with not needing a water feature of any kind for any of the critters in here I placed this little exo water dish in as a temporary pool. even though it is quite shallow I find that whenever a young mantella takes a dip they seem to struggle sometimes clambering out due to it having a slippery surface and just a small escape area in one corner. the colour of the dish does not blend in either for me so..............


I usually make my own décor but whilst I was out and about browsing around pet shops I came across this little water dish and thought it would be ideal for the setup. these come in different colours and sizes and even though it has the same surface area of the exo it is much deeper. although it is quite deep, for mantella that is, I like the stepping stone effect that has been incorporated into it and now they can easily clamber out or even have a shallow bathe if the need takes them.


an update on the plants growing well. the introduction of the arcadia 6% tropical tube has really made a difference. the plant on the left was dormant for a long time but now has sprouted three new leaves. the fern type plants are growing taller as too the ground plant on the right is spreading wider and taller. the middle brom has lost it's colour but is still growing with two pups showing and I have already took two of it !!. considering how deep this viv is even the moss on the bottom right is faring well.


the umbrella plant on the right was also dormant whilst the other one in the middle was growing a little. again, since the new bulb was placed, it started to grow and the middle one better still and now we have the background almost covered. that false ivy at the top left will be coming out very soon also what with the rubber plant thriving and growing well here.


dusk to moonlight phase.


at the back left hand side is where the rubber plant lives!!. after getting accustomed to the conditions in here it lost some of the lower leaves. one factor was due to a leave or two over hanging and the leaf edge nearing the heating source and dropped them. to cover the space this left, which I personally was being a bit particular about, I introduced a ficus plant to rectify this matter and for it to creep around the whole viv hopefully to give of a good effect to the setup.


I am at the stage where I have to keep on top of the plant growth now with the odd pruning of a stem here and there. the rubber plant has just touched the roof and the two umbrella's are not far behind. the ficus is about 2' at the moment and is just about showing behind the lower part on the left hand side of the large canopy branch. NOTE RE ARIEL ROOTS: the umbrella plant too is now giving of these and you can make out two of them in this pic slightly to the lower right coming of the umbrella. some have reached into the substrate in places and root and thicken which should be quite interesting to see how they develop.