Thanks all. To me the tank looks small in the pictures so I guess it's all personal perspective. For an idea on size here's a pic my wife snapped on the weekend.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...BB3E91A6BE.jpg

This is starting to look really good. Great work on the foam rock work.

Will you be setting up plumbing for misters or rain type simulation?

Thanks. All plants will be hydroponic so each pot will have a drip line. I'm contemplating the idea of addition misters to work with the auto top off for rain simulation but I need to avoid getting the front glass wet so it might be tricky. It's something I can add anytime so I'll probably play around with the idea eventually.

nice, in for updates

Skipping ahead again to step 4, substrate.

First I installed 100W of heating cable for substrate heating.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...92ECA373D3.jpg

Followed buy 100lbs for black sand, 20lbs of Flourite and topped off with 80lbs of Caribsea Eco-Complete. I also added some 50lbs of lace rock, some driftwood and some mopani wood. Here's another FSS to show the result.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...rium150310.jpg

All three lights are up again as well :)

You are very creative (and patient).

looks amazing steve! is that heating coil a hobby product or something from the construction realm?

It's a hobby product, Hydor 50w Hydrokable Substrate Heater

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...jL._SX522_.jpg

This is a very cool build, learning a bunch here thanks for the photo steps and write up.... Tagging along!

Looks like it will be a blast Steve! Needed the sump room for beer keg storage? Wendy and I have been toying around with a mantella tank for sometime now. I have them before and have always wanted a properly built tank for them. Not quite a paludarium, but close :)