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Amphibian Racking System Build (Photo Heavy)

TylototritonGuy

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Hi all,

I thought I would kick start my build thread for my New Racking system that I am building. The equipment and tanks I will be using will be housing only 9 out of the 19 species I have in my collection, So I will be having to make another Racking after I have made this one (However might not have to do the second one for a while as this single rack will be freeing up a lot of space!).

Here is a Picture of the Drawing I made on paint (Can't seem to convert the Auto-Cad file to a JPEG)
tylototritonguy-albums-randoms-picture29081-quick-design-drawing-you-all-so-i-can-show-how-i-am-making-racking-system.jpg

It will contain 9 E.N.T style terrariums in total which include;

  • x3 - 800 x 400 x 400mm (80 x 40 x 40cm) Terrariums and will be laid out with 1 of them being on each row (As you're looking at the photo - 1 Top left, 1 Middle Left and 1 Bottom Left.)
  • x6 - 400 x 400 x 400mm (40 x 40 x 40cm) Terrariums and will be laid out with 2 being on each row (As you're looking at the photo - 2 Top Right, 2 Middle Right and 2 Bottom Right.)
I have a rough idea of what row will contain what species but obviously I may change my mind :p but the at the moment I want the;


  • Top Row (Random) - Ambystoma tigrinum (80 x 40 x 40cm), Ambystoma opacum (40 x 40 x 40cm) Kaloula pulchra (40 x 40 x 40cm - this will more than likely change to a smaller species though)
  • Middle Row (Malagasy) - Mantella aurantiaca (80 x 40 x 40cm - shall be getting about 4 new individuals for a wider breeding project), Scaphiophyrne marmorata (40 x 40 x 40cm), Scaphiophyrne gottlebei (40 x 40 x 40cm - This will be a Reconstruction of a natural habitat, like a Limestone Canyon with Seasonal Rock Pools)
  • Bottom Row (Tylototriton species) - Tylototriton yangi (80 x 40 x 40cm - This will also allow for breeding too with a Water Section) Tylototriton wenxianensis (40 x 40 x 40cm - This is while they are still juvenile so they will have a larger enclosure when they are fully adult), Last one I am trying to decide on (40 x 40 x 40cm - This enclosure is for a species while it's still juvenile so they will have a larger enclosure when they are fully adult)
When I build the next Racking after this one (Should be later on in the year) it will carry on the pattern of having the Random species on top, Malagasy in the middle (Mantella etc) and the bottom shall have more of the Tylototriton and Echinotriton andersoni in my collection.


Instead of using the Aluminum Profiles and Connectors that most people tend to use (Really wanted to use this method aswell but it's not cheap!! lol) I am using this really nice MFC (Melamine Faced Chipboard) also known as Chocolate Oak Board which is incredibly sturdy, strong and will most definitely take the weight of the Terrariums.

tylototritonguy-albums-randoms-picture29082-chocolate-oak-board-i-am-using-my-racking-system.jpg


tylototritonguy-albums-randoms-picture29085-chocolate-oak-board-i-am-using-my-racking-system.jpg

There are 3 Main pieces that will stand horizontally (measuring roughly just over 6ft 4 inches - This allows a bit of space between each row for the Lighting System and also a bit of space between the Floor and the underside of the Bottom shelf for storage) and 8 pieces that will go vertically for each shelf and 12 elongated supports.

I shall get the exact measurements later on and upload them :happy:

tylototritonguy-albums-randoms-picture29084-strips-wood-support-each-shelf-these-will-tightly-secured-so-they-will-very-sturdy-will-support-weight-all-tanks-terrarium-decor.jpg

Some of the 12 pieces of Wooden Supports I would need.

tylototritonguy-albums-randoms-picture29083-chocolate-oak-board-i-am-using-my-racking-system-quite-thick-very-sturdy-material.jpg

Photo showing how thick each piece of the MFC is.

Anyway, I am currently sorting out getting the E.N.T Terrariums now from Richie, just have to wait a little while! I did look into making my own, I asked several Glass Merchants all of which refused to attempt it due to previous failures with other people, one of the Glass Merchants was so rude that he cut my off halfway through my sentence and basically asked me to leave :eek:

I hopefully will begin this build in the next few weeks, so the rest of my posts may take until then to show more of my build but anyway I would appreciate any help or advice!! :D
 

TylototritonGuy

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sounds good :) what sort of creatures will be living on it?

There's a list of all the creatures
in the post :eek:



<3 >o_o< <3


Haha thank you Nikki :)

it's kind of still under consideration as to what would be in each terrarium and where a bouts it would be placed in it. I currently keep;

Amphibians:

Anura (Frogs & Toads):
1.1.2 Golden Mantella (Mantella aurantiaca)
0.0.2 Malagasy Painted Rain Frogs (Scaphiophyrne gottlebei) CB12
1.1.0 Malagasy Green Marbled Burrowing Frogs (Scaphiophryne marmorata)
1.1.0 Sky-blue Poison Dart Frog (Hyolaxus azureiventris)
1.0.0 El Cope Pena Blanca G&B Poison Dart Frog (Dendrobates auratus)
1.2.0 Phantasmal Poison Frogs (Epipedobates tricolor) "Highland" Sub-population
1.1.0 Asian Painted Bullfrogs (Kaloula pulchra)

Caudata (Newts & Salamanders):
1.1.0 Tiannan Crocodile Newts (Tylototriton yangi)
1.1.0 Wen Xian Knobby Newts (Tylototriton wenxianensis)
0.0.2 Mandarin Crocodile Newts (Tylototriton shanjing)
0.0.2 Ta Liang Red Eared Crocodile Newts (Tylototriton taliangensis)
0.0.2 Ryukyu Spiny Newt (Echinotriton andersoni)
1.0.0 Eastern Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum)
0.1.0 Marbled Salamander (Ambystoma opacum)
0.0.1 Marbled Newt (Triturus marmoratus)

in the way of amphibians, most of which need the heat from the light to be taken into consideration. So I will have to build it first and measure the temperature max and min of the Top shelf, eventually though all my collection (which is still increasing) shall be housed in the racking but just doing the one set of racking at the moment would free up a LOT of space for me! lol
 

TylototritonGuy

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Well... It's been a blooming long time since I updated this but I finally can!!

I have received the 9 Starter Terrariums all to my specifications by DMS Vivaria and I must admit I pretty much fell in love with them.

I ordered 9 terrariums in total which included;

3 - 400mm x 400mm x 400mm False Bottom Terrariums.
3 - 400mm x 400mm x 400mm Burrowing Terrariums.
2 - 800mm x 400mm x 400mm Glass Partition Water Area Terrariums.
1 - 800mm x 400mm x 400mm False Bottom Terrarium

Anyway, here are some photographs of some of them (I will upload photos of all of them lol);

tylototritonguy-albums-randoms-picture31697-4-6-400mm-x-400mm-x-400mm-terrariums-dms.jpg

4 of the 6 - 400mm x 400mm x 400mm Terrariums From DMS.
tylototritonguy-albums-randoms-picture31698-4-6-400mm-x-400mm-x-400mm-terrariums-dms.jpg

4 of the 6 - 400mm x 400mm x 400mm Terrariums From DMS.
tylototritonguy-albums-randoms-picture31699-400mm-x-400mm-x-400mm-terrarium-burrowing-species-probably-going-house-dyscophus-guineti-scaphiophyrne-species.jpg

A 400mm x 400mm x 400mm Terrarium for a Burrowing species, probably going to house a Dyscophus guineti or Scaphiophyrne species.
tylototritonguy-albums-randoms-picture31700-good-quality-terrariums-highly-recommend-dms-vivaria.jpg

Good quality Terrariums! Highly recommend DMS Vivaria :)

Anyway, I shall upload more photos shortly as I will be building the racking soon so I can actually stored them safely without worrying! lol
 
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