Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i was given a 100 gallon tank. the guy said he had used it as a terrarium for plants but it hadnt been in use for a few years. said if i wanted it i just had to come get it.

so here i have this huge tank and i'm not sure what i want to do with it. i was thnkinig PDF's but i do not have experience with them so i wasn't sure if a tank this size was too big for them. i currently keep 9 chameleons(different locales) and a pair of corns.
here is my questions:

1) the tank is 48" long X 13"deep X 19" tall. is this tank to big to keep PDF's in?

2) i like the d. leucomelas(because they vocalize louder then others), can i house a couple pairs in a tank this size?

thanks
dennis

Here's what i would do. I would go to your local glass shop and ask them to cut about 2 or 3 pieces of glass that were 19 X 13 well a little smaller so they would fit inside the tank. Anyway I would make the one huge tank into a few smaller units that are easier to manage. for a 100 gallon tank you would need a huge amount of flies. because there would be so much room for the flies to hide. If you make it into smaller sections each group of frogs has a smaller area to patrol and an easier time finding the flies in it.
Also, In my opinion the longer/ taller the tank is the deeper (i mean front to back) it should be. Something just doesnt click for me when i see a large shallow tank because it seems like all the plants are growing almost right up to the front glass and it takes away from the look of the tank.

Cutting it into smaller pieces and building smaller tanks out of the large tank might just be the dumbest Idea I ever heard! Just like getting a ferrari and making 3 festivas out of it.

np

It depends on what you want to do with dart's. If you just want Leucs and that's it, I would go for a nice full sized display tank. If you want to try different varieties of dart's I would divide the tank up as you shouldn't mix certain dart's, and some can't be be safely kept in groups. Of course there are always exceptions to that rule.

I have a 125 Gallon aquarium that I was going to convert into a big vivarium. But when I realized that I wanted to keep many different kinds of darts I decided to split the tank into 5 seperate parts. Each section will be the equivalent of a 20 gallon tank. I will be able to keep alot of dart's in the tank without having to worry about stress, difficulty feeding, fighting and cross-breeding.

The choice is your's, you just need to decide how far you want to go.

This is just my opinion, hope it helps!

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Leif

0.0.3 Tinctorius (olemarie)
0.0.3 Luecomelas

I'm gonna have to agree. This tank is kind of big for darts as food would definitely become an issue. In the wild food is not just dumped in in certain spots food is all over the place. To ensure that each frog gets enough food you would need mass amounts of fruit flies so one frog doesn't get all the flies while the others starve. Dividers in a tank would be great but you might want to consider acrylic (colored) or even dividing the tank using cork bark or something like that. If you do divide the tank you must make sure the frogs cannot squeeze from one section to the next.....wish I knew someone that would give me a 100 gallon tank.

Why would food become an issue. Put some media or a piece of fruit in one place and flies will be all over it. Picture's worth a 1000 words... This is approx 100 gal, if you look, there is a cup with a bit of ff medium in it. YOu can see some flies on it too. My tank receives sooo many ffs that the cup is not even necessary, I just put it in for the hell of it. Keeps the escapees down.

A. your tank is not a normal 100 gallon i would imagine the distance from front to back is greater.
B. you said that you put so many ffs in that you dont need the cup. For someone starting out being able to maintain enough cultures could pose a serious problem especially in a large tank with so many hiding places.

hi
for now if you have a place to put the tank just do plants in it. this will give the some expierience with growing stuff in the tank and adding some backgrounds if you wish. then you could add frogs down the line. there are a few frogs you can keep in groups.
there are alot of people who wish they were in your predicament with such a tank that size. i for one envy you.
walt

I am in the same boat as you - a friend gave ma a 125 and I am trying to come up with something fun that I can put in it on a married students budget. My biggest problem is to many option. Let me know what you decide.
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Russ

i split my 125 tank into three 40~ gallon sections... that way i can keep like 6 frogs in the tank in their own little worlds... also it'll make life easier maintaining different climates... as of now, one section hosts turtles, another section will hopefully soon house my brazilian yellow heads...

Anyway, if you want leucs don't split the tank up into smaller sections. You could comfortably house a group as large as 15 individuals in a tank that size. That makes for one nice display.

Somebody else suggested running it with just plants for a while to get used to their needs - very good idea.

My suggestion is take your time with it and don't cut corners. Be sure you know where you want water features and major structural obejets before begining work on the tank. It is a real pain to re-work stuff later.

Check out wildsky.net for insperation. There are some very nice, very large tanks displayed on that site. Mine is there, it is 125 gallons and denesly planted (look at Oct 14 2003, houses slightly different frogs now though, 6 auratus and 2 bicolors, with one red-eye). Also scrol down the forum and find a post by Kyle and check out his dartlinks page - good info and sources. In a tank that size the only way to go is the Dutch way (you will understand as you start reading up).

Hey, and as for the trouble finding flies - thats not an issue I have ever had. Designate a feeding spot and always feed there. I do this right after I water, so the frogs have a que as to when the food is coming. Plus in a tank that size there will be so many bugs, starvation will be the least of your concerns.

has everyone failed to notice the dimensions given for this tank? the measurements posted are for a common 55 gallon tank not a 100. it's still a nice size tank for PDF's. thats what i house my frogs in and they do well. but if the measurements are correct then it is certainly not 100 gallons. Not trying to be a jerk but i have three 55g's and one 100g and noticed the dimensions immediately.

yup, he's right. You have a 55 gallon if those are the measurments. Still a nice size tank, I just divided one into 4 smaller tanks...same reason as before, one tank, more variety of darts and less stress and fighting worries.

Good luck!
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Leif

0.0.3 Tinctorius (olemarie)
0.0.3 Luecomelas

Subdividing a tank could actually lead to more stress if the frogs can see each other through the glass. Frogs bouncing off glass trying to get to each other could be problematic.

Also, cross contamination could be disasterous in a setup like this - one sick frog and you could lose them all. I would ensure a long, thorough quarantine process before introducing any frogs to this type setup and exclude w/c frogs completely.

This is not to say it can't work. You just have to be extremely careful.

Donn

Yes, I am blocking out the sides with silicone/coco bedding so the frogs can't see each other. It's no different from all the rack systems I'v seen with the tanks side by side, no difference at all. Just a better use of the space in a 55 or 125 gallon tank in my opinion. It's easier for me to find space for one 55 gallon tank divided into four sections than for four 55 gallon tanks.

Proper quarantine is always a must no matter how you keep your frogs/reptiles/birds/fish...you get the idea
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Leif

0.0.3 Tinctorius (olemarie)
0.0.3 Luecomelas

I just want to add that I did the dividing with glass and each section is COMPLETELY isolated from the rest. The only chance of cross contamination is if I physically do it by reaching into one sick habitat and then into a healthy one, and that could happen to anyone with multiple dart's.

Oh, and it's snowing to beat the band here!!
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Leif

0.0.3 Tinctorius (olemarie)
0.0.3 Luecomelas

How did you do this? Each section has it's own sealed lid? No chance of transfer (air, liquid, parasites, pathogens) of any kind over the dividers?

Here's another thing to consider - a 50 gallon tank divided four ways only provides a little over one square foot(12x13) of area. I don't even restrict arboreal thumbnails to this floor space.

Just my opinion - take it or leave it.

Donn

thaks for clarifying the tank size. it's huge regadless what size it is! lol looks like i may have to wait a bit, or at least plant the tank and introduce a species later.

can i use sandblasted grape vine in a tank?

dennis

It show's you care as much about the animals as I do.

What I did was remove the top plastic band, front glass and side glass. Then I siliconed in the four dividing pieces of glass (1 on each end, 2 evenly spaced between). Next I cut a piece of glass and siliconed it to the top. I cut another piece of glass 4 inches wide and siliconed it to the bottom front. This gives me a spot to attach the doors.
So basically what I end up with is 4 vertical front opening 10 gallon tanks side by side, with all the glass siliconed so not even a frog fart can get through Actually the floor space is a little larger than a vertical 10 gallon tank.

I'v been getting alot of my ideas from this forum. One thing I'v seen is alot of vertical 10 gallon tanks being used for the smaller arboreal dart's like thumbs, and this is my plan for the tank. I'v never seen a post saying that a vertical 10 gallon tank is to small for keeping dart's (thumbs) in. I would not have built it if that were the case. If I'm wrong and missed something somewhere by all means let me know, I can always take it apart and make it 3 tanks instead of 4.

Thanks for your input

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Leif

0.0.3 Tinctorius (olemarie)
0.0.3 Luecomelas

And I also respect yours. I also like your design for the subdivided tank and with proper precautions and CB frogs it will probably be a great success. It' sounds as though you've gone the extra mile to ensure quality and safety. It's just not a risk that I am willing to take.

Over the years I've seen more than a few collections wiped out by hobbyists taking shortcuts or not thinking ahead. I just wanted to put the warning out there - with subdivided tanks, cross contamination is nearly impossible to prevent. Seperate tanks on a rack are seperated by physical space (air) and much safer. Can divided tanks be successful? You bet, but it's a long term gamble in my opinion.

As for tank size, I'm not saying that 10 gallon vert's are absolutely too small - I know plenty of people that use them with no problems. It has been my experience that as the amount of space goes up, health and and productivity also increase and stress goes down. Will frogs survive in a ten gallon? Sure. Will they thrive in a ten gallon? Many people say yes, my experience tells me no. I see alot of hobbyists trying to cram a collection into the smallest space possible. Good for the pocketbook and limited space but probably not so good for the frogs. The smallest of my 30 vivs are 20g high and the largest 125.

Again, just my opinion. I enjoy a good debate.