State-of-the-Art Rainchamber Opens at the Amphibian Foundation, Increasing Capacity for Global Frog Conservation

We are pleased to announce the completion of an 8'x6'x3' rainchamber in the classroom of the Amphibian Foundation. This multi-faceted enclosure will allow us to breed rare and endangered frogs from the tropics and sub-tropics — even species from high elevations.

A rainchamber is an enclosure where weather and climactic patterns can be simulated. Every parameter is controllable and can be tailored to whatever focal species is inhabiting it.

The enclosure has sunrise and sunset, a fully controlled temperature down to the mid 50's, a stream setting for species that breed in riparian zones, plus rain, fog, and mist. The vast majority of the supplies and equipment were donated by Zilla, a sponsor of the Amphibian Foundation.

The rainchamber was designed to accommodate many species from the tropics and subtropics and provides suitable nesting sites for just about any frog species. Whether they breed aquatically, terrestrially, on leaves over water, in bromeliads, or tree holes, we made every effort to provide these types of areas within the enclosure. The overall effect is a naturalistic and beautiful miniature ecosystem, and so far the plant communities inside the system are thriving!

The following provides step-by-step instructions for building a rainchamber such as this one.

We started with an 180 gallon tank and stand, courtesy of Zilla. Behind it, we built a support wall that goes from floor to ceiling — directly behind the tank. This wall will ultimately support the custom canopy we will be building on top of the 180 glass aquarium.

Next we installed the plumbing and filtration. All of these supplies were provided by Zilla as well: Sump Filter, Canister Filter, UV Sterilizer, and Chiller.  Above you can see a video of the initial setup and filter in action. Any water that falls through the standpipe (middle of the aquarium) is sent through the sump, then to the canister, then to the UV sterilizer, then to the chiller, and finally to the water polisher before ending up in the reservoir. From the reservoir, water can be used for the waterfall, the rain system and the mist system. The 'basin' of the rainchamber can hold anywhere from zero to 8 inches of water, to allow us to simulate permanent or ephemeral wetlands, as well as activating a stream system with 2 Aqueon circulation pumps on one side.

The Waterfall was custom made, but is powered by an Aqueon (Zilla) submersible pump. The rain system is powered by the same model pump as the waterfall, but this one feeds a custom made PVC rain bar which is made to provide steady and large rain droplets when activated. Some frog species are stimulated by larger droplet sizes, and we already have smaller droplets covered by the mist system. It currently 'rains' in the enclosure for one minute every hour.

The Mist System is by Mist King (of course) there really is no other alternative. We used the strongest model; with the 3/8" backbone to provide the rainchamber with reliable mist and humidity. It sends out mist 10 times a day for 30 seconds.

The next step was to build the canopy, which is made from 3 layers of half inch plywood. The middle layer is the exact same dimensions as the aquarium and sits directly on the glass of the aquarium below. There is an inner layer of plywood that is affixed to the middle layer and reaches down inside of the aquarium. This allows us to attach driftwood and shelves to holder the substrate at a level just above the maximum water level within the aquarium. The outer layer of plywood is the facade which we used to give the appearance that the entire system (canopy, stand, and aquarium) are the same structure (even though by now if you are still reading this, you know that they are not)

The inner two layers of the custom canopy. The middle layer is resting on top of the aquarium glass, and the inner layer extends another 18" down inside of the aquarium. These are both secured to the support wall behind the aquarium and stand.

Next, we installed the beautiful wood pieces donated for the project by SunPet (Atlanta, GA USA). The majority of the wood are Malaysian Driftwood and Mongo Root.

Malaysian Driftwood (top and right) and Mongo Root (left, center, and bottom) are bolted to the canopy. Notice the joists along the bottom of the canopy across the back and sides. These joists serve to support the wood pieces, and provide surfaces to fill with substrate.

After the wood installation was completed, we then installed plastic egg crating lined with fiberglass screen. These areas will hold the substrate, and will also provide adequate drainage so that substrates can remain humid, but will not be continuously saturated or submerged. Water will continuously drain as rain and mist regularly provide fresh water. This drainage is essential for the longevity of the rainchamber, and also for the health of the plant, invertebrate, and amphibian communities.

The substrate layers were simply a layer of activated botanical grade charcoal, with a layer of coir (compressed coconut husk) on top. This will provide a safe and neutral pH substrate that will properly drain for years to come. The addition of plants and invertebrates (mentioned later) will help maintain and clean the substrate, increasing its longevity even further.

The next step was to 'seal' the enclosure's internal surfaces. Obviously, this much exposed plywood would not last very long when kept in various levels of wetness. We sealed every inch of the internal surface area with Pond and Stone Great Stuff ® The waterproof (and black) alternative to the yellow Great Stuff ® which has become an industry standard for amphibian enclosure building.

The rainchamber after being sealed with Great Stuff® (Pond and Stone). Zilla's Mushroom ledges were added in as well to help create the proper aesthetic. The upper canopy is now water-resistant but attention must be paid to the maximum water level, which can never get as high as the bottom margin of the plywood canopy.

At this point, I started to get very excited. The next phase was to add the substrate and plants. I knew in my mind's eye that this is when it was going to start looking the way I imagined. The ledges created with the 2 x 4 joists, egg grating, screen, and decorative wood pieces were now ready for the charcoal/coir layers mentioned in a previous step. Then, plants could be added with special consideration for how large the individual species of plants would grow, and their lighting needs as well.

After installing the majority of the plants and the bottom river rock layer.

Plants were planted right into the substrate layer, and epiphytic bromeliads were either secured with wire/zipties (not the most attractive, but the ties can be removed after the bromeliads established themselves in the enclosure), or occasionally we used warm glue (not hot glue, which can damage the bromeliad)

In the middle of the rainchamber build, Georgia Department of Natural Resources asked if they could come and shoot a Public Service Announcement regarding the Argentine Tegu, which is now considered an invasive species in Georgia. They used the in-progress rainchamber as a backdrop for the PSA. Pictured here is Heidi Ferguson, and John Jensen.

Almost complete! The rainchamber is featured in the Amphibious AF Meeting Room and separates the classroom from the Squamate Lab, which houses our lizards and snakes used in education and outreach programs like Critter Camp.

The next step was to install the facade, or the outer layer of plywood (remember there are three layers in the canopy, and so far we have only installed two — the middle and inner layers. The outer layer will be the only visible layer once completed so we chose high quality plywood for the facade. This outer layer will, among other things, hide the inner layers of plywood and (hopefully) give the illusion that this is all one unit — instead of the reality that we built a large canopy over top of a standard 180 gallon aquarium.

The outer layer of plywood or facade. We spackled it as well to hide the seams of the plywood.

Once the facade was painted, things were really starting to come together! For added ambiance, we added foggers, generously donated by the fog masters at House of Hydro.

Here is where the plan almost failed completely. I had taken it for granted that I would be able to have a door made for the rainchamber — I mean, I had done it before only on a smaller scale. Our first estimate for a hinged door in the right dimensions was $2,800! Way beyond the budget we had for the project.

After consulting with a few more Atlanta glass specialists with no luck, it finally dawned on me to reach out to the 'Tank Master' himself — Chris Sherman of Sherman Tanks! Chris is based in my old stomping grounds of Western Massachusetts and years ago started a premium custom tank building company. I contacted Chris and sent him pictures with a description of what we needed. Before long, he came back with an 'outside of the the box' solution, which involved Chris designing and 3D printing a track and anchor points for a single pane of 1/4" glass. The glass could be removed and re-positioned with professional glass vacuum cups.

Prototype of the anchor points custom made to hold the bottom of the glass door by Chris Sherman of Sherman Tanks.

Once the track (top) and anchor points (bottom) arrived from Sherman Tanks, the glass was installed perfectly. Now were were ready for bioactivation of the enclosure.

Once the glass door was installed, we were technically ready to add frogs. We wanted to further prepare the rainchamber in a couple of ways. First, we installed circulation fans in the top to help prevent the glass from fogging up with all the humidity happening in there. 'It's all about the view' to quote Chris Sherman. One fan in the middle pointing down, and two towards the sides pointing up.

The second step was to 'bioactivate' the enclosure by adding groups of invertebrates who would work behind-the-scenes to keep the enclosure clean by breaking down waste and dead plants, while simultaneously being a food source for some of the smaller amphibians. We added Colembola (Springtails) and two species of 'roly poly' isopods (Dwarf White and Dwarf Purple) We chose those two species as they are hardy, and reproduce quite rapidly. Healthy plant and invertebrate communities, matched with a botanical grade charcoal substrate base with lots of drainage and water filtration, will allow the miniature ecosystem to function for years before the substrates break down and need to be replaced. This will allow the plants to grow in even further and give an even more natural look. In other words, this is the worst this rainchamber will look, and will only become more beautiful as time goes on.

This project was a tremendous amount of work, and involved a lot of extra assistance from Anthony and Crystal Mandica (below), Jeffrey Weiss who generously offered to drill a big hole through the glass in the bottom of the tank (for the standpipe), and many others within AF, and outside who helped consult and make decisions and adjustments (Like Mike Novy, rainchamber master and owner of Rainforest Junkies)

In celebration of this project's completion, we are having a party! A Grand Opening and Frog Release Party on August 15th, 2019 @ 7pm. This will be held at the Amphibian Foundation and is free and open to the public. Please come and help us celebrate!! This all ages event will also feature the initial release of frogs into the rainchamber! We will hold a raffle and 15 or so children in attendance will be able to put a frog in the enclosure. We will give a tour of the rainchamber as well!

Some of our sponsors will be here too including Zilla and SunPet, so please come on out! A link to the event on Facebook is here.