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Dart Frog Terrarium Build

Aqua360

Aqua360

Member
Joined
15 Feb 2016
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Location
UK
Hi all,

having recently returned from living abroad, I've been looking to get stuck into a new, challenging project. At first I wanted to buy a bigger tank and aquascape, but have decided to try something totally new, so here we are.

I managed to get my hands on Exo Terra's Frog & Co 18x18x18" tank and cabinet, and i've been picking up bits and bobs to try and build this thing gradually. I figured I'd post as I've happily discovered others also keep dart frogs here.

I'll post up some pics shortly of the empty tank and cabinet (why not). My main priority is sorting out a suitable background, as I try to weight the pro's and cons of tree fern panel, vs cork panel, vs foam backgrounds etc, so would welcome any input in this regard.
 
Stock photo for now...
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I’ll be honest with you now mate, thats not large enough for any dart species to be kept humanely.

Edit: did not have my glasses on whilst reading that. I thought it was a smaller tank. 18” cube will be fine for a pair or small group of D. Auratus.
 
Filter foam pad will make for a great drainage layer and if you’re brave enough I highly recommend drilling the base to allow excess water to drain.
You can then water as much as you want.

I was going to set one up myself but decided against it in the end as my tank wouldn’t of been suitable.

I found that using an Exo Terra foam background, smothered in silicone and wrapped in Hygrolon makes for a great planting surface for climbing plants.
Troys frogs on YouTube does something similar.

Reef dudes also has a few videos on his Dart viv, it’s worth a watch.
 
Aqua360 said:
My main priority is sorting out a suitable background, as I try to weight the pro's and cons of tree fern panel, vs cork panel, vs foam backgrounds etc, so would welcome any input in this regard.
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Depends a bit on what kind of plants you want to keep, and how you're going to water them. I use "epiweb" in my paludarium, together with a constant drip watering system and complemented with daily misting in a couple of spots, which I think works really well; orchids, pitcher plants, Ficus spp. and ferns all grow like mad. If you, like me, are planning to have the background covered by plants then using cork bark or artificial material doesn't matter to the aesthetics, which might be worth keeping in mind, better to have something that's easy to manage and won't break down then. I'm a bit concerned about the sustainability of harvesting tree ferns too, so would personally avoid that option.
 
Tyko_N said:
Depends a bit on what kind of plants you want to keep, and how you're going to water them. I use "epiweb" in my paludarium, together with a constant drip watering system and complemented with daily misting in a couple of spots, which I think works really well; orchids, pitcher plants, Ficus spp. and ferns all grow like mad. If you, like me, are planning to have the background covered by plants then using cork bark or artificial material doesn't matter to the aesthetics, which might be worth keeping in mind, better to have something that's easy to manage and won't break down then. I'm a bit concerned about the sustainability of harvesting tree ferns too, so would personally avoid that option.
Click to expand...
I definitely want lots of biomass, and have seen good examples where the cork background is swallowed up, almost making it pretty irrelevant appearance wise.

I'll be misting manually, with potentially an Exo Terra Mister in the pipeline!

I don't have any plans for a drip watering system, as it's my first terrarium so will try to keep it as simple as possible for this build.

Edit: I also do agree on the sustainability concerns of the tree fern panels, looking further into them. There are also reports of mould issues which put me off!
 
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Aqua360 said:
I definitely want lots of biomass
Click to expand...
Then maybe look at foam covered with "hygrolon", that should allow you to create some structure in the background, while the hygrolon pulls water up from the substrate to stay moist. Of course, then you'll need some water standing in the bottom, either by perching the substrate atop of a drainage layer, or doing away with substrate all together in more of a riparium style setup.
Aqua360 said:
I don't have any plans for a drip watering system, as it's my first terrarium so will try to keep it as simple as possible for this build.
Click to expand...
Honestly I think drip watering is simpler than misting, but I've only used that so I might be biased. For drip watering you just have a pipe with holes drilled in it running along the top of the background, powered with a pump (so here too you'll need some standing water). The advantages are that you don't have to use pure water or worry about leaks, since you can keep everything in the tank, plus that your plants get some fertilizer from the water.
 
For a dart frog Viv I highly recommend misting. Having an integrated system within the tank like described above (if I’m reading right) will only lead to you spreading feces around. Not ideal.
This is why it’s so important to have a proper drain at the bottom so fresh water goes in and waste goes out.
Also the reason why having water features in a Viv aren’t recommended (and the fact dartfrogs are terrible swimmers)
Most plants you can find in your local garden centre will work too in a Viv.
 
One of the strengths of the Exo Terra Frog specific tank is a built-in drain, i've installed it and it comes complete with taps, so should make a huge difference to keeping the substrate well drained and healthy
 
Aqua360 said:
What I am quickly learning about vivs etc is that like aquariums, there are a million ways of achieving the same goal lol.
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Absolutely. They all have set requirements, with multiple ways to do it.

Lighting
Watering
Heating
Ventilation
Leaf litter
Substrate
Drainage layer
Drainage

They’re the principals of a Viv, all can be executed multiple ways.
 
So, siliconed the cork background tonight, very messily, but I'll be using black vinyl to cover at least the sides partially, so i just wanted to try and seal things as best I could.

I also sawed off 2 inches from the bottom, so that it doesn't lie among the drainage layer and potentially rot.

I'll let this lie and cure for at least 24 hours with the weight holding it, or rather 48 for total piece of mind. Then I'll go to seeing how my other pieces of cork can be siliconed on for ledges, to make use of the vertical space for frogs to climb and plant.

P.S the entire back wall is siliconed, not just the sides, which was done more for my peace of mind.

PXL_20231024_183337568.jpg
 
Some more progress tonight, I've siliconed my other cork pieces to the background to add some further 3D texture as mentioned, with space for bromeliads.

The curved shape of the pieces does make me slightly worry, when the frogs explore behind it, but it's open enough that they should be fine I hope.

Pic 1 is the background siliconed, pic 2 is how I'll possibly use the non-fixed cork bark to bring the shape forward.

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