FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I wanted to share my new obsession! I've wanted dart frogs since I was a little kid. Two weeks ago, I got my first frogs, and I am currently building a second vivarium for a pair of thumbnail darts.

The first is a 24x18x18 housing 3 juvenile fine spot D. leucomelas. The plant list is quite extensive, but it will change once the other viv is planted, plants come later today! This picture is a couple weeks old, two of the bromeliads have reddened up nicely.
In no particular order:
Columnea gloriosa 'Golfish Plant' originally put it to fill space/flowers, unsure now if it will stay
Alagaonema 'Siam Aurora'
Calathea lancivolia 'Rattlesnake Plant'
Spathiphyllum 'petite'
Syngonium podophyllum 'Creamsicle'
Peperomia caperata 'Green'
Pellionia pulchra 'Watermelon'
Ficus pumila variegata 'creeping fig'
Pilea depressa 'Tiny Tears'
Nephrolepsis exaltata 'Emerald Vase Fern'
Nephrolepsis cordifolia 'Lemon Button Fern'
Davallia thrichomanoides 'Black Rabbit's Foot Fern'
Episcia 'Silver Skies'
Monocostus uniflorus 'Lemon Ginger'
Macodes petola 'Jewel Orchid'
Marcgravia sintenisii 'Rainbow Marcgravia'
Marcgravia rectiflora
5 bromeliads


The trio out and about this morning.


Here's the process of building the 18x18x18 thumbnail vivarium:






If anyone is interested I can continue to update.

So awesome! Congrats on finally realizing your childhood dream. I would love to see updates!

Thats one nice looking vivarium. I hope to build vivaroums, paludariums, and such in the future. I would love to see updates too.

The initial planting is done! I have some more vines and a couple jewel orchids coming when I pick up the frogs next month. This 18x18x18 will house a pair of Ranitomeya imitator 'green'. There's a lot to grow in, but I'm happy!


And a picture of the leuc viv from this morning

Love it!!!

Looks great. Your frogs will love it!

Got my frogs today! Ranitomeya imitator 'green'. I also got some cuttings of jewel orchid and marcgravia to add.


Here is the probable female hopping about, eating springtails.


The male went into hiding under a leaf and then started calling within an hour! They are both exploring the vivarium and the male is calling more. I got a good shot of him after he hopped out of his cup to their new home. These pictures are unedited, the colors really pop under the lighting!


I have a hunch I won't be certain if she is really a 'her' until I see tadpole feeding or I see babies hopping around!

Awesome!

This is amazing! I've always loved dart frogs. I did some poking around the interwebs, and I had no idea the trade was so big! Really digging your setup. I'd love to see further updates as time goes on

Its been a while since I updated... lots of growth in the vivariums! There are some shots of frogs, some of my favorite plants, Marcgravia sintenisii and umbellata. One of the fine spot leucomelas has tried to call, still learning and needs a lot of practice. We named him Leuc Skywalker. The one with the cool belly is named Smiley. There are two bromeliad pups growing as well.

Looking good, thanks for the update!

Hells yeah, keep us updated! What kind of lights are you using to get your broms to color up like that?

That is amazing. I've always wanted to make an enclosure like that. When the plants get larger, do you prune them back to get bushier growth or do you cut them back down to their original size?

Looking really nice!

Do_Gon wrote:Hells yeah, keep us updated! What kind of lights are you using to get your broms to color up like that?

I have an exo terra fixture for the 24x18x18 with 2-joshs frogs leds, and one exo terra daylight bulb. It's almost too much light in my opinion, but the bold leucs don't seem to mind. I usually have the exo bulb on in the morning and evening, and just the joshs on for most of the day. Sometimes all 3, but only if I want it to heat up a bit.
The smaller viv has a nicrew led planted plus. I like that I can dim and put it on a gradual cycle. (50% 80% 100% 80% 50%) I ramp it up for about 2 hours at sunrise and sunset on its 12 hour cycle (don't quote me on the %, I haven't checked what I input since setting it up, lol). The broms are showing deeper color in their patterns, but not turning all red.

Apollyon wrote:That is amazing. I've always wanted to make an enclosure like that. When the plants get larger, do you prune them back to get bushier growth or do you cut them back down to their original size?

. It all depends on the plant. Most vendors that sell vivarium plants in the hobby are very eager to help send you plants suitable for the size of your enclosure. The baby tears in on top of the wood in the top left I trim every few weeks. I've had to trim some of the Episcia, as it likes to send out runners. The strong lighting helps with keeping things nice and compact. The Syngonium in the back center I've had my doubts as to how small it would stay. With only 2" of substrate and frog poop as fertilizer, it can't have a monster root system, and I would assume will help it stay a smaller size. I'm falling in love with Marcgravia, but is slow to get established.

Thanks everyone for the responses! I feel like I am lacking in the creative side of my new obsession. My first viv seems like I just threw stuff in there and let it grow (keeping the frogs needs in mind). My second viv I'm very happy with, and look forward to starting one or two more next year if everything works out.