Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey- I'm a tortoise guy mostly, but I've always wanted to setup a dart frog tank. Is it possible in a ten gallon with no holes drilled into the bottom? If not, are there any pre- made tanks used specially for Dart Frogs. The problem is, when I mist the tank, or just spill water, or something... where does the excess go? Are there problems with mold in a tank? Thanks. Brooks
B&B Reptile

A lot of people use false bottoms which elivate the substrate a few inches above the bottom of the tank. PVC pipe is used to hold up a piece of fluorescent light diffuser eggcrate, screen is placed over that, then the substrate goes on top of the screen. Excess water collects under the eggcrate which can then be syphoned out.

Mold can make a short apperance during the first month that the tank is established, but will eventually go away naturaly. It is not harmfull to the frogs. Good luck with your first darts!
-David Taylor

I use a 3-4 inch layer of coarse rock and gravel mixed with hunks of charcoal for the bottom. This has a layer of the black plastic weed-inhibitor cloth used for gardens to keep the substrate from sifting into the drainage. (It has tiny holes in it). Then I siphon off excess water from one corner with an aquarium airhose that dumps into a container. I use this to water my house plants. The airhose is siliconed in place on the inside corner, and I have a 30cc syringe (not leuer-lock, but plain tip) to start the siphoning whenever I notice any extra accummulation of water. It's low tech, easy to set up and works. Fungi really aren't a problem in dart tanks. They are not pathogenic to the frogs. Different kinds will come and go, but can be ignored or simply wiped off the glass. It's just a part of the overall balance that makes dart frog tanks a lot easier to maintain than others.

I think 10 gallons is just a bit small, but that depends upon what you want to keep. My smallest tank is 20 gallons and has four blue auratus. I have two tall 30 gallon hexagonal tanks for my thumbnails, a 72 gallon bow front with a waterfall, stream and shallow pond for the leukamelas and a 135 gallon paludarium (half land, half aquarium) with waterfalls, for the galactonotus. The same drainage works for all of them.
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Patty
Lost River, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
3 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
5 D. imitator
4 D. leukomelas
4 D. pumilio Bastimentos