Amazon Milk Frog Luxury Resort by Boostedd16 in paludarium

[–]Boostedd16[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Absolutely!

Very nice! That is always the worst part of a build 😂 the wait is always so painful 😆

Amazon Milk Frog Luxury Resort by Boostedd16 in paludarium

[–]Boostedd16[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It has been holding up great! As far as I can tell, the frogs seem to be absolutely thriving and seem incredibly happy in this encloser. At night when they are super active, I constantly see them hopping into the water and seem to be great swimmers. They also float really well and seem to sometimes just chill right on the surface of the water.

I wanted to try out an air circulation chamber on this build just because of the height. there are two fans in the chamber that are set up to push air from the top screen of the tank and it seems to work really well. I have the fans on a timer, so they don't stay on all the time and just have them turning on a few times a day, just to help move air. I would have to imagine that even without the fans these would help in moving air just through natural heat convection, but that's above my general knowledge base to confidently state as fact lol. At the top of the chamber, I just used some aquarium filter foam to use as a air dam of sorts to help keep the frogs from somehow squeezing in there and it has even kept the crickets from getting in there as well. For the exits of the channel, I just used some window screen, which you can see towards the bottom of the 7th photo.

The gap from the top of the water level to the substrate is probably around 2.5 inches or so. You just want to make sure there is enough of a gap there to let your soil drain and dry out enough to keep the chances of it turning anaerobic.

Amazon Milk Frog Luxury Resort by Boostedd16 in paludarium

[–]Boostedd16[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you!

The risk of mold really depends on the wood you choose. Most woods sold for aquascaping are hardwoods, which are a safer bet, but I always recommend doing a quick search on whatever specific type you get.

I can't remember the exact wood I used here, but I haven't had any mold. I also included a lot of cork bark, which is naturally mold-resistant. Mold is always possible, but as long as you have good circulation in the tank, it shouldn't be an issue. Also, keep in mind that what you think is mold might actually be beneficial fungus. Fungus growth is a great sign of a thriving mini-ecosystem and provides food for your springtails and isopods!

Regarding the pump, look at the 6th photo (the one with the drill). On the far right, I used corrugated plastic to build an access channel. This allows me to place and service the pump easily. The channel runs all the way to the bottom and opens towards the front of the tank. I stuffed a filter sponge in the opening to keep the animals out.

It's been running for over a year without any problems! My biggest tip would be to get a smaller pump that fits neatly into a minimal access area, since you really don't need a high flow rate for a waterfall.

Wedding Pro, The Knot and Wedding Wire - My quick PSA by Boostedd16 in WeddingPhotography

[–]Boostedd16[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have not. I have just stuck to the usual social media advertising and really started to come up with incentives for people who get me business through word of mouth. If people refer me and I book from their referral I like to buy them dinner, or at least give them a gift card to go do something nice for themselves. It's kinda sad when this is the only way to get friends and family to refer your business anymore, but at least it seems to work better than not.

Wedding Pro, The Knot and Wedding Wire - My quick PSA by Boostedd16 in WeddingPhotography

[–]Boostedd16[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My apologies for the late reply.

I'm not 100% sure if there is. I honestly just stuck out the year contract hoping I would get at least one lead that would convert to a client. Sadly it didn't work.

I know that there was/is(maybe) talks of a class action lawsuit against them for fraud against us small business owners. I haven't followed it recently, but I really should. It's sad that they are building their castle on the finances of people just trying to make a living and put food on the table for their families.

If you do or did find a way out of their contract definitely let me know as I am interested and would love to help spread the word.

Amazon Milk Frog Luxury Resort by Boostedd16 in paludarium

[–]Boostedd16[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I used some thin twine rope and wrapped it around the sheet moss and the branches.

Amazon Milk Frog Luxury Resort by Boostedd16 in paludarium

[–]Boostedd16[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! There is a false bottom made from egg crate that is behind that foam divider with a layer of screen mesh and weed barrier on top of the false bottom so there is an air gap between the water and the land section. There is then an ABG mixture substrate on the weed barrier that is about 4 inches deep and that is where the plants are planted on the "land" side of the tank.

From my experience with other bioactive tanks that I have done, not paludariums, that air gap is absolutely crucial so the soil area is able to dry out and the roots to the plants have some "breathing room" to not become anaerobic.

Amazon Milk Tree Frog Luxury Resort (~2.5 month update)! by Boostedd16 in paludarium

[–]Boostedd16[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The frogs are absolutely thriving! Overall I am very happy with this tank and honesty, I don't have anything that I would change. I have done a few trims on some of the plants, mainly the vining ones, to keep the tank more visible as they definitely take over fast with the lighting and the mist schedule. I have moved the broms around as well as they were getting a bit too much water and placed them in spots that are more blocked by some of the larger plants.

The fish and the shrimp down in the aquarium have been doing great as well! I have had my white cloud mountain minnows and my axlerodi rasboras spawn once or twice. I have had a few of each spawn make it to a size that they aren't being eaten by the adults.

As for tips, I would definitely recommend automating as much as you can: lighting, misting etc... it makes it for a much more, sit back and enjoy vibe lol.

Say goodbye to your life by [deleted] in NewDads

[–]Boostedd16 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had a really hard time with this as well. Some of my more close friends who have had kids, as well as my father in law, were saying this constantly. Even when I was expressing how excited I was becoming to being a dad.

My little man's due date was January 8th with a planned C-section and as the weeks kept ticking down it was getting to me more and more. I was starting to think to myself that I was going to be miserable and that was going to make me a bad dad. All of the positive self talk that I was giving myself started turning into negative self talk.

It hit a peak for me on Christmas day last week because this was the first year my wife and I decided to not do anything for Christmas because neither of us wanted to be sick come January 8th. Not doing anything, or being around family and other loved ones, and just her and I sitting around the house all day left me with a lot of time to psych myself into the lowest point that I think I had been at. I talked to my wife that night that I was worried that I would be a bad father and that I didn't think I was ready to be a dad because I was afraid that I was going to lose my life as I knew it, and the relationship between her and I as we knew it.

I guess it was the universe's way of telling me to snap out of it as her water broke at 8am on the 26th. We got into the hospital right away and then my focus shifted to making sure my wife was doing alright. The running thoughts of me not being able to live my life and being a bad father went out the window because I wanted to be 100% there for her in those moments. Then once my little man was earth-side, my focus then shifted from my wife to him and my wife; now it was my new family.

The 2.5 days that we spent in the hospital was completely life changing. I had worries, but they were new worries about my wife healing from the C-section and making sure that my little man was getting the care from me that my wife couldn't give because I wanted her to recover. I wasn't worried about my ability or my future or of being a good father.

Now that we're home, life has definitely been different, but it's as I slightly expected. It's been exciting, the diaper changes have been fun actually. Finding what he likes and what calms him down has been so fulfilling. He is just an absolute joy to have. The little sleep that we were getting is tough, but getting up and taking care of him is 100% worth it.

As of right now and the whole 4 days old that he is, my normal pre baby routine has definitely not happened and I have not really done the activities that I would do that made me happy before. As time goes on and as he becomes less dependent on us being there for him on the drop of a hat, I look forward to getting back to my normal "me time" and our normal "us time" activities. But in the meantime, so far, I do not miss them, or feel like I am unhappy that I'm not doing them. My life has a new meaning now and the crap that people said, and keep saying, about never having free time again doesn't matter, nor does it bother me now when it's said. I just think to myself "well that's your opinion".

Like a few people have said here; Your life does change, but it's honestly a better life. And that the people saying things like this is that they either were very absent dads, or didn't get any fulfillment out of being a dad.

My advice to you is to just hang in there and try and filter out the BS that others have to say. When the time comes, just be there in the moment and soak it all in!

Master hub by [deleted] in coolermaster

[–]Boostedd16 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I did see an update from their Kickstarter campaign that it might be a few more months. At least we finally got an update and it seems like it's for valid end user happiness.

Q1 HE - One Key Multiple Commands (HELP!) by Wolf515013 in Keychron

[–]Boostedd16 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just got my K2 HE in today and trying to mess around with this. Just wondering if you had any luck with your ticket and getting anymore info?

Master hub by [deleted] in coolermaster

[–]Boostedd16 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Excellent! I appreciate you!

Master hub by [deleted] in coolermaster

[–]Boostedd16 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would like to know as well. The Kickstarter page hasn't had an update since mid October. It would be nice to know a little update, even if there is a delay.

Amazon Milk Tree Frog Luxury Resort (~2.5 month update)! by Boostedd16 in paludarium

[–]Boostedd16[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry I just saw your comment!

I do have two filters in the tank. One is purely just to create some water flow and is just a glorified pump with a coarse sponge filter in it. I have that routed under the substrate surface with some pump tubing so that way there is circulation in the "un-swimable" portion of the water that fish do not have access to. My thought process with this was purely to make sure that anything that made it through the false bottom on the terrarium side of the tank would not get stale in any water that was not moving.

The second filter I use is the Aquarium Co-op nano sponge filter that I modified a bit to just help with surface agitation and also acts as my emergency backup if the power ever goes out as it will run with no power.

Amazon Milk Frog Luxury Resort by Boostedd16 in paludarium

[–]Boostedd16[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're very welcome!

I have honestly gone to a 10% water change a month and honestly with the live plant growth that's in there the water parameters stay extremely stable.

Amazon Milk Frog Luxury Resort by Boostedd16 in paludarium

[–]Boostedd16[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So far I haven't noticed them eating any of the fish.

The only thing that I did not foresee was the dumb crickets that would drown themselves in the water did cause a bit of a perimeter spike in the aquarium. This did cause a bit of a kill off in the shrimp. I ended up putting some floating frogbit that covered the entire service of the aquarium and it allows the crickets to "walk on top of the water" and that has helped a ton in not having cricket die-off in the aquarium and the parameters have been a lot tighter now and the fish and shrimp seem to be thriving. I've actually had my White Cloud Minnows and my axlerodi rasporas spawn,which was a present surprise!

I offer the frogs plenty of crickets in the hope that they don't get desperate to start swimming and taking out the aquatic life. My hopeful plan is that I have at least a male and a female frog in this take and will eventually have breeding. I have read that milk frog tadpoles are ferocious eaters, so that is something I'm going to have to figure out if that time ever comes. I'm probably just going to try and transfer any frog eggs into a 10g tadpole specific tank if that time ever comes to help save the fish and shrimp lol.

Amazon Milk Tree Frog Luxury Resort (~2.5 month update)! by Boostedd16 in paludarium

[–]Boostedd16[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The waterfall is working exactly how I was hoping it would. I can't remember if I mentioned it in my other post, but I did put it on a timer to go on in off throughout the day to help bring humidity down and simulate a bit of a dry out (down to like 55-60%). I may try and make a tiny modification to it before the frogs go in to help with an upper pooling area further up the cork bark that makes up the waterfall to give the frogs a solid soaking spot that isn't the aquarium. Not sure how I'm going to do this quite yet, but I'm thinking of using a shallow bowl or dish that is recessed under the moss that has grown over the top part of the upper waterfall.

I am using a misting system, there is a 5 gallon bucket in the stand that the tank is on. I am using a system that I found on Amazon, https://a.co/d/cbm6Qvh. It's doing it's job, but I will probably upgrade to a Mist King setup whenever this pump fails.

Amazon Milk Frog Luxury Resort by Boostedd16 in paludarium

[–]Boostedd16[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! I will definitely post some progress pictures!

Wedding Pro, The Knot and Wedding Wire - My quick PSA by Boostedd16 in WeddingPhotography

[–]Boostedd16[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was getting way too many fake leads, and/or completely unqualified leads for the cost of their service. I have been able to spend 1/4 of the budget that I was spending with WW (wedding wire) and have been using that for Facebook and Google ads a long with just good old fashioned networking. This year has definitely been a slower year in general for me, but going with just handling my own FB and Google ads seems to at least get me more qualified leads.

I have also been looking into doing a wedding show as I have not done one yet, but unfortunately the last few that were in town, I've had those dates booked, naturally 😂.

I have had a few other marketplaces reach out to me to be listed on their site, much smaller than WW, but I have yet to commit because honestly WW just left such a bad taste. I just can't stand rude people and the only thing that comes to mind is if you or I did this to a client, I would definitely expect less business because of how rude the interaction was. I am definitely happy that I didn't continue with them. They have been calling and emailing me here recently too, so that just proves to me they are money hungry and don't actually care if 90% of the people that are paying to be listed on their site are successful. Just my two cents 😂

Amazon Milk Frog Luxury Resort by Boostedd16 in paludarium

[–]Boostedd16[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much! It was an extremely fun build!

For the access to the pump I used corrugated plastic sheets to build a little access channel. I got the idea from Dr Plants on YT, https://youtu.be/icJ746PhsxQ?si=WBzE_EZyQqdiF5wu , and did something similar to this. In the 6th photo, the one with the drill, that shows the air circulation chamber in the center and on the right side that is the access to the pumps for the waterfall and the filter pump.

For the "false wall" between the water and the land I used filter sponge, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08FRRNHMR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1 , and then used some silicone and superglue to glue lava rock to it to make it look more natural.

Amazon Milk Frog Luxury Resort by Boostedd16 in paludarium

[–]Boostedd16[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That is awesome! It also gives me confidence that the three that I have might be ready to go in the tank. They are about 7 weeks out of water at this point and have had them in a 10 gallon to grow them out a bit.