started my project

[DonLisk]

I have a 12x12x18 enclosure, I would like to get a couple dart frogs or clown frogs in the viv when I am done. The water feature does seem like a hassle and I also have a repti-fogger and a water dish so I do not need the water feature.

If your doing darts, then forget the water feature. You are going to want all the floor space available and get as much land/terrain as possible for the frogs and some live plants. No water dish is needed for dart frogs. They drink by absorption and get this from the leaves and moist soil. Your going to need to keep high humidity so closing up most of the tank's ventilation is going to be the main concern.

[DonLisk]

Yes, but the hose can be kept out of the viv until needed for draining the drainage area. You may never need to drain it, or you may need to drain it often. That depends on how well the viv evaporates the excess water or if it just collects it in the bottom.

[zig3y]

alright sounds great to me thanks for all the advice once again this has been a ton of help I would be lost with out this forum! and I have no concerns on humidity problems I believe I should be good there though.

[DonLisk]

alright sounds great to me thanks for all the advice once again this has been a ton of help I would be lost with out this forum! and I have no concerns on humidity problems I believe I should be good there though.

Check out Josh's ten gallon vertical (linked in post #5 above) which looks great and might give you an idea for your build.

[zig3y]

The PVC pipe i only made 1 inch tall so I did end up making it work and I have about 1.5 inches of soil...... is that enough for plants? If not I have an idea t get it to go higher. And josh does have a really nice tank and that does give me a better idea of what I can do.

[DonLisk]

what plants are you using? Small bromeliads would be best for them since they will hid and gather moisture from them.
Bromeliads don't need soil so they have be set into cork rounds or tied to a piece of wood or even stuck into a background. Then one small plant that has low growth would be fine in 1 1/2 inch of soil... something like creeping fig.

[zig3y]

yeah I was planning on picking up a bromeliad and hopefully some moss if possible. One thing that I have not been able to find though is leaves..... what kind of leaves should I get and where do you think I could get them?

[DonLisk]

How deep are you making the false bottom? You may want to reconsider the false bottom since this is a small viv and think about using large stone fish tank gravel or a bag of hydroballs which will take up less of your bottom. You can get away with probably a 1 inch deep gravel or hydroball layer and then the moss layer with a layer of plantation soil or eco-earth on top of the moss.

You may even not want the moss layer but I like it for the moisture retention which should help with the tanks need for higher humidity.