Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is a 10 gallon tank set to house 4 froglets until a 30 gallon long tank is completed for them. It has a false bottom with an aquarium heater set at 80 degrees, a small pump that creates the waterfall over the cork bark in the left corner of the tank, and 2 computer fans for ventilation. The tank is unplanted for now and I still need to add the moss. As this is my first experience with pdfs does anyone have any suggestions on how to better prepare these tanks.

Thanks,

rjm

Love that waterfall.

Looks good, just make sure you don't let those fans run for more than a couple of minutes at a time. With that small of a tank and the push-pull fan configuration you have you'll likely make dried frog mummies if they run all day.

Other than that just add plants and maybe a couple of hiding spots.

joseph

Looks adequate, though with the suggestions that came before. More plants and hiding. Also, make very sure that the froglet cant get behind the cork to your waterfall setup. If there is a way, he will do it....

Well the entire piece of cork bark is siliconed to the sides of the tank with no gaps. There is just enough room in there for me to reach down to clean the water pump and adjust the heater. Luckily I work about 4 blocks from the flower/plant district in NYC so I wont have a problem finding adequate material for hiding spaces and plants ( I know I need to repot them and wash them off as well ).

rjm

if you already havent you can click my signature and itll show the steps on how i made my basic vivarium.

aj
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Click Here to see my vivarium and steps on how to make a basic vivarium UPDATED 7.18.03 Now complete! All that is needed are some New River Tincs!

kungfu28181: My god. You are insane. -Mon Jun 30 21:41:05

I just got back from my vacation in NYC last week. I made a trip to the plant district while we were there. We picked up a huge cluster of a bromeliad species I haven't identified yet for $15 (there are about 8 plants in the cluster). We also got some tillandsias. Besides that, however, there really wasn't anything that interesting to me. Being as though orchids are in vogue, there are huge amounts of them there...but really not that cheap. You can do much better for the same plants at Home Depot.

There is a sea shell store at South Street Seaport that sells much better and bigger tillandsias than the ones we got in the plant district for less than $5.

The indoor conservatory at the New York Botanical Gardens is INCREDIBLE, and a visit there will give you many ideas on how to grow different tropical epiphytes. If I lived in NYC, I'd have a membership there and one with the Wildlife Conservation Society to get into the zoos (NY Aquarium, Bronx Zoo and Central Park Zoo have dart frog exhibits).
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David Knight
Tempe, AZ

D. imitator
D. leucomelas
P. terribilis
D. azureus
D. tinctorius (Alanis)

It has some good deals on plants, but mostly the wood, bark and moss is alot cheaper in bulk and easier to get than mail ordering it. I love living in NYC as you can find just about anything here if you know where to look. I can't even count the number of times I have been to all of those places and a membership would probably save me alot of money. Suprisingly the Aquarium at Coney Island has about 8 dart frogs as well and really cool jellyfish( went there last weekend ). I already go a timer from the Home Depot that allows me to program it to intervals as small as 1 minute. This setup is very similar to the one that I built for my water monitor, only alot smaller.

rjm

With the exception of the cork that they sell, I wouldn't use any of the other wood or moss. The moss is a temperate species (it is all collected upstate...I asked) and will soon die in your vivarium. The wood they were selling was ridiculously expensive and didn't look like it would withstand constant warmth and humidity.

Unless you live in a tropical/subtropical region, the moss you collect will thrive for a while in the vivarium, then die, as it needs a dormancy. This is fine if the moss is collected and free and can easily be replaced, but a waste of money if you pay for it. Check out the mossman for high quality, affordable pillow moss.
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David Knight
Tempe, AZ

D. imitator
D. leucomelas
P. terribilis
D. azureus
D. tinctorius (Alanis)

All good information to know, glad you posted it. Thanks.

I agree the fans will only need to run about 3mins or less each hour. They will drop the humidity like mad on that small of a tank.
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Kyle
www.kylesphotos.com
1.2.0 D. leucomelas
0.0.2 D. azureus
0.0.3 D. imitators

I run mine about 8 minutes after each misting. and mine stays 95%
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Click Here to see my vivarium and steps on how to make a basic vivarium UPDATED 7.18.03 Now complete! All that is needed are some New River Tincs!

kungfu28181: My god. You are insane. -Mon Jun 30 21:41:05