Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i was wondering if anyone could help. ive recently been doing a lot of renovation on my gecko tanks (dont keep frogs im afraid). ive been looking on the net for inspiration as im trying to make them as natural looking as possible. the vivaria i have seen designed for dart frogs are almost exactly what i want to create. so i was wondering, can anyone recomend any websites on how to set one up, or post pics of there own set ups that i can try to recreate. the tank i am doing is 120cm tall, 60cm wide and 50cm deep. it needs to be a high humidity set up and i would like a small stream of moving water involved somewhere. thanks for any help people can offer - Joel

Hi:

Black Jungle has a nice website mixing both pictures for inspiration and the how-tos of construction. There's a section that they take you step by step with pictures and also sell some of the supplies that they used on the gigantic tank they have displayed there. They were at a frog show I was at and demonstrated how to put together a tank like that. They have it down pretty well.

Maggie

I just designed this tank last night. It is a ten-gallon terrarium complete with two philodendrons (autumn and moonlight) and a fern (forgot type). I designed a fountain that trickles down a piece of malaysian driftwood in the background with a small pump and a false bottom. The substrate is a Cocofiber expandable type (I love those bricks!) supplemented with a bit of organic potting soil and decorated with some bagged moss.

Nice looking set-up. The fern looks like Pellaea rotundifolia, which is a rather hardy fern that prefers somewhat dry conditions and can take a lot of sun, but I think it is also adaptable if it gets a lot of light and no boggy conditions. Part of the fun is in experimenting for yourself. You can always change what doesn't work or grows too big.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
5 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
5 D. imitator
6 D. leucomelas
4 D. pumilio Bastimentos
4 D. fantasticus
4 P. terribilis
4 D. reticulatus
4 D. castaneoticus
2 D. azureus
4 P vittatus

thanks for all the help, i really like the look of your viv. ive ordered loads of things to help me get the viv set up. i was talking with my dad about the stream and he is rpetty against the idea, hes worried that the pump could cause serious damage and maybe even catch fire if it ever runs dry. its one of those really small exo terra pumps, what do you think the dangers are? thanks again, you've all been a real help - Joel

No danger of the pump catching fire if it runs dry-- It will merely quit working, which most aquatic pumps will do if they get clogged, as well. You have to have any pump readily accessible for removal, cleaning and repairs in case it fails, which it may do about every six months or so. You may have to clean the water access that gets clogged, or perhaps replace the magnetic "whirrly gigger" impeller portion of it once in awhile, but the pump is never going to catch on fire. Even if it inadvertently came to that point of dryness, it would short-out first and wouldn't have fuel in a damp vivarium to sustain a spark. These are submersible electric pumps. Your Dad must be thinking of something else entirely, not the usual submersible pumps. Whatever else they may do, they do not catch on fire. They just quit working.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
5 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
5 D. imitator
6 D. leucomelas
4 D. pumilio Bastimentos
4 D. fantasticus
4 P. terribilis
4 D. reticulatus
4 D. castaneoticus
2 D. azureus
4 P vittatus

check out:

The Naturalistic Vivarium group

The Naturalistic Vivarium