Fruit flies are easy to raise, so don't let that discourage you. You can start with a convenient commercial kit with dried media, 32 oz. deli-cups and ventilated lids, and either a wingless or otherwise flightless starter of Drosophila melanogaster flies.

The frogs actually have very simple requirements of high humidity and the same temperatures that most of us keep our homes--between 65 and 80 degrees. One can get by with somewhat lower at night, but not much higher than 80 for most species.

The most popular "beginner" darts such as Dendrobates leucomelas, auratus, galactonotus, tinctorius, and Phyllobates terribilis are normally long lived in captivity, >10 years or more. There are many color morph choices, especially among the auratus and tinctorius.

The tanks, once established are easy to maintain--no big substrate changes, and the biologically balanced recycling of wastes between frogs and plants really works, with minimum trimming and maintenance.

A 40 gallon tank will give you a lot of nice space for planning a neat set up that will hold perhaps 6 of the leucomelas, auratus or galactonotus or terribilis, all of which do well in groups of the same specie and same color morph. If you should choose a tinctorius variety, more caution is necessary, since these can be very territorial and get along best in mated pairs, as a general rule. You will want to choose captive bred frogs from a reliable breeder, of which there are several very good ones. They will offer overnight guaranteed live delivery of healthy juveniles or adults. You will pay more for sexed adult pairs, as darts are difficult to sex when they are young--or even as adults, with some of them.

This is just a general over-view. There are many different ways to set up a tank ranging from more fancy false bottoms with water features, to a plain drainage area for the plants. The plants we use are usually the small tropicals--nothing that is going to grow many feet, etc. Lighting varies, but is mostly for the plants. UV is rarely used with darts, but it is necessary to supplement calcium and D3 to make up for this, as well as vitamin powders. The fruit flies and other feeder insects are dusted with these powders before feeding. The most accepted combination at this time seems to be Rep-Cal with D3 (no phosphorus) and Herptivite, either alternated or mixed together, although there are others such as Dendrocare, and all in one formula.

You have left a lot of time for planning and building the tank, which is good. This phase alone, is a lot of fun. You can visit dart forums other than this one, as well, and check out the various breeder care-sheets. If you are already a reptile keeper, you already know all about this, of course. Flamers are rare on the dart forums, and usually get banned, so ask all the questions you want and expect to get personal answers, not to simply get told to "do a search," at least not without a specific reference to the question.
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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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