# Planted Tanks > Vivariums >  20G Lateral Construction

## Fei Miao

Being brooding over this in my mind for sometime, finally got down to start this project :Smile: I'm in the process of convert a standard 60x30x45 tank to a lateral vivarium which will eventually house 1 or 2 tree frogs, below are the drawings, the brown lines indicates the original tank and black line the arcylic/glass. 

 

Right now the bottom piece is glass, center(door) is arcylic whilst top piece either 
1. glass-which will not have any ventilation holes or 
2. arcylic- which would be easier to add in ventilation holes. 
I still haven't make up my mind on this...
Another idea is to install a PC fan to the top piece but haven't work out how to go about it yet.. :Opps: 
The hingles on the door are arcylic and the black bit on the top of the door will have a lock. 
Comments & ideas most welcome.

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## Justikanz

This is interesting... Wild Ginger had done a few lateral vivariums... Maybe you can visit him and get a better idea...  :Razz:

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## dkk08

sighz the door is always the difficult part... the hinges are also another prob... I know they sell acrylic piano hinges which works well on acrylic but I doubt it can support the weight of the door... it'll crack in 6mths due to the heat... but a very good idea and concept! I'm tagging along to see how this goes before upgrading my treefrog tank  :Grin:

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## Fei Miao

Where to get those piano hinges?(I presume these are longer and thus stronger?), the ones I have now is just those small single hinge.

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## Fei Miao

some modification to the top pc; this will remain as glass but height will be reduce by half, in place will be a top mesh for ventilation... now to pull it off and make it work :Knockout:

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## Wild Ginger

Hi Ken, you might want to reconsider the opening panel to be in glass rather than acrylic as it's reputation for warping is nasty. Over time, the acrylic will warp due to the difference in humidity/temperature in and out of the tank. 

Do take it into consideration before you execute the final go. 

Regards,
Phillipe.

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## Fei Miao

Thanks Phillipe, would there be a weight and safety issue with the glass door?

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## Wild Ginger

Weight wise in comparison with acrylic, there won't be much difference. In safety aspects, when you have the glass made to your exact requirements normally they would "polish" the sides to a bevel finishing so that you can handle it properly. 

As for breakage if that's what you're referring to, you can try the tempered glass, it's much stronger but a little more expensive or a thicker glass then. 

What i had in mind was the sliding door effect. You know those of the windows aluminium parts which allows the windows to slide. At glass shops, they have those available, so perhaps you can check the width and thickness of the glass and have those sliding skirtings to go with it as well. 

In short, you can have one panel and slide it sideways or you can have 2 panels that slide within each other. 

Regards,
Phillipe.

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## Fei Miao

Mmm... sliding panels is a good option :Idea:  Thanks, I'll look into that :Well done:

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## Fei Miao

Okay, I've got the glass cutted and the tracks, but there's a slight problem, with a 2 glass piece sliding panels, the tracks are about 15mm width, if I attach it to the bottom and top glass which is about 6mm thick with silicon, will it holds? Any ideas & suggestions? :Huh?:

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## davwong

Hi Fei Miao what kind track did you get, is it the aluminum type and where did you get it any picture of it?

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## Fei Miao

No, the track are plastic, similar to the ones used in book shelves etc...FOC so can't complain.  :Razz: 

Aluminium tracks, where to get?

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## davwong

Hi Ken

This is the alumninum track I am refering to earlier. Photo taken from the website.
It also show how the track and air vent are fitted at the track to prevent the front glass panels from misting up by the water vapour during evaporation.

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## Fei Miao

Thanks, a picture is worth more than a thousand words. :Jump for joy:   :Idea:

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## Fei Miao

Hi guys, I believe many have not see the results for the construction of this tank, well, the tank has been through many changes and has been de-comm quite a while ago, it's time to activate this tank again, so, here's the latest version, set-up in June.

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## dkk08

Bro Ken, that looks fantastic! How much did it cost you to DIY the whole tank? Did you by any chance drop by somewhere to pick up new baby frogs?

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## Fei Miao

Thanks, It's has been quite awhile ago, if i can remember, the construction cost including the tank(brank new) cost about S$50 +/-. No, there's no frogs in there, just a couple of endlers guppies, I 'll post some updated pics when I find the time to shoot. 

This tank is situated in an area with filtered sunlight which will suffice with the plant grow(mostly ferns, moss, and jewel orchids). 

The black netting on the top(for ventilation and prevents misting-up of the glass), and the glass sliding panels are removed as there are no frogs, but the tank has sucessfully housed a couple of white tree frogs, if I can lay hands on a a few firebellies, I will add them in. :Smile:

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## cdckjn

Cool setup!

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## Fei Miao

...found 2 of the close-up shots I took after the set-up

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## eddy planer

wow ken

This is absolutely awesome!

Dont mind me coming to your place to peep at your palu?

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## Fei Miao

you're welcome to drop by, just give me a tinker :Smile:

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## vivaboy76

wow your setup looks really good////// where did u get the plants?? u guys are pro

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## Fei Miao

Thanks, we are learning from each other all the time. The plants like jewel orchids and such are mainly from plant nurseries, some are just wild plants and terrestrial moss found generally all over the place.

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## vivaboy76

oh ok jewel orchid...thanks for your info....how about lighting?? are u using 2 lights?? any UV lights??

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## Fei Miao

For this set-up; natural filtered sunlight, I never try any UV lights for my set-ups before, normal PL or FL lights will do the job if lights are required, normal Watts per Gallon for planted tank doesn't apply here, so just eyeball and monitor if plants are doing well or need more lights.

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## ndy06

What kind of fertilizer you used for the plant?  :Smile:

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## Fei Miao

Nil, as fertilizers for terrestrial plants are stronger and may harm the fish and shrimps, if you feel a need to, just a few drops of trace elements to the water the roots of the terrestrial plants will reached into the water to draw up the nutrients, but do under fertilize to prevent algae bloom in the water.

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## Fei Miao

*UPDATES ON NATIONAL DAY!* the plants are settling in nicely....
*Front View*


*Left Side*


*Right Side*


*Closeup*

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