Is it good to have substrate

[snitz427]

Forgot you got dart frogs, Very good point.

they should be called dart hogs. All they do is eat and wait to eat! Cool little dudes, though.

 

[Lennoncham]

they should be called dart hogs. All they do is eat and wait to eat! Cool little dudes, though.

View attachment 294872

Are those golden poison dart frogs?

 

[snitz427]

Are those golden poison dart frogs?

yep, mantella aurantiaca / golden mantella

 

[GrayMadder]

they should be called dart hogs. All they do is eat and wait to eat! Cool little dudes, though.

View attachment 294872

So freakin cute!!!

 

[Lennoncham]

yep, mantella aurantiaca / golden mantella

awesome! One of the most toxic animals known. (In the wild)

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

they should be called dart hogs. All they do is eat and wait to eat! Cool little dudes, though.

View attachment 294872

Is that a matamata they're sitting on?

(Just kidding; it just reminded me of one.)

So freakin cute!!!

...until they murder you in your sleep with their insidious little blowguns!

 

[suprdude]

@Andrew1283

Two words: dart frogs.

Where are all the dart frogs with bacterial and fungal infections?

frogs absorb stuff through their skin and are super sensitive to their environment. And yet dart frogs kept in a bio active “septic tanks” seem to thrive.

I kept my dart frogs for 12 years in an large enclosure with a plain soil floor. No fancy bio substrate.

 

[MissSkittles]

I kept my dart frogs for 12 years in an large enclosure with a plain soil floor. No fancy bio substrate.

You didn’t have a clean up crew? How did you deal with waste?

 

[jamest0o0]

I kept my dart frogs for 12 years in an large enclosure with a plain soil floor. No fancy bio substrate.

This is where the confusion comes in, if they were on it, it would be bio. Almost any soil turns bio overtime. If it didn't you'd just see mold everywhere or something else unsightly. Or it would smell very badly. Technically when you buy a plant, the soil it comes in is bioactive.

 

[snitz427]

I kept my dart frogs for 12 years in an large enclosure with a plain soil floor. No fancy bio substrate.

soil floor is bioactive (to an extrnt)

 

[snitz427]

Soil naturally has microbes and fungi in it that will flourish in the tank over time (unless you bake it). But as James said, overtime
The tank will cycle.

 

[MissSkittles]

Interesting. I guess I’ve always thought of plain soil as being inert.

 

[snitz427]

Interesting. I guess I’ve always thought of plain soil as being inert.

no ma’am! Mychorrizhae and other microbes are in there (which are great for plant and root health)... even plant pests live in bagged soil. Thats why some plant folks bake it... but I’d rather just treat for the pests than kill all the good stuff in there.