Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just moved all the livestock out of my 92 gallon corner reef tank into a new 150 I built in my wall.
So, at long last I'm getting into the whole frog thing. The tank is drilled and has a sump, so I was going to take advantage of this for the vivarium. The heater will be in the sump as it is now, and I will pump water up into the tank, down a waterfall or drip wall along the back. The water will soak through the substrate/false bottom, and down the overflow hole in the bottom of the tank back to the sump.
My main question is, how would you light this tank? I have a 250W metal halide fixture that I used when it was a reef, but from what I've heard so far this may be overkill.
I was also thinking of using a Walgreens humidfier I saw a couple pages down in this forum. Anyone recommend this still? Do they work better than the foggers?
Any input, suggestions?

Thanks
Jim

Hello,
Most people will agree that compact flourescents are the bst way to go if you have the $ to spare, they are very expensive compared to regular flourescents. You can use regular flourescentlights, too.
The humidifiers that they were talking about are basically the same ones you can buy at a petshop, just alot bigger and more powerful.I like automated misters, which are mot the same as humidifiers. They are more like a hand punp and i just think it seems a little nicer and more real looking than the fog look. I have used both and they will bith acomplish the task of raising the humidity.
I also encourage you to look at Kyle1745's link page, it will show youtons of good sites for info and stuff.
Good luck
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Nate
1.1 alanis tincs
0.0.2 imitators
0.0.2 Azureus

That tank has great potiental. Good luck converting it!

Thanks guys.
Well I'm used to purchasing metal halides for my reef tanks, so PC fixtures are cheap to me!

Jim

Hey jim, yea i agree with you. Reef tanks are 10x more expensive than frog tanks

Anyway, why would the metal halides over kill? because of the wattage? If so, lower it and i think you would be fine. Normal or compact flourescents are fine to use too, and are cheap.

The lights are mainly used for plants anyway because i heard the frogs dont encounter very strong light in the wild,

M.N
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That sounds like a killer tank. I would trade the MH light in at nanoreef.com or reefcentral.com for a nice power compact light/hood from jbj, coralife, or something else from hellolights.com. You might be able to trade and get $ for the difference. Also, the sump hole may need to be covered unless someone can think of something to do with it. A sump is really not needed (mangroves don't really work in a frog tank). Don't count on frogs being cheaper than a reef tank! Between the addiction of always getting new frogs, medicine from Dr. Frye, and other incidentals, it adds up! Best of luck man

I believe he was comparing cost of lighting, not cost of species and their requirements.

...but why not use a sump? I could put the heater down there, and it would give me more margin for evaporation.
Thoughts?

Jim

How wonderful to have a tank like that! Where did you get it?What do you plan to keep of the darts? MH lights are what Custom Ecos use and he specializes in custom vivarium building and supplies Broms. It doesn't seem like over kill, just mega expensive and hi quality. But if you have it already, why not use it, its what he puts over every vivarium for best Brom growth. Both Foggers and mister will raise humidity, but misters are better for washing debris away, cleaning poop off of surfaces, and drenching the soil for those terrestrials that need the heavier water soaking I imagine. The fogger is better for effect and for certain plant life that live in fog belts and absorb water in this way. There are definately people on this forum that know a whole lot more about that last bit then I do. It will depend more on the plants you select, and the look you want. I have a tank that has none of those only a water fall, but its only 29 gal so I can hand mist it. Yours is lot bigger, a mister seems a good idea. And in my 2nd tank(30 gal),I will add a mister and a fogger. The mister for regularity of cleaning and for the particular types of frogs I will have in this tank will breed better when on a regular mister. The fogger for effect and raising certain plant life and raising humidity. Sorry so long...post pics when you get started!

sounds great. you can use that drilled hole and pump the water for you wayer fall through a filteror for water changes. I would think as long as you don't over heat the enclosure you would be okay. You've go to have fans on the hood if you used it on a reef tank.

Well welcome to the wonderful world of dart frogs.

Jim,

Welcome to a great hobby. I had always wanted to keep darts, and finally jumped in last February. I haven't regretted it.

As for tips on setting up a new tank, I would just suggest looking around at the way everyone else has set theirs up before plunging in. I spent about 3 months planning and building mine (I decided to build the tank from scratch), and I have been very happy with the outcome.

However, I would definitely suggest 3 things: 1) buy a digital thermometer/hygrometer like the one they have at bigappleherp.com (http://www.bigappleherp.com/bigappleherp.filereader?3f8f3afe00d88c56271d424d361a0657 EN/products/178105)--it will help you set up your system for the proper temp/humidity/ventillation levels; 2) with a tank that big, go with a false bottom (unless your sump hole is very close to the bottom)--you can hide the crumby way they look if you're careful about the setup, and it will save you a lot of weight and unnecessary drainage medium; 3)don't worry about the mister/humidifier debate too much right now. If you only have one tank and a good waterfall, they're not really necessary as long as you control the ventillation (your hygrometer will help you figure that out). I hand-mist my 55 gallon about once per day, and my humidity is always above 80%. The plants do very well, and I water the few terrestrial vines once per week just for good measure.

Good luck, and check out www.ahsupply.com for compact fluorescent kits if you decide against the metal halides (although you can get bulbs cheaper elsewhere).
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Homer W. Faucett III, esq.
Purveyor of Trivialities and Fine Nonsense