Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all
I just got into darts a couple months ago, but each day my enthusiam grows. I currently have 3 D. auratus, CR Black & greens, housed in a 29Gallon aquarium. I have a waterfall set-up, with a small pool of water on one side of the tank. A local pet store in town is having a sale of $1/gallon aquarium sale, so i'm very interested in upgrading my darts to a 55 gallon aquarium, because i could get one for just $55. If i were to do this tho, I'd want to make sure I make a fantastic set-up. Right now my main problem is my Moss is only doing well on about 1/2 of the cage.

the substrate levels are as follows, from bottom up,
hydroton/LECA/terra-lite {whatever you may call it}
compressed filter
moss growth substrate
moss

for most of the cage [including good living moss and bad moss], the water level does not reach the compressed filter, so the moss is being watered in the following way. the hose attached to the water pump "dumps" the water onto a wooden panel [looks like hundreds of small roots connected, got from Saurian, not sure what they call it] and then drains onto a small slate slab, dispersing to the moss from there. Is this enough water getting to the moss, or should the water level be higher so that the moss substrate stays wet?

I will try and post pictures tonight when i can get ahold of a camera.
thanks

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m|tch the k|d
University of Missouri-Columbia

0.1 Iguana iguana (Green Iguana) ~ Taco
1.0 Uromastyx maliensis (Mali Uromastyx) ~ Fluffy
0.1 Pogona vitticeps (Inland Bearded Dragon) ~ Puff

1.0.1 Notophthalmus viridescens (Spotted Newt) ~ ¿?
0.0.3 Ambystoma maculatum (Spotted Salamander) ~ ¿?
0.0.1 Oeodura monilis (Australian Velvet Gecko) ~ Danny
0.1 Felis catus (Kittie Cat) ~ Gabel
1xx.1xx Hyla versicolor, Hyla chrysoscelis (Gray Treefrog, Cope's GTF) ~ (I work with these guys.)

The tropical pillow or sheet mosses are like that--You can never rely on complete coverage, but it will usually do well in certain areas with just the right moisture, light and ventilation. I believe Saurian even points this out in the section on mosses. Some of it is going to die off, but it will just become a part of the substrate if it does, and you don't even need to remove it. It will never grow like a golf course. Other plants will take over, or there's nothing wrong with leaving some areas barren, with just substrate. There will be a lot of things going on in a new tank that may worry you, such as fungi, molds, odd insects, millipedes, and "worms," which are all a part of the establishment of a healthy, recycling, biologically sound environment. One of the most difficult things to do when setting up a planned, pristine looking tank, is to see it do its own thing, defying your own plans, messing up it's original "pristineness." Just watch and enjoy, and wipe off the glass, trim voracious plants back, remove plant mistakes, such as those that get too large, etc. The frogs will prosper if they are fed properly and the temperatures and humidity are right.

Three auratus are good for a 29 gallon tank, which should last three of them many years. (I've kept 4 female blue auratus in a 30 gallon tank for over 10 years, and they're still going strong.) But do go for the $1.00 a gallon sale, because you can put even more, but different dart frogs in this eventually, and the larger the tank, the more fun it is to build waterways and play with rain forest themes. You will not be content with only the first 3 auratus, when there are others out there, begging to be tried and enjoyed.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

D. auratus blue, auratus Ancon Hill, galactonotus orange, galactonotus yellow, fantasticus, reticulatus, imitator, castaneoticus, azureus, pumilio Bastimentos. P. lugubris, vittatus, terribilis mint green, terribilis orange.