space as Tim's, but I do my best up here in the "Great White North." At the moment there are 3 tanks of newts, 6 of dart frogs, 3 of geckos, 3 of fish, and assorted tubs, jars and bins of worms, fruit flies and crickets. Thank God for an understanding and loving wife! I quickly snapped these off this morning while I had access to a digital camera, so there wasn't any time to clean up or make things a little neater. I apologize for the photo quality, nothing near the standards set on this site. Enjoy, I'll give some details over the next few days if people would like.
Duncan


(Message edited by Duncan on December 04, 2003)

 

[duncan]

Here is wall 1

 

[duncan]

Wall 2

 

[duncan]

Wall 3

 

[duncan]

Wall 4

 

[samuel]

Very impressive! haha evenly spaced out, not as crammed as Tim's. Love ur wall 1 planted tank on the extreme left.

 

[chris]

What animals do you keep in all those? It looks like you have some geckos if I'm not to be mistaken.

What plants and animals are in the tank on the far left of wall 2?

It looks great!!!!

 

[duncan]

Hi All,
Wall 1 has from left to right:
66 gal planted aquarium with 5 Triturus cristatus, 1 T. karelini (?)
20 gal planted wiith 4 Paramesotriton sp (chinensis?)
54 gal planted with various South American tropical fish (assorted tetras and corydoras catfish)

Wall 2 has from left to right:
30 gal vivarium with 4 Dendrobates auratus (cork background, oncidium (I think?) orchid, various cryptanthus bromeliads, creeping ficus, Fittonia sp)
30 gal vivarium with 4 Tylototriton shanjing (various ferns and bark hides, some live moss)
10 gal viv with 2 Epipedobates tricolor dart frogs (have bred many times) and bromeliads
10 gal viv with 3 Mantella expectata frogs and various Peperomia sp. plants.

Wall 3, left to right
5 gal viv with a single Mantella pulchra in front
25 gal tall vivarium, currently empty, live moss, bromeliads, jewel orchid for plants.
23 gal viv with 4 Dendrobates tinctorius (Suriname cobalt locale)

Wall 4 (l to r)
3 African fat tail geckos (breeding trio)
10 gal planted aquarium, currently empty
2 viper geckos (adult size about 7 cm)
red lidded plastic tank, 2 baby viper geckos
23 gal hex, pair of Phelsuma standingi (pothos and a Cattelaya (spelling?) orchid)

And that's all folks. Thanks for taking the time to look.
Duncan

 

[samuel]

Hrmmm.... Duncan, do u really need such a large water body for T. shanjings? I always thought a water dish would suffice.

 

[duncan]

Hi Samuel,
The picture is a little deceiving, the right hand side of the T. shanjing tank may be filled with water, but is only done so when I'm trying to induce breeding. In fact, it is tiered to 3 levels and can therefore give minimal (or higher) water levels (that's why there is such a steep slope and why I use the clay hydroponic beads underneath the land portion). Here is an old picture of the enclosure, before the plants grew in and I added moss etc.

Duncan

 

[samuel]

Haha, icic. Thanx Duncan for taking the trouble to put up the pic for explanation.

 

[chris]

Sorry to ask this,but could you post a close-up pic of the 30 gal vivarium with 4 Dendrobates auratus?

That and the T. shanjing tank have given many inspirations!

Thanks!

!

 

[duncan]

Sorry for the delay Chris, here's some more recent pictures of the D. auratus vivarium as well as an updated view of my T. shanjing enclosure and my Paramesotriton sp tank. Hope they help inspire.
Duncan

(Message edited by jennewt on July 27, 2004)

 

[TJ]

Very impressive Duncan! It's clear that you really care for your animals and are really into the hobby. Could you explain a bit about your use of clay hydroponic beads? I have a bag of Seramis on hand that I haven't put to much use yet. I'm moving ahead with improvements of my own setups and more eager than ever for fresh ideas

 

[duncan]

Thanks for your kind words Tim. I do enjoy escaping into my little slice of nature, especially when the temperatures bottom out at -38 C (including wind chill) as it did the other day here in Western Canada.

The clay hydroponic beads are used mainly in my dart frog vivariums, as well as my T. shanjing vivarium, as the bottom most substrate layer. As you know, the beads are very light and so rather than have a thick, heavy gravel layer for drainage, I use the beads to "take up space." This is also very convenient if I have to move a tank.

In addition to reducing the overall weight of the vivarium, by placing a layer of the beads at the bottom of the vivariums, I can keep a continual level of water in this area. This allows me to keep the humidity up in the dart frog vivariums without constructing a true false bottom (which I do, using light diffusing "egg crating" and PVC supports, when I want to put a pump in for a waterfall or stream with my dart frogs. You might be able to see a waterfall/waterwall in the latest pictures of my D. auratus vivarium, on the rhs).

I decided to use the beads with my T. shanjing setup when I was figuring out how I could lower and raise water levels to mimic seasonal chanages in an effort to stimulate breeding. By putting about 15 cm of the beads at the bottom I can flood to this depth without worrying about the roots of my plants being submerged for a length of time and subsequently rotting. I always put some nylon window screening over the beads with a layer of gravel over this and then my soil mix on top. The clay beads float so its important to cover them with the screening and/or gravel or they may "pop up" where you don't want them to! The screening also prevents soil from "sifting down" into the water between the beads and making it murky.

I hope this description helps a bit, if you need any clarification please feel free to ask.
Duncan

 

[paul]

Those tanks are so amazing it makes me want to cry. I hope my 50 gallon will look like that!

 

[john]

I've decided to move to Canada, bump Duncan off, take some photos of him, dispose of the body, have some plastic surgery as per the aforementioned photos, and assume his identity. That's how much I like your Caudate room, Duncan. I wish I had one!

Thanks for sharing

.

(PS, the above murder and plastic surgery was said in jest. Still, best make sure I have an alibi).

 

[duncan]

Thanks for the complements John, Paul . . . as always seems to be the case, the room as it was has been transformed somewhat since I posted last. In an effort to consolidate things a bit, I put together a couple of heavy duty racks and have moved most of the frogs and newts to what I called wall 2. The rack is 4 shelves high and currently holds 11 vivariums of various sizes. I have moved away from keeping as many geckos, but of course this has left me more room for newts and frogs! A few months ago I managed to acquire some (1.5) C. e. popei and they have started breeding (albeit slowly). Currently I have 3 larvae about 2-3 cm in length. I am waiting for some Dendrobates leucomelas (bumblebee dart frogs) to arrive next month as well, and who knows what else might appear this fall (If only I could find T. marmoratus in Canada!).

John your ploy will never work, don't you know we have the RCMP here?! They always get their man! Now on the other hand if you ever decide to visit, you're more than welcome to drop by, have my kids and dog jump on you for a while, clean my fruit fly cultures, and go teach my high school Biology classes (they probably need an injection of organic chem) and otherwise assume my life for a day (while my wife and I sneak off on a date)!
Duncan

 

[lucas]

Um, wow.

 

[danny]

Wow Duncan, I guess I wont have to come over for a visit anymore after seeing what you have in your newt room. Very nice! wish I lived in a house and not an apartment then I could have a newt room and try to make it almost as good as yours!