We usually like to remove the plants from the pots and shake off the original soil which often contains chemical fertilizers. As Skronkykong has pointed out, the whole object of a planted vivarium is to establish biological recycling of the wastes, encouraging various microorganisms that help do the job, as well. The only "cleaning" other than what he mentioned would be trimming back overgrowth and misting off detritus from the plant leaves. I also like to do a little top-dressing of fresh substrate once in a great while as the old stuff deteriorates, and add fresh leaf litter to the surface. Your original design will always be changing itself, and various plants may over-grow others over time. You may want to rip out some that either don't do well or do too well, but over-all, the vivarium will only look more and more "natural."

Check with the dart frog breeders and various vivarium/terrarium supply houses for plants. Black Jungle is a good source, as is Saurian, but there are also many others. They sometimes have deals in packages with a collection of appropriate plants for the vivarium. Some of the good bromeliads, such as Neoregelias don't need any soil at all and can be mounted on wood features such as branches or backgrounds, where they virtually live off the humid air and detritus. Here's just a few examples of stuff just growing on cork bark, some from resident spores, never planted at all.









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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

Dendrobates: auratus blue, auratus Ancon Hill, tinctorius azureus, leucomelas. Phyllobates: vittatus, terribilis, lugubris. Epipedobates: anthonyi tricolor pasaje. Ranitomeya fantastica, imitator, reticulata. Adelphobates castaneoticus, galactonotus. Oophagia pumilio Bastimentos. (updated systematic nomenclature)

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