Tank Evolution

This was the first tank setup I put together--fairly simple. I bought a ten gallon tank, a light hood, a 2.0 UVB bulb for the hood, a screen covered in plastic wrap to keep up the humidity and keep in the fruit flies, a couple of plastic plants, a thermometer and hygrometer, a piece of driftwood, some eco-earth, and some sphagnum moss.

The eco-earth is dried coconut fibers and comes in a brick that needs to soak in water for a little while. (which triples or quadruples the volume of the earth) This was squeezed out so it was still moist, and placed directly into the bottom of the tank, then covered with a very thin layer of sphagnum moss (a pre-dried moss originally from New Zealand). Then I very artistically placed the two plastic plants in there along with sticking the thermometer and hygrometer (measures humidity) to the wall of the tank. I tossed in the log and halfway buried a water dish off to the left and in went my first two frogs.

With the addition of a third frog, I decided that I wanted to have an actual vivarium (a tank with plants and animals in a kind of mini-ecosystem) so I bought a few tropical plants, removed all the dirt from their roots, soaked them in a 10% bleach solution to remove any pathogens or unwanted organisms, removed the plastic plants and planted these in the substrate (what the bottom layers of dirt, moss, etc. are called). I really liked the plants we chose: from the far left, we have a beautifully colored plant (that I don't know the name of), two snake plants in front of it, a bromeliad (these plants are amazing! Here is a link for pics and more info!)shooting off a pup (the name for the offshoot of an additional plant from the original) and in the back right corner, a clipping of Philodendron with only a couple of leaves on it. So far, this tank led to the most activity by the frogs, and you can see George there sitting in the food dish. I believe the reasoning for the increased activity was the seemingly high level of plants and shade. The dart frogs that I have are characteristically shy, and a well-planted vivarium tends to increase their activity. The plant in the back left corner produced a rather large shaded area that was very visible and they were very active in that area. However, that plant was also a problem as it started to grow extremely fast and began pushing up the tank lid! Not a good thing when you want to keep fruit flys and little frogs from escaping! So... sadly, it didn't make it into the next tank and the colors and shade are definitely missed.

The current setup. I decided to try for a seemingly healthier and easier to care for vivarium with this setup. The white stuff you see at the very bottom of the tank is pvc pipe, egg crate, and #7 mesh from a fabric store. This creates what is known as a false bottom--the water can now drain through the substrate and will collect away from the roots of the plants. How to get the water out? A cleverly placed pvc pipe at the back (with a cap on it) will allow the exess water and waste to be siphoned out as it collects on the bottom. The false bottom is covered with a layer of hydroton (expanded clay pellets) which help with the drainage and are not as heavy as pebbles, and they are covered with another couple of inches of sphagnum moss. The plants were replanted (without the red leafed one) directly into the new substrate and were rearranged slightly.

Here is a picture without the flash--in the last one, it was only so you could see the false bottom setup. You'll notice the bromeliad (growing like a weed I might add) is now in the left corner with the snake plants now split up to either side. The philodendron is also going to town in the rather tropical conditions. You may notice the black cylinder in the middle which is just a film canister which provides a hiding place and possible future breeding place. The green stuff just in front of it is an aquatic plant called java moss which is supposed to do well in tropical vivariums as well. I'm not sure how long it takes to grow, but I haven't seem much from it yet. We will have to wait and see. The wires coming down in the back are the new digital thermometer and hygrometer that is outside the tank with only the nodes being inside. I have found many flies escaping through the small crack in the vivarium that is allowed by the wires coming down, so now we only check the temp and humidity from time to time to allow for a more sealed vivarium. You can see the external gauge in the picture just above this one.

I think the current setup is the best one I have had for the plants so far, but it is very bright, and I will definitely be adding more shaded areas to future tanks. As I seem to be adding one new thing for each new tank, my next project will be... a background!