Poison Arrow Frogs in a vibrarium

[Sinnbox]

Vibrarium...did i get that right? I'm planning on building a tank this summer that will have a land area for frogs and newts, and a water area for Fish. Has anyone here ever had a similar tank?

My main question here, is can i put Poison Arrow Frogs, and fish together? or should i just stick to a more common toad/frog?

[cocoa_pleco]

PJ's stores do that here, they get a 100g and make 75% of it land for toads and in the water they have guppies and corys.

im not sure about those frogs but if you got some firebelly toads it can be done

[swales]

I think you mean vivarium.

Any more details on your plans?

[cocoa_pleco]

isnt vivarium for birds?

[Sinnbox]

The plans are still being put together, so far i have the basic idea, but i will ahve to buy the tank before i have teh final plan, it all depends on tank size, i am thinking of keeping it small say a 55 gal for the first tank if it works good i may move up to a 100g-200g when i finaly own my own home. I am planning on basing it on a tank that my 5th grade teacher had, It was sectioned in to "pools" and there was a curent flowing through the whole tank. she had a small platform in the rear of the tank that had some newts. I am planning on having a large platform that will be close to the leangth of the tank that will also have a recess under it so there will be plenty of room for the fish and also some shelter where they can hide. once i get some plans drawn up that don't look like a 3rd grader drew them ill post some pics of the plans so people can critiqe them. I have read on some other sites about glues/plastics that are safe to use in an aquarium so i am planning on creating the inserts my self. That should save money, and look better than the ones available for purchase. I am planning on purchasing a 55 gal tank from a local salvation army so if i screw it up I wont have wasted alot of cash. what do you guys think about purchasing used tanks? let me know what you think, positive or negative.

[jbeining75]

vivarium = a place to keep plants or animals to observe or conduct research........

[Fishguy2727]

Viquarium, aquaterrarium, vivarium, paludarium, we know what you mean.

You can keep the two together, but poison dart frogs are a tough group of frogs to keep in general. There are ways to setup a false bottom so you can have water under the land. Most poison dart frog setups are setup specifically for them, which in general omits other animals.

[Sinnbox]

Viquarium, aquaterrarium, vivarium, paludarium, we know what you mean.

You can keep the two together, but poison dart frogs are a tough group of frogs to keep in general. There are ways to setup a false bottom so you can have water under the land. Most poison dart frog setups are setup specifically for them, which in general omits other animals.

So I'm thinking I should stick to firebelly toads's and then create a Poison dart terarium in the future when im more experienced. What would you guys say?

[Fishguy2727]

Definitely. Go all out with firebelly toads and then it will be a small step up to an all out poison dart frog terrarium. And the fire bellies will be more forgiving of the mistakes inexperience will dictate you will make at some point or another. They are also much cheaper.

[Sinnbox]

cool, will the fire bellys swim in water, or do they stay on land?

[cocoa_pleco]

they need some water, and they need lots of land, they can get arthritis without land to run on

[Fishguy2727]

They usually spend most of their time in the water. They like it shallow (varying from a few inches and getting shallower up to the land). Moss (such as sphagnum moss) on the land seems to be the best substrate for them.

[cocoa_pleco]

forgot to add, if you want a rocky substrate use larger rocks, regular pea gravel can get lodged in their throats and choke them.

i got the hagen 10g cube terrarium for my 3 firebellies and all it has is water up to their necks, a suction cup plant, and a chunk of driftwood. they seem happy

[ganoderma]

i kept and bred a few species of dart frogs for many years. there is really nothing difficult to them their light requirements are low as they are forest floor amphibians (light is low). the only problem with them is you need to be self supplied with wingless fruit fly cultures. generally you need to keep at least 5 strong jars going to last you in case one contaminates. aside from the feeding, they are easy.

i kept mine in mostly false bottom tanks. i used egg crate (that plastic square stuff you see i stores protecting fluorescent lights). wrap that in fine screen like you find in screen windows. dont use metal, use fiberglass. use aquarium safe silicone or something to make it stick...i just used rocks.

take your tank and stick something in all 4 corners where you want your land area...more if its a heavy land area. then place your egg crate on top....depending on your shapes and tanks you may need to do it in pieces...doesn't matter as long as there are enough supports. i prefer to have a sectioned off part for the pump that is hidden by wood or something...be creative. people here know filters like the back of their hand lol.

now your crate with screen is in, place a few cm layer of rock (i use pea gravel cause it doesn't hold as much bacteria). you want something coarse and does not wick up water.... over that fill it with some regular aquarium gravel. just to fill in the larger rock below. this prevents the soil from dropping down into the water (a big mess!). for soil its your choice. i avoid peat cause of ph problems and becoming very acidic. my choice with most frogs (if i have to use soil) is coco coir. great stuff. for fertilizers i jsut use aquarium brands as they are safe if they leach through the soil.

for the water area i used the same screen and attached it to the egg crate and let it run to the bottom of the tank where it is silicone. i then silicone pieces of wood and rock to help hide it and fill the cracks with gravel.

and your done.

i was more into the frog aspect than the fish so i only kept a few species like bettas, koolie loaches, and tetras in these tanks.

thats how i always did it. the lighting you need is all for the plants, not the frogs...so dont go buying overpriced pet store UVA/B bulbs! just give the frogs vitamin supplements every so often. pretty easy as far as frogs go.

hope that helps....hope there aren't too many typo's either :c4:

[RichBowyer]

I hope you don't chew your fingernails.........:sconfused:

[ganoderma]

?

for the record its spelled vi*V*arium :)