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RE: FINALLY GOT IT dart viv

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Posted by: Slaytonp at Sun Oct 14 00:22:23 2007  [ Report Abuse ] [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by Slaytonp ]  
   

I finally got it, too. I can see a couple of problems you may have with the set-up. The plants are too large for the tank, and some may be inappropriate for the high humidity, such as the Croton I recognized-- the narrow leaved, colorful plant, which is the family Euphorbiaceae: Codiaeum. These can grow rather tall, losing their lower leaves as they go, and require somewhat dry conditions and excellent drainage, which most of our dart tanks can't accommodate well unless they are very large and have special sections for them. I'm not totally sure what the others are, but they are too large for the tank already, and will grow. It looks very pretty now, but you want something that you can see your dart frogs in. Think "miniature" when choosing plants for a dart vivarium, and plan some open space with only mosses or leaf litter, perhaps some epiphytic bromeliads such as the smaller Neoregelias on a raised background or attached to a branch of wood. Small leaved vining plants, especially something like the Ficus pumila quercifolius, watermellon vine, (Pellionia) some of the Peperomias, Pileas, Fittonia, to name a few. (Many seem to begin with "P" Be cautious with ferns, many of which may go rampant, although I have great luck with some of the Adiatum species, and small epiphytic Davallias, which remain delicate and non-invasive.

You could probably also just go with what you have now, and change it and trim, or remove things that don't work. I don't ever intend to be discouraging, because no one discouraged me when I as making all of the mistakes there were to make, and still am, for that matter. These are just suggestions from my own experiences. As an example:

I put overlarge bromeliads on the back ground of my leucomelas tank, (79 gallons) then introduced a lovely gesnariade, Kohleria, "Flirt" which has spectacular blooms. The whole background collapsed from the weight of the over-large bromes. I moved a cutting of the Kohleria, which hadn't had enough light to ever bloom again, but had struggled through the years and still survived.. I moved a cutting of this in to a new 180 gallon paludarium with very strong light. It is now blooming like crazy, which is fine, but it's also taking over the entire tank, smothering everything in it's path. It went from struggle for life with just a few surviving leaves and stems, with no blooms for years, to overly rambunctious and pesty. Expect to always be cutting things back and making changes as you go.

By the way, your monkey frog is a dear. Who says frogs don't have "personalities." It's not all about color or looking like a "jewel." Even though many of the darts are incredibly beautiful, I prefer those that will come out and jump at my nose for a fly. I keep several species that are shy and seldom seen,although when you do see them, the colors are spectatcular. They simply aren't as much fun to keep.

I hope I haven't insulted you with my critique of the vivarium. I only mean to share my experiences and ideas, and I'm no expert.
-----
Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

D. auratus blue, auratus Ancon Hill, galactonotus orange, galactonotus yellow, fantasticus, reticulatus, imitator, castaneoticus, azureus, pumilio Bastimentos. P. lugubris, vittatus, terribilis mint green, terribilis orange.


   

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