New Vivarium for Darts

[Helios]

Super excited to finally be getting into keeping dart frogs. I did a build with the infamous 12"x12"x18", using the method John shared quite a while back. The picture I have currently doesn't really show it in great detail, but the variation I tried to add to in order to maximize the space was creating three additional tiers above the floor. Each one is essentially another 6"x5", 5"x4", and 5"x4". Also not visible in the picture, but I carved a pretty deep trough into the side of the lowest tier in order to create a nice hide without adding a cocohut or something of that order. It was a fun project in that I really tried to come up with a design that effectively added space to a terrarium size that is generally not considered at all versatile, thinking of the background less like a wall to build off of and forward from. The design was built with leucs in mind as I have read a lot indicating that while not arboreal they will use vertical space if done correctly.
Still have to get some more accents and let the plants grow in-maybe add one more smallish one. The fern on the left should get up to about 10" and then the philodendron of course will go up the hardscape. The fireball bromeliad ought to fill out some of the space in front. So far I'm pretty happy with the results. Planning to keep a leuc or two. Temps and humidity are stable, adding the springtails as soon as I get a few more going in the culture.

(I can't get the file to upload. Getting a message it's not a valid image file even though it's a jpeg formatted for the web. Here's a link instead: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-81Uc6iFfXS...0/dart-viv.gif)

[Frogman1031]

It looks great

Carving the background is one of my favorite parts of building the tank! No two custom backgrounds will ever look the same and there are so many ways to maximize space.

At that size, I would go with only one Leuc, even with the maximized space.

A tip for the pillow moss: stick with it. It will turn brown. It's a matter of when not if. But moss never truly dies so keep it moist and in the light and it will grow again.

Can't wait to see the tank when it's grown in a little.

[Helios]

Thanks! Haha yeah, I got the chance to talk to someone about the sizing today and they explained in part the issue with the 12"x12"x18" is that there simply isn't enough viable bioactive area to process the waste/keep things healthy. I'm going to go ahead and do a larger tank as well so I can upsize to keeping three. I'd like to try breeding. This was a good run with a viv that'll give me a really clear picture of how to do a larger, more elaborate one.