Vivarium as room divider

[amansker]

First post. I kept a few herps back in '94-97 or so when I worked for the Vivarium magazine, but not since. Somehow caught the bug to get some dendrobatids. Probably leucomelas and tinctorius Had mantellas in the past. Just purchased a large tank (48" x 32" x 18") and will probably divide it in two. I'm also a gardener and looking forward to growing some exotic tropical plants. I live in San Diego and keep bromeliads and tillansdsias outdoors all year, but it is very dry here so many tropical species require a closed environment.

We are considering keeping this in the living room as a room divider. It would be viewable from all sides. That kind of screws up my plans to create a back wall out of clay. I'm just curious what solutions have been tried in the past. I really like the idea of a wall / fake rock (created from clay). The tank is so high that not building a wall to raise plants and give a 3d environment would be a waste. If the entire "back" wall is clay, it would sure be ugly from the back side. I'm thinking of covering one end and half of one back and then use some vertical elements such as driftwood at a 45 deg. angle with tillandsia, etc. on the other half.

In addition, there will be a prominent water feature of some type, but probably not a pond since dendrobatids are not swimmers. (FYI, I only have book knowledge on darts because I've never raised them).

Any suggestions on the view?

[Mentat]

Hello and welcome to FF ! You can view many illustrated builds in the forums Vivarium Section. If dividing tank; you could create a back wall against the divider on each tank side. Tapering it toward edges would make it look unobtrusive when looking at tank from side; much less from ends.

Myself would not use clay for background. Black Pond Expanding Foam carved after foam cures and covered in a slush of Titebond III and shredded coco looks nicer and will be waterproof. BTW, you can have water features (i.e. a little pond) with darts, they won't drown.

Now, if you do not divide it, could build a "tree" trunk offset so it's "dividing" tank in 1/3 and 2/3 areas. Then build your pond or water feature in the larger 2/3 area. Once plants are attached to molded "tree trunk" and some moss start growing on it it will look very natural.

Just some ideas, there are a few builders here that are way better than me at decorating enclosures and hopefully join thread soon !

[deranged chipmunk]

Definitely agree with Carlos, splitting it and making back to back dual peninsula tanks would be cool. You could use a section of an old tree stump cut in half, one on each side and build out from there. It would definitely look cool.

Clay, in my opinion, isn't worth the effort. It needs to be kept moist at all times and if it dries out, it cracks very easily. There are much better and stable ways to build a background.

Water features are definitely not a no no for a dart tank. I have seen my darts and mantellas purposely go into the water. They've even dived in for safety from my big, scary hand. Lol


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

[amansker]

Excellent info, thanks. Glad to hear a small pond feature can work. I will take your word for it on avoiding clay. I just happened to read about that first, sounds like the foam is more suitable. Also a great idea about dividing. I really want multiple species, but think the whole thing would look better if it is not split in two. The ideas you proposed really stimulated some new thinking on this one. Very helpful!

And, I keep reading "don't mix species" of dart frogs or even adding a phelsuma gecko. Is it really all that difficult? I understand the idea of not using frogs that can breed to make hybrids, but what if they can't breed?? I have absolutely no intentions of selling offspring, but might put a little effort into attempting to breed somewhere down the line.

[Lija]

Mixing species is an absolute no in frog world. It is not about difficult or not, but unless you have a rainforest sized rank it is plainly not possible to mix species, even these that live in a same habitat in a wild.
different temperaments, different toxins, different attitude. Sooner or later you will run into problems.

Such a cool idea guys for double sided tank, just think you can make a nice oasis, with plants, vines, perhaps water running and then you can add lots of frogs! Same species frogs

[2ofEverything]

I'm currently working on a 40L tank (a bit smaller than yours) but it is still 48" long. I want to point out 1 thing, today when I was working on the tank, the 48" starts looking a lot smaller when you start putting things into it. My tank is kind of like a room divider as well, except one of the short sides is against the wall. I will be doing a tiny 3d background on the 18x13 side soon as well as uploading some pics with the substrate and water feature in tomorrow. Good luck the 2 tank idea sounds good as far as the 2 species go And I would listen to what these ^^^ guys say to you and you won't go wrong.

[amansker]

Well, how about a design that divides the tank in two (maybe 1/3 and 2/3) that appears "natural" and does not look like someone built a wall? Maybe angle the wall? But I guess it would have to reach completely to the top of the vivarium? Perhaps have a long branchthat goes through the "wall" and visually connects the two sides? Is 16" x 18" x 30"(Tall) adequate space for a pair of azureus?

If I built a wall, can I leave a 2" (or whatever) gap at the bottom so the water element flows through the entire tank (under the substrate?) to make it easier to maintain?

[Lija]

Im thinking what if you build not a wall but kinda hills here and there, some higher, some lower, may be with some "lynn" vines hanging and water running. And LED light. It could be so cool! You have 18" width, you can play with it nicely.and the side facing the wall you can do waterfall type of thing kinda going across partially... On there could be tunnel type of thing from one side to another with moss hanging
Im getting excited here

[Lija]

And running water could end up with a little weird shaped pond with marginal plants... Oh man. I kinda wanna do it now lol after im through with what im doing

[Heatheranne]

Fabulous idea!

[deranged chipmunk]

Well, how about a design that divides the tank in two (maybe 1/3 and 2/3) that appears "natural" and does not look like someone built a wall? Maybe angle the wall? But I guess it would have to reach completely to the top of the vivarium? Perhaps have a long branchthat goes through the "wall" and visually connects the two sides? Is 16" x 18" x 30"(Tall) adequate space for a pair of azureus?

If I built a wall, can I leave a 2" (or whatever) gap at the bottom so the water element flows through the entire tank (under the substrate?) to make it easier to maintain?

Angling a glass wall in a tank would actually turn it into a mirror of sorts and would be even more obvious. You could always just do small, simple tanks without backgrounds that utilize the hardscape to flow together. If the tank(s) are planted heavily enough, the stress level of the frogs will be low, and they will feel safe and secure. Some of my favorite tanks are by one of the mods (flybyferns), and she doesn't use any backgrounds, just intelligent plantings and a great sense for hardscape.


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela