Hey there,

just thought I would share a little project I am doing.

I am going to try and work quite a bit with Avics in the future which we know to be quite sensitive to humidity and airflow - which is my main challenge - so I am having some special little arboreal tanks made that I am going to test with various Avic. species that we know to be "finicky" like the Avic. versicolor etc., and this is a diagram of the tanks I am making for them.

It's based on the popular flip forward design as seen in RobC's videos, but will be made in a small size with glass. Each tank will have a vent on the lower left and upper right to promote airflow using basic induction principles, with no vent on the top so webbing is not destroyed when feeding. Also with the water reservoir being in the front and decorations towards the rear, the T will hopefully not create webbing in the front where the tank opens. I hope. lol.



As mentioned, each tank will have a reasonably large reservoir for water towards the front and a separate area for peat or tank decorations at the rear. This is a 15cm x 10cm sample, I will also make them in much larger sizes for the bigger T's, but the idea is to eliminate the use of little bottle caps and contraptions that get used as a water dish, which always seem to land up spilled into the peat, causing mold etc. They will instead have a dedicated reservoir for water to keep the humidity high and the cross flowed air vents to keep air circulating.

With a reservoir this size, hopefully one will not have to mist the tanks so often and you can even go away for a while knowing that when you return there will still be water in the enclosure keeping the humidity up.

I'm really just doing this to see if this type of design makes keeping humidity/Ventilation sensitive T's easier from tiny sling to juvie, but in a nicely designed tank rather than just a plain old jar.

I am even going to brand them with my little HS logo just for the fun of it :silly:

Please feel free to comment/criticize etc...

Ciao for now.

That looks like a very good design.

Wil you water the plant separately as well?

Is there anything stopping feeders from drowning in that reservoir?

Looks cool. If you need people to help you test, let me know the costs and I will test some of my avics on the design for you.

Only comment I do have, should peat or other stuff land in the reservoir, is it removable so one can clean it. Sometimes the water can get slimy on the walls of the reservoir, hence another reason for it to be removable for cleaning.

I think that there should be a removable fine mesh over the reservoir; that way crickets and substrate cannot defile the water.

Thanks for the replies and comments Some good points raised here.

@SynergyZA - The plant in the design is just a representation of whatever tank decoration you would like to use like Cork Bark etc. Should it be a real plant, yes you could probably water it in the larger version of these enclosures because you can leave the plant in it's own container and bury it beneath the peat, but in the smaller tanks, I wouldn't suggest using live plants.

@Seven - I was going to silicone in a permanent ramp that would let any feeders climb out, but you make a good point with placing a mesh over there to prevent them messing in the water or dying in it. But at the same time, especially in the bigger tanks, the T should still be able to reach the water to drink from it. It might be a good idea to make a glass dish that fits inside the reservoir gully that can be removed, cleaned and replaced easily. It's going to add expense to the design, but it still beats a dish that can be knocked over. This is the exact kind of commentary that will help me refine this little design, thanks!

@echodive - As mentioned above, making the reservoir removable might be the way to go. I wanted to place a hole at the bottom right that is sealed with a plastic or rubber plug, but you still have to tip over the whole tank just to drain and clean the reservoir.

I should be getting Version 1.0 very soon and will start playing with ideas to solve the above mentioned challenges.

Thanks again everyone

HS