fans, filters, plants

[jesslovesfrogs90]

Hello y'all. I'm new to the forum & I just want to make sure all my ducks are in a row before I jump into things. I've been a frog and overall reptile lover since I was little :-) I would like to put together a poison dart frog vivarium. I plan on purchasing a larger exo terra ventricle tank. I also plan on using the expanding foam for a background with net pots for live plants. What are some of yall's fav live plants of choice? I would like some aquatic plants as well, as I plan to have a pond and waterfall in the bottom of tank as well. I will have a fogger as well and am not quite sure what kind of fans to use to keep the glass from fogging up. What would you consider being the best quality filter system for the pond? I would like a few small fish in the pond. I'm just trying to do as much research as possible, load up w/as much info as i can to make my frog vivarium as best as i can for happy froggies :-) oh and which kind of lighting? I'm leaning more towards compact florescents, but what are the best brands? Any advice would be wonderful!! I appreciate all of your input! Thanks y'all!

[jarteta97]

Ok, umm, where to start, where to start? How about I give you some building tips in the first post? and then from there I can progress LOL.

First of all, give the foam a good 24 hours, more if possible, to cure. I just got into the issue of it peeling from the glass on mine, and I have to redo like half the tank (not that I don't enjoy it )

Before you even start building the tank or getting the frogs, PRACTICE. By practice, I mean start 2 to 3 fruit fly cultures and master them, so that you don't have the seemingly ubiquitous problem on this forum of running out of flies lol.

[jarteta97]

As for plants, here are some good threads:

http://www.frogforum.net/plants-plan...favorites.html

http://www.frogforum.net/plants-plan...-database.html

http://www.frogforum.net/plants-plan...nt-thread.html

[jarteta97]

From personal experience, I would highly recommend not doing a water feature if you've never done one before, or if you aren't familiar with aquariums and the such. I tried it and ultimately failed.

I'm not really familiar with fans and the such, so I'll leave that for someone else. As for lighting, beamsworks has some very nice (and cheap) led lighting systems. You can find them at aquatraders.com or even amazon.

I wish you luck, and if you have any more questions, just throw them at us

[jesslovesfrogs90]

Thank u guys for your replies. I've done lots of research josh about the expanding foam. Everything says to practice w/it 1st and start off w/little amounts. Be sure to let it cure long enough and that it helps to use silicone 1st before applying the foam, so it better sticks to the glass. I want to form ledges and such for my frogs to hang out on as well. And regarding the plants, wow there's so many! I will be doing the pond for sure. I have some experience, it just wasn't as in depth as I'd like this one to be. I plan on doing the false bottom pond using the egg crate (I believe its called) material and using pvc pipes for support. I'll be purchasing the necessary substrate from josh's frogs. I love them guys, they really know what they're talking about. I may decide against a waterfall though. We will see...what would y'all consider a personal preference, foggers or misters? I love the way the fog looks, but if the misters are better, than please let me know. Will I need fans with a misting system? Oh and I didn't see any feedback regarding a good filter system?

[baconsdabomb]

Bromeliads are awesome, beautiful in the tank and the darts love them for breeding as well if thats something you will be interested in down the road. I have the rs400 exo terra monsoon mister and I absolutely love it. It has its own personal timer on it for how often you want it to come on and for how long you want it to mist.

[deranged chipmunk]

first and foremost, what species of dart are you planning on keeping? what size enclosure? keep in mind that some species are strictly terrestrial and require as much floor space as they can get, while others are partly arboreal and you can get away with having a larger water feature. keep in mind that things get real tight, real fast as you start building.it really comes down to what the frogs need, first and foremost, and what you want to see second

choose a species first, then design a tank for them. believe me when i say this, it will save you a LOT of headaches in the long run

[jesslovesfrogs90]

Thanks for the input :-) I was thinking Dendrobates auratus 'Highland Bronz'.
I want something bright, active, can be housed together and likes to do some climbing. I'm begging to think a misting system is a better choice. As it will mimic rainfall for the frogs and be better than a fogger for the plants. I would love to have some bromiliads. They're pretty and I've read a lot that the frogs love em! I'd like 2 to 4 frogs in a 24x18x18 vivarium.

[jarteta97]

A misting system would definitely be better IMO. I'm not sure, are auratus better housed in pairs or groups? Hoping someone else can tell me, because they are my dream frogs lol

[deranged chipmunk]

a misting sytem would be better. Mistking systems are the best. that exo monsoon is a joke. they work great for a little while, but they have a few design flaws. i personally, went through three of them within a year before i decided enough was enough. IMHO, foggers are more for effect then adding humidity. i have used several, and the gains in humidity were negligible at best.

D. Auratus are primarily a shy,terrestrial frog. pretty frogs though. if you want a larger, bright climber, you can't beat any of the D. Leucomelas morphs.

[Vivariums In The Mist]

MistKing all day! If I use a fogger, it really is only for the effect of it and it is in conjunction with a MistKing system.

[jesslovesfrogs90]

Josh, on "josh's frogs" it says they are a group frog. Which is exactly what I want.

[Vivariums In The Mist]

Leucs are a great group frog too. As are any of the morphs of Terribilis.

Josh, on "josh's frogs" it says they are a group frog. Which is exactly what I want.

[jesslovesfrogs90]

Thanks for all the feedback guys :-) I swear I've been obsessing over all the neat things to make a beautiful and healthy frog vivarium! I've combined a bunch of good ideas just through researching, asking questions, looking at pictures and videos. Between this forum, josh's frogs and youtube, I've gotten a lot of help so far. I think I have finally decided to go with 4 leucomelas 'fine spots' :-)