# Dart Frog Vivarium Tutorial



## Endagr8 (Aug 19, 2011)

There's a thread floating around regarding a vivarium contest. This would be my entry if I could find it.

I was enthralled by some of the amphibians' vivaria at the National Zoo. And then I was even more enthralled by the awesome tanks on the internet. I joined and browsed a dart frog website extensively until I had amassed a sufficient understanding on the construction methods I planned to implement. I decided to try building one of these living masterpieces. This is my first attempt.

Supplies I used:





18"x18"x24" Exo Terra (I got it and it's hood/lights in a trade for six _P. imperator_!)
Exo Terra light hood 
Lightbulbs 
Silicone
Great Stuff
Driftwood
Cork Bark
Mopani
Razor blades
Knife
Coconut husk chunks
Coconut coir
Water pump*
Vinyl tubing*
Aquarium gravel*
Featherlite
Weed cloth
Atlanta Botanical Gardens (ABG) substrate mix
Distilled water
Toothpicks
Paperclips
Sphagnum moss
Lots of plants
Live oak leaves
Seed pods
Microfauna (white dwarf isopods and springtails)
Spray bottle

Set tank on a surface you can afford to get messy. I used newspapers.






Slather black silicone on the areas you think the three dimensional background might extend into. We use silicone to conceal the Great Stuff  background. Also, silicone helps the Great Stuff adhere to the sides and back of an aquarium. Good coverage is important, unless you don't mind the off-white color of the foam showing through. If you plan to place the tank in an area where the back or sides are less visible, then good, opaque coverage isn't quite as important. The silicone I used was a bit more translucent than I would have liked, so I used three tubes to cover the back and sides of this tank. After siliconing, allow at least twenty-four hours for curing. Here's the silicone I used. Thanks to TalonAWD for researching safe silicones! 






Next you want to plan the heck out of this tank. Position the tank on its back and move your driftwood/cork bark/mopani into good spots. Play around with it a bit. It's much easier to get it looking good now, so you don't have to cut it out of the foam later. Water feature positioning is extremely important. You don't want the foam to cure while your stream bed is positioned uphill.*
Messing around:





Taped into place and ready for Great Stuff:






Now comes the part that makes me nervous. With the tank positioned on its back, spray a single layer of Great Stuff down. Embed the wood into the foam in desirable positions. Don't forget to include vinyl tubing if you plan to have a water feature!* It's good to move fast, as the surface of the foam becomes tacky fairly quickly. After the wood is in position, spray foam between the pieces to secure it. Don't fret if you accidentally use too much foam. We'll carve the dry Great Stuff down later. Pro tank builders recommend multiple layers of foam to prevent cracking the tank. I found this unnecessary, luckily, but you all might not want to take that chance. Wait a week for the foam to completely cure. Monitor for shrinkage. If you notice shrinkages, inject them with more foam. If you discover a few spots where the foam shows through the silicone we put down earlier, you can cover them with black contact paper on the outside of the tank.
In the following picture, you'll notice that my carefully planned arrangement didn't turn out as intended. It's not the end of the world. Hopefully it'll be covered with plants soon enough. 






After allowing the foam to cure for a week, carve off the smooth surface with a serrated knife. We carve it because silicone doesn't adhere well to smooth Great Stuff. Carve it to your liking. Exaggerate carved textures; detail will be lost with silicone and coconut fiber/coir coverage.







Next, after cleaning off the excess Great Stuff, turn the tank onto its back and apply a THICK (1/8"-1/4") layer of silicone to a small portion of your background. Press a handful of coconut husk chunks into the silicone. I like to place coconut coir on top of the chunks to cover the silicone a bit better. Work in sections to minimize silicone curing. Don't worry about missing spots. You can always cover them later. Allow at least twenty-four hours for the silicone to cure. 






After the preceding step, you can cut off excess tubing from water features.* Also, you can remove excess concealing silicone from the sides. If you applied it as thick as I did, you may need to run a silicone bead along the edges and embed coir.
Before:







After:






I was too lazy to do anything to conceal the power cord of my water pump, so I siliconed it and embedded coir. It turned out looking like a pretty cool vine! I covered the intake of the filter with weed cloth to prevent debris entry.*

Next, add two to three inches of featherlite to serve as a false bottom. I like featherlite because it looks almost like gravel, unlike unsightly hydroton. Place a properly fitted piece of weed cloth on top of the featherlite to keep the substrate separate. Add two to three inches of ABG mix substrate. Add a bed of gravel into the reservoir of the water feature. The water level should be a half inch to an inch below the lowest part of the substrate. Turn on your water pump to make sure everything works okay.*

Add plants! I don't mean to scare you, but this part can be make or break. Planting a tank correctly can be your saving grace if you butcher every one of the above steps. It's really an art form. I have a lot of learning left to to when it comes to planting. You can use toothpicks or plastic coated paper clips to mount plants wrapped in sphagnum moss to the background. Plant similar species in clusters; that's how they often occur in nature. Avoid spacing plants evenly; it ends up looking cheesy. 
Plants I used:
_Aechmea nudicaulis_ ‘Seidel’
_Begonia foliosa
Ficus pumila_ var. quercifolia
_Hydnophytum formicarium
Hydnophytum moseleyanum
Neoregelia_ ‘Scarlet Charlotte’
_Neoregelia_ sp.
_Pellonia pulchra
Peperomia_ ‘Cupid’
_Peperomia_ ‘Little Red Tree’
_Peperomia rotundifolia_ var. pilosior
_Philodendron wendimbe
Pilea_ ‘Tiny Tears’
_Rhaphidophora_ sp.
_Rhipsalis_ sp.
_Riccia fluitans
Selaginella uncinata
Taxiphyllum barbieri_

Next, add leaf litter, microfauna, and seed pods. Mist twice a day until everything has rooted well. 











*NOTE: it is not recommended to install a water feature in your first vivarium. I did it anyways.

If there's anything I can elaborate on, let me know! I'll try to get a few better pictures up soon.

FIN.


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## Simple Man (Aug 19, 2011)

So cool looking. Great work 

Regards,

B


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## JayMadison (Aug 19, 2011)

That looks really awesome  Have you kept a number of dart frogs?


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## Endagr8 (Aug 19, 2011)

JayMadison said:


> That looks really awesome  Have you kept a number of dart frogs?


None yet, unfortunately. I'm living in an apartment this year, and frogs are a bit more conspicuous ($500 fine for unapproved pets) than tarantulas or small geckos, especially in a tank this size.


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## Shrike (Aug 23, 2011)

Wow, well done.  Out of curiosity, how much TLC do the plants require in set ups like this?


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## Endagr8 (Aug 24, 2011)

mking said:


> Wow, well done.  Out of curiosity, how much TLC do the plants require in set ups like this?


If I did it right, there should be very little maintenance. It should be self-sustainable. Maybe a few mistings per day until everything has rooted. Daily misting if I decide to do frogs.


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## xhexdx (Aug 31, 2011)

Endagr8 said:


> Supplies I used:


How did you implement that skateboard?



Nice job.


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## Endagr8 (Sep 5, 2011)

xhexdx said:


> How did you implement that skateboard?
> 
> 
> 
> Nice job.


Just for decoration. It does complement the plants rather nicely.


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## Hendersoniana (Sep 8, 2011)

Wow nice! Love ur broms . I also set up a waterfall on my first try and i was pretty pleased . Plus waterfalls arent that tough u know haha. But i know my viv materials and plants came up to a hefty 200+... and im doing another at the end of the year .


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## Endagr8 (Sep 12, 2011)

Hendersoniana said:


> Wow nice! Love ur broms . I also set up a waterfall on my first try and i was pretty pleased . Plus waterfalls arent that tough u know haha. But i know my viv materials and plants came up to a hefty 200+... and im doing another at the end of the year .


Thanks! And yeah, I was SHOCKED at how expensive it was. But it was a fun build, and I'd love to do it again if I can ever afford to.

The brom in the center is browning up a bit, unfortunately. I added a _Neoregelia_ 'Fireball' and _Microgramma lycopodoides_ cuttings recently.


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