Dart Den

I'm very excited to have everything planted and I am planning on putting some bumble bees in here soon. Thanks to lightyearreptile.com, black jungle terrarium supplies, New England herpetoculture, and protean terrariums.

Hi Steve
Everything looks good. Only 2 comments for advice I can offer is 1. Add more leaf litter (more for the frogs benefit than visual appeal vs water feature), 2. You may be disappointed in the nut pods. I bought some last year and they turn to mold and rotted out within a 5-6 mos. On the flip side, youll love the fireball Broms, they grow fast and seem to keep a decent size. Again, Good job on your first viv!

Thanks Scott. I am letting the plants establish themselves before I put leaf litter in. Witch is the best one? I will keep my eye on the nut pods also,thanks for the advise.

Magnolia and Live Oak are the most resilient. I use both to get the benefit of size variance.

If you use Magnolia and/or Live Oak it will take quite awhile to break down , as those are two of the most hardiest of the leaves used.
But I like to use Magnolia and Live Oak with others. 'Normal' non-evergreen oak is somewhere in between Magnolia and Maple in it hardiness.
The combo of Magnolia , Oak, and Maple means that I will have the fast breaking down with the medium and the longest lasting Magnolia and Live Oak. There will be differing rates and conditions of break-down with the mix and this is good because you want micro-fauna food and breaking down vegetation is great bug food.

Also, you only seem to have a couple plants which will actually "fill in", so you can absolutely start putting leaf litter in if those will be the only plants used. The alocasia looking plant will most likely grow pretty tall, unless it's a dwarf species. The little bubbly plants (bad with plants, are they hoya?) you have now can be picked up before and re-planted after the leaf litter is scattered.

Great post Rich - I didn't think about using maple to get the break down faster. I usually throw in carrots and mushrooms to feed my springs, but then the nutrients in leaves and the natural bio process is still integral to overall stability of the microfauna (not just springs).

I don't plan on getting frogs for three or four months. Do u think I should put springs in now? If so how many and will they over populate? Where is the best place to get the leaf litter you are talking about? I am also having a mold issue with the log I have, any suggestions?

Mold issue will stabilize, but springs help in that process. I would add springs now, just open lid and blow in a few dozen. Phil (DartDen owner) has leaf litter for sale at a great price.

Does he have a website or do I contact him on here?

Steveoo8 Wrote:Does he have a website or do I contact him on here?

its a recent post on this forum. Not sure if your using a phone so cant see it, but here ya go

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=7189&p=47152#p47152