Have empty 150 gal - want to start - complete newb

[ACW]

I have a 6' long 29" deep by 18" wide empty 150 gallon fish tank that used to house my fish until a horrible disease decimated my fish.
My husband wants to keep the tank - I however can not bear to go the fish route again. So I was thinking plants - I love plants, I have them all over the house- I can do plants.
Of course with such a big space it would be a great place for frogs to live so after some research online on how to transform my tank into a vivarium - i think I'm interested. However after having fish for years i'd prefer to not just leap in without a decent amount of know how. A lot of info I can research but the truely good stuff comes from experience. I don't know when I have time to go visit a zoo and bug them for info so here I am bugging you guys.

The basic construction of the landscape seems pretty cut and dry (found some good diy info online) but I know alot depends on what type of froggy I put in there - any suggestions on an relatively easy amphibian to go with. If it's really really loud at night my husband and children will kick us out (the frogs and me) just throwin' that notation out there

I also am undecided about A) what kind of plants to get
B) which is better/easier to maintain - to make a water pool section or just put a large bowl of water that gets changed out daily (i'm leaning towards the water pool section (and I've looked into the construction part - doesn't seem to difficult)
C) how to maintain the temperature - we live in an old drafty house in New England - I've read about heating pads that are put under the tank but this tank weighs about 200-300lbs empty so lifting it isn't an easy feat and would like to be avoided if not necessary.

If anyone wants to mentor me and this new adventure or can steer me in the right research direction (books, websites) I'll take what ever I can get.
and if this is just another annoying newby post then just ignore me I won't be offended

thanx
Amy

[Jdnocente]

ppl start growing their tanks wayy b4 introducing the frogs (normaly takes round 2-3 months for a good growin), but dart frogs r mostly quiet. now for the background u could use kitty litter mixed w/ peatmoss (as long as u keep it moist it will stick and prolly for the sub. ull need clay to drain, then a layer of nylon, then hit it w/ the peat moss/soil mix. now for plants... creeping fig, devils ivy, english ivy, ferns, some kind of moss (fancy, frog, fern) and most philodendrons. for your water setup iv seen ppl use egg krate corners to keep the soil from spilling into the "pond"

use lights to keep it warm, no heating pad can get thru 3-4" of soil

[ACW]

I was thinking I could use the existing aquarium gravel as that first layer after I washed the **** out of it of course.

I want to get the plant part pretty established before I introduce any inhabitants (comes from being a fish owner and not liking to cycle tanks with fish) - I just figured knowing what kind of frog first would be important to what I plant

Good to know that the lamps will do the trick - what about dead of winter during nighttime when you shut the lamps off - the tank temp won't drop too significantly?

[J Teezy]

there are night time lights that give off a little heat. Lots of people use heat mats on the sides of the tank vs going under the substrate. Just point one at one end of the tank to give your frogs the choice to go to a warmer end if they want. The exo terra heat mat (rainforest version seem to do pretty good for dart frog temps. Once your viv is setup with some plants that have become established you can add your frogs and the viv will pretty much maintain itself for the most part. Spot poop scooping is good to do and what you don't see the microfauna and plants will break it down

somethings to consider

Know what kind of frog you intend to put in the tank first, because you'll want to build your viv to cater to them. With that size of a tank you could make a nice habitat for a group of Leucs. Some frogs do better in groups than others, others you need to keep an eye on your male to female ratio.

With a vivarium comes keeping the humidity right, so you'll need a method of doing this. Fogger or misting are the two typical routes. With that big of a tank i personally would look into a mistking automatic misting system. It's worth the money. if you were big into fish you know what kind of equipment goes into it to make it a stable environment.

Lighting. With live plants you'll want some good lighting. Bulbs with at least 6500K rating for your plants.

If you are doing dart frogs they really don't need much ventilation. Most people make the top a glass or acrylic top to completely seal the tank off (also helps keep the fruit flies in). When you have little to no ventilation you may have issues with the glass fogging up making it hard to view your pets. Some people fix this by adding a screen section above the front glass or installing small PC fans to blow air over the glass.

Feeding. With darts you're main staple will most likely be fruit flies. They are readily available online from places like Josh's Frogs and they are also easily cultured on your own. You'll also want to seed the tank with springtails that will provide continous food source for your frogs to hunt.

There's plenty of videos out there on several different methods on making a background. The simplest in my opinion is the Great Stuff coco fiber method.