New to frogs and terrariums, first build, Exo Tera 18x18x18

[bsantucci]

Hey all, what originally started as a new tank for my Anole turned into a dart frog terrarium now. This new tank will house a pair of Dendrobates tinctorius 'Azureus'. I'm curious for opinions, insight, corrections, any feedback you all can give.

Pertinent info:

Enclosure:
Exo-Terra 18x18x18

Lighting:
2 Exo-Terra hoods, each running one 13W Reptile UVB100 and one 13W Reptle Vision bulb. (can I run the 26 watts of either of these, I assume no due to the distance from hood to floor being so little).

Flora:
Rabbit's Foot Fern
Korean Rock Fern
3 unknown Bromeliads
Perperomia Trinervula
Begonia 'Black Fancy'
Spathiphyllum 'Petite'
Wandering Jew
Alsobia Dianthiflora 'Lace Flower'
Calathea 'Velvet Touch'

Fauna:
2 Dendrobates tinctorius 'Azureus' (arriving Tuesday from Josh's Frogs)


Photos:

Initial setup


With leaves added


Moved some plants, added some malaysian driftwood


More of an overhead shot


Back wall, added some leaves in the cork tubes. Originally wanted my bromeliads in them, but the stems are not shaped right, can they be cut?


Kept an area in the front as a spot to siphon water and a place for them to have some standing water

[bsantucci]

Tough crowd here huh, no responses. Guess the tank isn't great lol.

In any event, got the frogs yesterday! Below are pics of the new guys in their new tank. The larger one investigated and climbed right away, then found a nice cave area under some wood and retreated for the night. The smaller sat on the leaf it landed on for like 2 hours, then finally started running around. It ate some flies also right away so that's a great sign.

This is the larger one

Smaller of the two

And one backed up to show them where they sat when first put in.

[accidentalfrog]

These guys are so sweet! Would live to have some myself but they are sooo expensive! Nice Viv!

[bsantucci]

These guys are so sweet! Would live to have some myself but they are sooo expensive! Nice Viv!

Thanks, appreciate it! The frogs weren't priced bad at Josh's Frogs actually. Compared to others these were cheap! Can't wait to see them get used to their new viv and get bolder.

[accidentalfrog]

I'm in the UK...they seem pretty expensive over here but maybe I'm looking in the wrong places! I've heard these guys are pretty bold and great fun to watch

[elly]

I do like the plants growing on the wall and those lush ferns. Sadly I didn't have the patience to do my own background. Also nice Azureus you have there. Definately one of the most interesting looking frogs.

[bsantucci]

Honestly, the background was super easy. It's the second iteration. I was going to do a water feature initially and had a corrugated plastic section for the pump. I decided to skip that though and did the background a second time. I just sprayed the foam and put the eco earth right on it. I didn't do the dry and use silicone and eco earth. Seemed like a lot of extra steps which aren't needed. The foam is waterproof already since I used the pond one.

I was going to to with the leucs, but they have a loud call and this is in my living room. Azureus have nice quiet calls and are still pretty bold. Plus the blue is just awesome.

I do like the plants growing on the wall. Sadly I didn't have the patience to do my own background. Also I love Azureus. If I kept dart frogs I'd choose those.

[bsantucci]

Some updates here. Frogs are doing great and getting bigger. My plants are all growing awesome. Just added some spider wood and my wandering Jew is already on it.

On to the pics. Got a real cool one with them both in it.

[rkruse3]

Very nice indeed! I don't see anything wrong from a plant perspective. Everything seems good. The substrate is layered right (most people don't think of where the excess water goes). Good thinking on the water feature. I did a waterfall in mine and it is more of a pain than it is worth. Also, some of the falls is starting to deteriorate. I have to redo it sometime this spring Unfortunately, I have never kept these guys, so I can't offer you much there. Great job though!

[bsantucci]

Very nice indeed! I don't see anything wrong from a plant perspective. Everything seems good. The substrate is layered right (most people don't think of where the excess water goes). Good thinking on the water feature. I did a waterfall in mine and it is more of a pain than it is worth. Also, some of the falls is starting to deteriorate. I have to redo it sometime this spring Unfortunately, I have never kept these guys, so I can't offer you much there. Great job though!

Thanks for the reply!

Yeah, I'm pretty good with plants. I come from doing planted aquariums.....much harder to do that these I think. I kinda just planted and am letting it do its thing here. Aquarium needs ferts, co2, etc.

I have one plant that is yellowing in here though that I think may be due to lighting. I'm trying to figure how to position a bromeliad to cover it. It's producing a new leaf (middle on the last pic), but the others are yellowed. Not sure if there is a transition period maybe or if it is in fact my lights. I didn't think they were that high lighting, but maybe it is....

[deranged chipmunk]

looks good Brett! i would agree, when dealing with high light/co2, definitely, planted aquariums are harder, hands down. i would say low light tanks and vivs are fairly comparable though. i do admit, i miss the plant growth rate of high light/co2 tanks. Boy oh boy do i miss the growth rate!! LOL

can you get a better pic of the plant without those little cuties jumping out on you? and a species id would be helpful

[DigitalPunk]

Looks good! You will love the Azureus! We have 4 and they are so bold and always out doing one thing or another!

[VAnative]

Saw this one on TPT first as well. I'm knm<>< over there. I wish I could change my TPT name, but oh well. The viv is looking great. I'm still working on my background and decided to do a waterfall. Hopefully it will be ready to plant this weekend. I don't plan on adding frogs any time soon though, but yours are awesome!

[tinkgirl77]

Welcome to frog forum and welcome your bright new little ones! Your viv looks great! It'll be beautiful once your plants have time to grow and settle in! Keep us posted with updated pics! Good luck!

[Heatheranne]

Congrats on your Azureus . Beautiful frogs. Nice vivarium.

[bsantucci]

looks good Brett! i would agree, when dealing with high light/co2, definitely, planted aquariums are harder, hands down. i would say low light tanks and vivs are fairly comparable though. i do admit, i miss the plant growth rate of high light/co2 tanks. Boy oh boy do i miss the growth rate!! LOL

can you get a better pic of the plant without those little cuties jumping out on you? and a species id would be helpful

Tonight when I get home I'll get a pic of the plant, it just shot out a new leaf so we'll have that for comparison too. It's my favorite plant and of course the only one doing bad....I do know the species though, it's Calathea 'Velvet Touch'.

Looks good! You will love the Azureus! We have 4 and they are so bold and always out doing one thing or another!

Love them already! Can't wait for them to get bigger. Right now they are still a bit reclusive, but I expect as they get older and are with me longer to see them more.

Saw this one on TPT first as well. I'm knm<>< over there. I wish I could change my TPT name, but oh well. The viv is looking great. I'm still working on my background and decided to do a waterfall. Hopefully it will be ready to plant this weekend. I don't plan on adding frogs any time soon though, but yours are awesome!

Make sure to start a journal, I'd love to see your tank. I skipped the waterfall after making the tank with that initially. If I had a larger tank I may have stuck with it.

Welcome to frog forum and welcome your bright new little ones! Your viv looks great! It'll be beautiful once your plants have time to grow and settle in! Keep us posted with updated pics! Good luck!

Thanks for the kind words! The plants keep getting bigger day by day. My wandering jew loves the spiderwood, it's all over it already.

Congrats on your Azureus . Beautiful frogs. Nice vivarium.

Thank you!