Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have read through every post on this board and done a lot of research on this subject over the past few weeks. I am interested in setting up a tank for dart frogs. I picked one up at the flea market it is a bow front and I think somewheres between 40 and 55 gallons.
I am going to make the background out of the great stuff foam. I bought two cans yesterday. I started to experment with the one can. I want to use this for my background. I would like to carve nitches in it and some pockets for plants. After I am done shaping and carving can I paint it and then seal it so that it is waterproof and will this be safe for the frogs? I also wanted to construct a water fall using this same material.
I also have a question about lighting. Are regular flouresent bulbs good for growing the plants or should I get the grow bulbs. I have also seen while I was out looking around a grow bulb that you could put inside a dome lighting fixture. I have at least two dome fixtures that I could use instead of the strip flouresent. Would they give off enough light?
I am slowly getting together what I need for the tank and taking my time in the construction of it. I want to make sure everything is right and in the proper working order before I even think about getting any frogs. I would appreciate any help you can give me! The pictures of your tanks all look great! I want to have the same great looking tank and enjoyment from it as you all do with yours. Thank you in advance Heather

Hey there:

Welcome to Dartworld! Get ready to get addicted! Check out Black Jungle's site. Click on Catalog and on the Gallery where there is a step by step on how to build a viavarium with a foam wall, complete with dripping back area, baskets for planting and plant suggestions. Its very descriptive, organized and each step has a picture. You can even buy all the supplies from their site. Its what I rely on. As far as lighting, most of us rely on compact flourescent for power of light with low heat production. I had trouble with plant life until I got this one down better. When I got a powerful grow light, a compact flouresent(125w), all the broms started to do better. In turn, the Imitators got to be more prolific.

Hope that give you something to work with. Glad you joined us!

Maggie

Thank you for answering my post I really appreciate that a lot. I have been to Black Jungle several times over the past few weeks. They have thier basic page up on how to get started but the other part of there web sight isn't up yet, or down for maintence and updating. I did Check out Joshes web sight. His sight is pretty cool too. I went and had the pvc pipe cut for my false bottom support yesterday. The guy wasn't too happy about cutting it for me. I have about 12 suports that are 3 inches high. The other three to five I can't use because they are longer then the other ones. But I figure I will use those to elevate the top part of the support system so I can have variation in the floor of the tank. I want to get my water pump before I put the false bottom in though. I know that I want the water fall to be in the left back corner of the tank. I am looking into what kind of pump I am going to need to pump the water high enough to the top of the water fall. Which is going to be pretty tall I think. After I get that done I will probably start working on the the hood of the tank. It is a bow front. I am going to use plexi glass like most people do. But I am not sure if I should leave some of the tank top screened or to cover the whole top. I was wondering if I should install a little fan somewhere or not and if I should where should I put it? I also read that there should be a vent somewhere towards the bottom of the tank. I am unable to do this because it is a tank for fish. But I was thinking I could get a small air pump and run a tube to the bottom of the tank and just let it pump air into it so that would give circulation as well as the water fall. What do you think? Thank you very much for your help! Heather