Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Allright
Ive decided that ive read up enough and now want to venture into the wide world of Darts.
Im starting to construct a terrarium now and need some help.

Anyone know of a store that offers a wide varietys of darts at a good price? Local pet stores around here only carry 2 types.
What size would you recomend for a colony of 3-4 darts?
Also would glass tanks the only way to go?

Does anyone know where i can purchase a used tank or an online store that sells tanks at a good price?

Ive sketched out a nice plan with two ponds and a valley. Now im wondering what sort of plants to add. Id like to add live plants. Preferably functional plants.. ie plants that are great for climbing. Does anyone know some good plants that suit these purposes?

Oh and i was browsing some pictures of Terrariums to get some ideas and i noticed one terrarium had rocks affixed to the glass, in kind of a step like form. I realy like this idea and would like to talk to someone whose done it before about what they used for rocks and if the adhesive they used was silicon.

Sorry for so many questions im just eager to jump into the world of darts. Thanks for all your help.

That's alot of questions, but it's better to know them now instead of later. Do more reading on the web about general care, housing, feeding, etc. by utilizing the care sheets that many breeders put on the web pages. Doyles Dart Den has very good care sheets (www.doylesdartden.com/). After you gain some information on what you're in for, then you can begin building your vivarium, culturing fruitflies, establishing your plants, stabilizing the temperature and humidity in your vivarium and then (and only then!) should you order your animals. It's a great hobby and you'll love it, just make sure you're prepared in advance. Good Luck!!
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Randy
Lawrence, Kansas
1.1 Azureus
1.1 Cobalt
1.1 Fantasticus
1.1 Bastimentos Pumilio

Sorry for so many questions, but your post really helped
That care sheat as perfect.

Im starting to look for tanks today so i can start constructing my viv. Yay.

What size do most of you guys and gals run?

well people use tank any where from 20-100 gallons. i am using a 38 gallon (36" x 12 1/2" x 18".

i thought the tank would be big enough for my taste. in my opinion when i got my tank it was a perfect size. length, width, and height. but when i added my back ground a lost a inch and a half of width. so in my frogs living area they only have around 3'x10 1/2 inches to live. i didnt even think of the space i would loose becuase of the back ground. that is something you would have to consider.

my own personal recommendation if you want a fairly large tank get one around 36" long, 18" wide, and 20" tall. im not sure what gallon that would be but thats my own personal recommendation.

if you need a tank check out www.glasscages.com

they make class cages ut those are pick-up only. he also makes acrylic tank and can ship them for a low price. he mailed my 38 gallon to me for only $11 i think. check my signature to see my tank and how i have it set up it might answer some of your questions. i know when i was (still am) looking for info pictures answered a lot more questions then words.
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Click Here to See My Dart Tank In The Making UPDATED 6.15.03 SPOILER! Still Needs Moss View At Your Own Risk

wow love your setup.

Yea I think im going to order my tank from glasscages sometime this week. The measurments u stated were just what i was thinking of.

Was it hard to build the false bottom? Thatll be my first project and how long total has it taken you. It really looks great btw.

thanks for the help
Im excited to start my project this week.

i started that early may, so between then and now it has been a month or a month and a half.

the false bottom is very easy to set up. you can drill a hole and hook up a tube some how and the water can just drain into it. i didnt do that myself. i took a 1/2" peice of pvc and place it in there so that it will reach the false bottom and the substarte holds it still. let me beter explain my method.

i got probibly 38 pvc spacers in the bottom. my method was to place 4 spacers in a row every 5 inches or so. but i placed a few extras where those rocks are on the left hand side for extra support. you want to silicone those in there with a bad of silicon to ensure they do not move.

next you want to get eggcrate. eggcrate can be found at lowes not in the lighting but towards the back of the store close to the lumber. it will be with those fluorescent plastic screens and stuff. i cant better explain it.

but you want to cut it to size. its better to make it bigger and cut it down to fit instead of making it to small. the stuff is about $8. that will go over the pvc spacers.

next you want to get fiberglass window screen mesh. cut a peice big enough to cover the eggcrate on top.

get some pee gravel from lowes as well. you can get the same thing at the pet store but it will cost you out the butt. its only like $3 at the most i think. and rinse it off to get what you can off then place it over the eggcrate a inch layer will do.

you want to place another layer of fiber glass screen mesh over top of the pee gravel then the soil above it.

now the way i put my pvc "siphone tube" in there was before i placed pee gravel in there i cut a hole in the eggcrate and made 2 slits in the mesh and slide the pvc through it. i placed the pee gravel in. then the next layer of screen meshwith another slite in it and placed it into position. i have it hidden right now and is accessable when i move a rock. so whenthe water level gets high i just move that rock place my siphone tube in it and sihone out the water.
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Click Here to See My Dart Tank In The Making UPDATED 6.15.03 SPOILER! Still Needs Moss View At Your Own Risk

wow thats pretty nifty!
Ok well heres the tank im going with
Its a 40 gallon tall and the measurments are 36 x 18 x 13
I think that should give me some room for some nice landscaping.

Now my nexst project is gona be a misting system. Im really gona try to keep a very naturale humidity in the tank.What misting systems is everyone using?

Also for anyone that has water in there viv and uses a pump/filter to keep it clean. What pump/filter model are u using?

I just use hand misting, its called a misty mate and you pour water in a tube thing and pump pressure into it and it comes out of a hose in a nice fine mist, it works great. For my tank that has a water feature I use a Fluval 104, and it works great. You don't need something this large but I wanted to make sure it could move that water far and had a high gph. It also cost the same as most high power water pumps but this has a filter too. It keeps the water really clear.
46 Gallon Bow Front

awesome tank!
Do you know where i could purchase the pump/filter online?

I got mine at that pet place.com link at bottom, they are awesome, great price and got here in 3 days I think
Thatpetplace

Ok well heres the tank im going with
Its a 40 gallon tall and the measurments are 36 x 18 x 13
I think that should give me some room for some nice landscaping.

well if im reading those measurements right that is a 36" long, 18" wide, 13" tal aquarium right? if so thats a 40 gallon long, not tall. and i dont think you will have much height to work with.

the spacers for my false bottom a 1 1/2" tall, 1 inch of pee gravell. and lets say 3 inches of soil.

so you got about any where from 5-6 1/2" inches just for the substrate. so lets say you have 9 good inches of height to plant stuff (yes 5 19 is 14, the tank is 13"; hypothetically specking).

you would have much head room to plant stuff most broms get 8-10" tall. and i think you said you wanted two ponds and a hill. the hill will probibly exceed three inches of soil.

just somthing you want to think about. i spent a good month just looking at other tanks and plants just planning mine and making tons of sketches. you might want one that is a few inches taller.
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Click Here to See My Dart Tank In The Making UPDATED 6.15.03 SPOILER! Still Needs Moss View At Your Own Risk

Yea that was a typo on my part. I meant long instead of tall.
Thanks for the input ill continue to browse through tanks for something tha better suits my needs.
If you have any other size tank in mind go a head and post it if its not to much trouble.

thanks

ok heres another tank im thinking about
its a 65 gallon measurments of 48 x 18 x 17
think that would give me enough room?

its really uo too you. the only thing i was wanting to point out in my last post is it might not turn out to be tall enough. the length and width as great i just dont think you would have enough height for taller plants and wood if you plan to use it.
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Click Here to See My Dart Tank In The Making UPDATED 6.15.03 SPOILER! Still Needs Moss View At Your Own Risk

thanks a lot youve really been a great help

How many inches would you estimate that your false bottom and substrates take up. So basically from the lowest point in your tank to thed the top how many inches would you say u have?

id say from the valley portion that would be 14-15 inches (from soil to the top. and in the elevated aread around 10"
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Click Here to See My Dart Tank In The Making UPDATED 6.15.03 SPOILER! Still Needs Moss View At Your Own Risk

grea. Im gona see if i can go pick up a 65 long from a local tank store tomorrow. Then i can start contstruction of my tank. Horahh.

I think im gona be working with Tincs. What kinda plants would everyone recoment and is Black Jungle and Peace of the Tropics the 2 best sites to work with?

both sites are great. i got all of my broms from www.peaceofthetropics.com i got two plants, soil, back ground, and tree conks from T&C. the the rest of my plants from blackjungle. i would reccomend buying your soil from T&C. i priced all the supplies i would need to make my own mix and it was more expensive then buying premixed from T&C.
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Click Here to See My Dart Tank In The Making UPDATED 6.15.03 SPOILER! Still Needs Moss View At Your Own Risk

Whats T&C's website?

opps, i thought you said you knew of T&C, so i gave you the link for peace of the tropics. lol i got it back wards.

T&C's website is www.fantasticfrogs.com

they have tons of supplies and plants. lots of great stuff there and great prices too.
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Click Here to See My Dart Tank In The Making UPDATED 6.15.03 SPOILER! Still Needs Moss View At Your Own Risk

haha no problem.
Thanks for the site..Ive finally got everything on order and am mostlikely gona be picking up my tank tomorrow so i can get a good start. Yay

Now that ive got everyything for my viv comin. Where is the best place to order tincs online?

And is it ok to keep Tincs of different morphs together in the same tank...(my tank will be a 65 long 48x18x17)

theres lots of palces on-line i plan to get mine from www.qualitycaptives.com

since they are you first darts you might not want to keep different morphs together or a large group of tincs. The females can get very terretorial as they age.
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Click Here to See My Dart Tank In The Making UPDATED 6.15.03 SPOILER! Still Needs Moss View At Your Own Risk

I really like tincs.com stuff. I saw it all at frogday and they are really helpful and priced well. I got some azureus from them. Website below
Tincs.com

Im looking around right now for some good breeders.
How many Tincs would you think id beable to keep in my setup.
Also ive only had experiences with cricket cultures and am now thinking about starting a ff culture. Any advice? and is it nevecary?

Hm, for a 65 gallon you could get a lot of frogs in. I don't really know that much about tincs and how they get terrirorial but I would say around 4 even though you could get a lot more in, they will just have more room to themselves and they will be healthier. Thats at least what I have experienced in my tanks. Yes, for sure you should set up fruit flies. I used to feed my frogs pinheads but that got expensive, but you breed them so that shouldn't be a problem. The vary of food between the two will also help keep your frogs healthy. I order my fruit flies from Eds Fly Meat, links at the bottom. They rock, met them at a show and got stuff online, they are really helpful amd the media they have works amazingly!
Mark
Eds Fly Meat

Sounds good

Unfortunatly ive changed my mind once again lol
I just dont know what kind of tarts i wana house
Im thinking maybe tincs, maybe p. teribilis, maybe leucs, ect ect

Ive read that Teribilis house well with other species of darts, but i also know that mixing species is a bad thing...So is it ok or frowned on?

Thanks for your help
And anyone that is knowledgable on waterscape please respong to my other post on the top of the page

Yes, there are so many colours of darts is so hard to decide! I was going to mix terribilis with my azureus but I asked some of the big breeders at frog day and they said no. So I decided not too. So, I have decided my next frogs will be terribilis. I thikn any frogs besides thumbs are great starter frogs from what I have heard and experienced myself. I would not starting with auratus. They are cheaper but a lot less bold. I have had them for a year now and they are just getting bold. Good luck with your decision!
Mark

Allright thanks for that info

Im either gona go with some Teribelis or some tincs...
Decisions decisions, I here tincs are bold and will often sit in the open but i here that they arnt as active as Teribelis....
anyone with experience care to help?

I've actually heard that its the terribilis that will sit out in the open and don't move that much. I know that both are very bold.
Mark

Thanks for your insight...

I love the fact that there are so many choices in the wide worlds of darts.

I Finished the false bottom of my tank and im now trying to contruct the river/pond...

Has anyone drilled holes in acrylic before?