New vivarium - Crowdsourcing on Frog Forum

[DonLisk]

Q.: There's always the great lighting question. As I read often, it's often said not to bother for the frogs, but important for the plants. In case of darts and the terrarium we are all building, what is your thoughts on this?

I also use the compact fluorescents on all my vivs except the new dart viv which I did T5 florescent tubes and were inexpensive at the hardware store. Labeled for saltwater aquariums.

Q.: Don, Brett, do we need to create a small pond for these frogs? As my vents are so small, they soak in the broms. Azureus are slightly bigger... I was thinking that if we create a drip wall, we could have some of it fall into a pond that could be built at the bottom of the drip wall, somewhere along the wall...

I'm going to agree with Brett here. I like a pond area and the last I did came through some cork bark and ran the cracks of cork to create a small pond below. Water filtered back through the substrate so no filter system was needed.


As for the creeping fig.... I added that to the darts viv yesterday and it looks awesome.
also added some Cryptanthus but not the pretty one at Josh's Frogs.

[clownonfire]

Brett, we have phalaenopsis orchids. As for the lights, I have some in my vents for the plants too, I will add some to the new terrarium as well.

I'll try and make a small pond beneath the dripping wall. I have an idea that could be nice.

For the clay, Sara seems really excited about the idea, as I am. I'm just slightly ticked that I had purchased already all the necessary tubes and cans of silicone and foam... I'll go do some clay shopping this week...

So, I think we're pretty much set for the next phase!

I will come up with a drawing (by drawing expect a very basic doodling), a resume of what we've all exchanged on, the supplies we have, and a time frame. And from that point on, once we agree on the plan, we'll start building I guess around February 25-26... I'll post pictures of each steps...

I'm quite excited on this one. Thank you, so far, to all of you.

[clownonfire]

Brett, one last question. Now asnI've never worked with clay, so you work directly in the enclosure or outside to insert it in after? If you work with it directly in the tank (which is the way ive done it in the past with silicone and foam), does the clay adheres to the glass?

[btcope]

yep, it sticks right to the glass, if it slides off, it's too wet. it's really way easier and more fun than the foam. kinda like playing in the mud and when you're all done if you look at it and don't like it, you can pull it off and do it again!

good luck,

brett

[clownonfire]

Updates: I decided to get the azureus from another breeder in Montreal, Dendrolaval. Olivier supplies Understory Enterprises with frogs occasionally, and he took a large amount of Mathieu Chouteau's frogs before the latter left for his most recent trip.

Olivier from Dendrolaval also will supply me with the core of the plants that will be used in the vivarium:

Neoregelia Nivea, philodendron erubescens, ficus pumilia and ficus oak leaf.

[clownonfire]

Sara and I decided to pass on the sketch. We will instead start building it accordingly with what has been discussed on this thread.

The idea is simple: The horizontal aquarium will be built with a natural clay background, with a piece of java wood in the middle, and tropical plants, and a drainage bottom layer. To make this useful for the reader, here’s the list of what will be needed for a pair of Azureus (I bought much more than less). I will post later on what I actually used. If you think anything is missing, now is the time or forever hold your peace.

1. 1X 25G horizontal aquarium.
2. 4X 5LBS of self hardening clay.
3. 1X 10LBS sodium bentonite clay (cat litter).
4. 5X bags of Zoo Med Hydro Balls (5LBS each).
5. 2X boxes of Zoo Med All Natural Frog Moss.
6. 2X boxes of Zoo Med Sphagnum Moss.
7. 1X 8.8 L of Exo Terra Forest bark.
8. 1X 3 x 8.8 L of Exo Terra Plantation Soil.
9. 1X Medium size piece of java wood, with climbing branches.
10. 1X Small garbage bag of oak leaves.
11. 1X Large piece of screen (mesh).
12. 1X Neoregelia Nivea.
13. 1X Philodendron Erubescens.
14. 1X Ficus pumilia.
15. 1X Ficus oak leaf.
16. 2X Phalaenopsis Orchids.
17. 1X Zoo Med Habba Mister.
18. 4X Medium Cork Pieces.
19. 1X Exo-Terra Digital Thermometer.
20. 1X Exo-Terra Digital Hydrometer.
21. 1X Exo-Terra Heat Cable 15W (I live in very cold Montreal).
22. Springtails to seed.

Eric

[clownonfire]

So here are the first few steps.

1. Because I will be using terracotta pots of some of the plants, I have decided to secure them by using foam (yes, there goes the all-natural clay enclosure). Last thing I wanted was a dead-squished azureus frog.

2. I let it cured 24 hours before working on the clay.

3. I mixed gray and terracotta clay, adding sphagnum moss to the mix (3/4 clay, 1/4 moss).

4. I used water in order to give the clay the perfect texture to be spread.

5. Once the clay was in place, I added and pushed some in some more sphagnum moss.

Next steps (in 2 days):

1. The bottom drainage layer/bottom moss and substrate
2. The piece of java wood that will rule ruthlessly in the center of the vivarium.
3. Planting the plants.