Dart Frog Vivarium

[VeiledChams]

So I am building a dart frog vivarium as a birthday present for my girlfriend. I'm building everything, including the tank itself.
I'm using plexiglass for the tank, sealed with 100% silicone.
I am also using the egg crate method for drainage (seemed to be the easiest).
For the background, I am using Great Stuff expandable foam. It is great stuff! Although a little tricky to work with, when it dries it is awesome to carve out.
I am going to have a little pond in the middle of the vivarium. I'll use some aquarium rocks to cover up the screen from the egg crate thing. I'm going to cover the foam with eco-earth and forest moss. As a substrate I'm going to use a mix of soil and leaf litter.
I have not yet decided on what plants I'm going to use, but any suggestions are welcome!
This will be the home to a pair of D. Leucomelas.

 

[susieqff]

Wow. I admire you diving into such a project. Always wanted a dart frog viv. Good luck with it. Sure would like to see how it comes out.
susie

 

[VeiledChams]

Thanks susie. I will post some pics when I'm done. I like the building part of it, my gf will take care of the frogs lol

 

[okiroo]

i bet thats going to turn out gr8. shes gunna be happy!

 

[ataraxia]

omai! i can already see it!! doing a great job!!

 

[VeiledChams]

Thanks guys!

The vivarium will have a waterfall which falls in front of a cave.. It'll also have some steps that lead to a hide-away (you can see the hole in the middle with the steps). I'm pretty excited about this Tomorrow I'm going to cover the foam and get the water pump so I can begin testing the water lines. If I have everything done, on friday I will get the gravel and begin to get everything together.

This is a long term project, as I dont expect to finish before January. The plants will take some time to start to grow, and so will the live moss I plan to put in there. I dont mind though, I enjoy these kinds of projects

 

[Eltortu]

Nice dude...looks like a lot of work though. Post pictures when you are done.

 

[Texas Ranger]

Dude its looking goodI will have to find some old pics of when I had darts. I had a 175 gal. with waterfalls ponds and Live plants from one end to the other. but like two summers ago the ac went out for a week and all my darts died And I just gave up because I had like 40+ in there and just got it how I liked it.

 

[VeiledChams]

Nice dude...looks like a lot of work though. Post pictures when you are done.

Thanks man.. I will!

Dude its looking goodI will have to find some old pics of when I had darts. I had a 175 gal. with waterfalls ponds and Live plants from one end to the other. but like two summers ago the ac went out for a week and all my darts died And I just gave up because I had like 40+ in there and just got it how I liked it.

Thats a huge vivarium! I wish i had the money for one that size.. I am very limited to what i can do with this one some i'm just doing the best I can. I have a picture in my head of how i want it to look like, hopefully it will resemble the one i have in mind.

 

[Texas Ranger]

Thanks man.. I will!



Thats a huge vivarium! I wish i had the money for one that size.. I am very limited to what i can do with this one some i'm just doing the best I can. I have a picture in my head of how i want it to look like, hopefully it will resemble the one i have in mind.

It will turn out awesome and better then what you are thinkingOne thing you need to look for that is a cool plant for like a little pond that with grow all over is Parrot's Feather (Myriophyllum aquaticum) you will love that stuff.I just took it from my koi pond and added it and it whent crazy lol.
heres a link check it out
http://www.pondmegastore.com/shop/product.php?productid=16291

 

[VeiledChams]

It will turn out awesome and better then what you are thinkingOne thing you need to look for that is a cool plant for like a little pond that with grow all over is Parrot's Feather (Myriophyllum aquaticum) you will love that stuff.I just took it from my koi pond and added it and it whent crazy lol.
heres a link check it out
http://www.pondmegastore.com/shop/product.php?productid=16291

Sweeet, one plant down..many more to go lol

Btw, check ur inbox..i sent u a pm yesterday

 

[Texas Ranger]

Sweeet, one plant down..many more to go lol

Btw, check ur inbox..i sent u a pm yesterday

Just saw it check your pm box

 

[ijmccollum]

That's pretty sweet looking. One Q though, how are you setting your pump up? I might want to steal your idea.

 

[VeiledChams]

In the last picture you can see to the far left that there is a T for the tubing. The one to the right goes to the waterfall and a dripper on the right side of the vivarium, the one to the left goes to a dripper to the left, and the one going to the bottom goes to the pump. Im going to use a small underwater pump that will be going right under it. you can see in the picture that the rear right corner is cutout as a square in order for the pump to fit in. The aluminum screen serves as a filter so the pump wont get clogged.

 

[K9Luvn]

This is going to be a very nice project. Please post updated photos as you continue. I would love to watch the progress of your wonderful work!

 

[Txherp]

Can't wait to see it finished! I used to breed luecomelas, they are easy - you will enjoy.

 

[ijmccollum]

Okay, I think I got it -- the middle tubing going down in center is what will attach to the pump, right now the tube is just coiled. Is your water line going right up to the white crate, and will you be using hydroton below the crate?

You def gotta keep posting your progress. I have two exxo's that I want to redo when I can find the time.

 

[VeiledChams]

Okay, I think I got it -- the middle tubing going down in center is what will attach to the pump, right now the tube is just coiled. Is your water line going right up to the white crate, and will you be using hydroton below the crate?

You def gotta keep posting your progress. I have two exxo's that I want to redo when I can find the time.

The water line is going through the foam. I will get a picture of how its gonna go.. Gimme 10 minutes for halftime in the soccer game i'm watching lol.

I will not be using hydroton balls

 

[Aminah Undone]

It's nice to see someone else into viv building and PDFs. I'm in the middle of converting a spare 90g to a viv for half dozen P. terribilis "Mint". The progress slowed down quite a bit when the babies came, though.

Looking forward to seeing more of your progress

 

[VeiledChams]

Alright.. 1,2,3 are the different water line outputs. I drew the water reservoir and the green is where the pump will go.
1 is the waterfall and 2&3 are the drippers