Setting up new terrarium…NEED HELP!

[kleach]

Hey everyone,

I just received a free terrarium from someone in my reef club. I've always thought about getting one to house dart frogs, but never knew where to start, plus the initial start up cost scared me (being in the reef hobby I know this stuff can get expensive).

The tank I was given is a 40 breeder complete with everything, including a t5 lighting fixture. I need to have someone look at the fixture because only 3 of the 6 bulbs work. It seems he has 3 10,000K white and 3 10,000K actnitic. Does that sound about right? I'l be getting new bulbs but want to know which ones to order.

Next, he had the tank up and running for 2-3 years and its been sitting in his garage for about 3 years. I've only wiped the top and glass with a wet paper towel to remove some dust, but should I be cleaning it more extensively than that? There's still the original soil that he put in to begin with, so should I keep it or buy new substrate? It looks like the water fall area had water in it that evaporated and I've tried getting some of the stuff out with a paper towel, but it's still kind of dirty. Should I put water in and let it do it's thing, or really try to clean it somehow? I'll be using RO/DI from my reef setup.

Lastly, I'm not sure if its fungus or anything, but there seems to be some sort of white concretion on the soil, some wood and pebbles. Is it something to be concerned about?

What is the first thing I should do to get this thing up and running? PLEASE HELP!

P.S. - I'm on long Island (Nassau) so if anyone is from my area and is selling plants or anything let me know!

[flybyferns]

Hi kleach
Welcome to Frog Forum ! ( fellow Long Islander )
The best way to proceed ( IMO) would be to completely breakdown the tank and disinfect it.
After sitting in a garage for 2-3 years - Gosh knows what's in that soil

I would start from scratch.

[Vivariums In The Mist]

Hi and welcome,

I actually have a small vivarium showroom in Floral Park, where we sell vivarium supplies and plants including Broms. If you would like to stop by let me know. I can help you with your questions and show you some of my vivs.

Hey everyone,

I just received a free terrarium from someone in my reef club. I've always thought about getting one to house dart frogs, but never knew where to start, plus the initial start up cost scared me (being in the reef hobby I know this stuff can get expensive).

The tank I was given is a 40 breeder complete with everything, including a t5 lighting fixture. I need to have someone look at the fixture because only 3 of the 6 bulbs work. It seems he has 3 10,000K white and 3 10,000K actnitic. Does that sound about right? I'l be getting new bulbs but want to know which ones to order.

Next, he had the tank up and running for 2-3 years and its been sitting in his garage for about 3 years. I've only wiped the top and glass with a wet paper towel to remove some dust, but should I be cleaning it more extensively than that? There's still the original soil that he put in to begin with, so should I keep it or buy new substrate? It looks like the water fall area had water in it that evaporated and I've tried getting some of the stuff out with a paper towel, but it's still kind of dirty. Should I put water in and let it do it's thing, or really try to clean it somehow? I'll be using RO/DI from my reef setup.

Lastly, I'm not sure if its fungus or anything, but there seems to be some sort of white concretion on the soil, some wood and pebbles. Is it something to be concerned about?

What is the first thing I should do to get this thing up and running? PLEASE HELP!

P.S. - I'm on long Island (Nassau) so if anyone is from my area and is selling plants or anything let me know!

[Frogfeet123]

Maybe taking it all apart would be a good idea, because you don't really know where or what it's been up to. Or, you could try to clean it really really good without taking everything apart.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk