New to dart frogs, first vivarium!

[Keister]

Hello all! I am new to dart frogs as I recently had to sell all my stingrays off and figured I would give dart frogs a try with the money that I made! I have started working on a 29 gallon vivarium for the frogs! I have started the background out of styrofoam that is four inches thick and will be setting four inch pots in various locations across the background and along the sides of the tank with expanding foam. All will be shaped and them sealed with black caulking and covered in Eco earth. I plan on running a water fall through the background and down the piece of ghost wood that I plan on placing in the vivarium. I plan on having an inch to inch and a half of fluorite planting gravel as a false bottom and then four to four and a half inches of tree fern and Eco earth mixed with a leaf litter on top of that. I will have a little water dish off in one corner for a place for the frogs to bring the tads if I were to miss any eggs... It will be heavily planted with bromeliads and and ferns and mosses. It will have a t-5 grow light on it for the plants and will have a monsune mister misting it ten times a day to make sure my humidity is in check unless that is too much? Last but not least I plan on getting the green and bronze darts to put into the vivarium. If anyone has any suggestions or can offer any good advice or make any alterations to the design I am all ears! I know stingrays but dart frogs are completely new to me! Pics will be up tomorrow! Thankyou all!

[DartEd]

Welcome to the board. D. Auratus is a great dart just don't over crowd. Your tank set up sounds really nice the only thing I would change is the false bottom. I'd go closer to 2 inches and keep water to 1" -1.5". this helps avoid soil and root rot. I know I speak for the majority when I say, take lots of pictures of your progress and post them in the vivarium section. We love to see people's progress and if you run into a wall, there are plenty of viv builders here that can help break that wall down. You'll find the hobby very rewarding.

[Keister]

Thanks! I will start with pics once I get out of school! I am really looking forward to this new hobby as it crushed me to have to sell my rays off... So are you saying two inches of false bottom and four inches of Eco earth and tree fern soil on top of that?

[DartEd]

It all depends on how deep of a water feature you plan on keeping. I wouldn't want the water level to meet the soil. If your plant roots sit in water, the roots begin to rot causing plants to die and all kinds of funky odors to eminate from the viv. 1.5" for drainage layer is good if you keep the standing water down to about an inch. Keep in mind dart frogs are indifferent about water features. While they do help keep humidity up a bit, the drainage layer under the viv without a feature will do the same.

[Keister]

The background and side ground are almost done. I just have to fill a few cracks with spray foan, mold the piece of wood into it, and place the pots and then it's ready to be sealed and covered! I may cut the water feature then I just figured it would be kinda neat looking. I left room for a two inch false bottom and a four inch Eco earth/tree fern mix ontop of that. I will use an inch of standing water in the bottom then too. What's everyone think so far anything I should change now before I get too far into it? A local breeder here does the green and bronze darts and I figured I would get them? How many could this tank hold? It will have lots of cover and hiding places too if that makes any difference?

[DartEd]

The background looks great so far. Nice job. You can keep a pair of D. Auratus safely in an enclosure that large. I'd be careful with keeping more. The females tend to be very territorial and can be aggressive towards other females. If you do decide to keep a third try to ensure that at least 2 out of the three are males as they tend to be less aggressive. Make sure you include some good tall branches etc for climbing as they love to climb high when they call.

[Keister]

Awesome will do! I'm glad you like it I spent four hours shaping the background and I still may continue to shape it. I tried to do a bunch of little ledges on the background so they can climb and do whatever dart frogs do hahaha. Should I do like two water dishes in each front corner so they can move tads around and stuff if I miss any eggs? Since I won't be doing a water feature?

[DartEd]

The background shows you spent a great deal of time and effort. As far as the dishes, You should add what feels right to you. A shallow water dish is always great to have since the little buggers will soak themselves when humidity in the tank drops so one is a must. If you decide to add a second, keep in mind that's a second dish you have to clean etc. I think one is good if you're doing 2-3 frogs.

[flybyferns]

The background and side ground are almost done. I just have to fill a few cracks with spray foan, mold the piece of wood into it, and place the pots and then it's ready to be sealed and covered! I may cut the water feature then I just figured it would be kinda neat looking. I left room for a two inch false bottom and I will use an inch of standing water in the bottom then too. What's everyone think so far anything I should change now before I get too far into it? A local breeder here does the green and bronze darts and I figured I would get them? How many could this tank hold? It will have lots of cover and hiding places too if that makes any difference?

Hi Keister ,
Have you considered using ABG .. instead of "a four inch Eco earth/tree fern mix on top of that."
This soil mixture will support the pants nicely ,

EDIT ( plants )
Lynn

[DartEd]

This soil mixture will support the pants nicely .
Lynn

I prefer to use a leather belt to support mine. Tee Hee Hee heeeeeeee.

Sry couldn't help myself.

[flybyferns]

I prefer to use a leather belt to support mine. Tee Hee Hee heeeeeeee.

Sry couldn't help myself.

Don't blame you !
funny !!
I fixed it !
Thanks

[Keister]

Ummm this might be a dumb question but what's ABG?

[DartEd]

Only dumb question is the question that goes unasked.

ABG is a soil mixture that has been perfected by the Atlanta Botanical Garden. It's basically a mixture of fern bark, soil, sphagnum moss and other items. The mixture is very precise and proven to be the optimal substrate in terrarium and vivariums. It promotes optimal plant growth and maintains overall health of the ecosystem in the viv.

[exasperatus2002]

Ummm this might be a dumb question but what's ABG?

There are no dumb questions just dumb people and you, Keister, are not one of them. As your here asking good questions so you get it done right the first time, instead of some others who rely on ignorance to fumble thru life. Anyone who's worked in a petshop can tell you exactly the kind of customer I'm refering to.

[Keister]

Awesome thankyou! I found that Josh's frogs sells it in two gallon bags so I will be ordering some of that here soon! Any more suggestions?

[DartEd]

Josh's is a great resource. There are lots little Internet niches for different things. Internet search vivarium supplies and see what pops. Get a good book on dart frogs and get a care sheet on the species you've chosen. Learning about species requirements will not only give you inspiration for vivarium design but it will also help avoid deadly and expensive mistakes.

[J Teezy]

For the price of the monsoon mister you can get the standard mistking setup, but I would get the Ultimate kit with zip drip valve. You will thank me later

Sent from my GT-N8013 using Tapatalk HD

[emandkel]

The background looks great so far. Nice job. You can keep a pair of D. Auratus safely in an enclosure that large. I'd be careful with keeping more. The females tend to be very territorial and can be aggressive towards other females. If you do decide to keep a third try to ensure that at least 2 out of the three are males as they tend to be less aggressive. Make sure you include some good tall branches etc for climbing as they love to climb high when they call.

From what I've read Auratus is a good group frog with very little aggression ... it is the tincs that can be aggressive with each other ... is this correct?

[Keister]

Are green and bronze, powder blues, costa rican green and blacks, or matechos "group frogs" meaning I can keep more then a pair together in this vivarium? I would really like to keep more then just a pair or 1 female and two males in this vivarium if at all possible? If it just isn't possible I won't do it but if it is that would be great! I don't want to be one of those people who just do whatever they want and not care about the animals.

[emandkel]

Are green and bronze, powder blues, costa rican green and blacks, or matechos "group frogs" meaning I can keep more then a pair together in this vivarium? I would really like to keep more then just a pair or 1 female and two males in this vivarium if at all possible? If it just isn't possible I won't do it but if it is that would be great! I don't want to be one of those people who just do whatever they want and not care about the animals.

Green and bronze; and costa rican green and blacks are Auratus and group frogs -- one site even said you can keep 2 Auratus in a 10 gallon. Powder blues; and matechos are in the tinc family and it is my understanding per the research I've done they are territorial and need to be kept in pairs only no matter what the size of tank is, although it needs to be at least a 20 high for two. I'm new to dart frogs too, so please someone correct me if I'm wrong.