got a couple questions

[deranged-jester]

howdy all,
i have a couple questions. i have a spare 60g tank that i wish to turn into a vivarium...is this a flawed strategy?? will it be hard to vent the tank and to keep the front glass fog free? also what kind of lighting would be best for it....im wanting to either keep auratus or luecs and heavily planted. which brings up another question for venting...in saltwater or planted tanks you cant have glass inbetween the light because of the effect it has on the spectrum....does that not hold true for this? and if it does how do you keep the tank the right humidity without a glass top?
sorry im a newb to vivariums...kept fish for 15 years though lol
--thanks in advance

[Cindy Dicken]

Hi Deranged-Jester,
welcome to the hobby.
Using an old aquarium will be fine, just be sure to through clean it and check for leaks.
You need to keep in mind the dart frogs do require humidity levels between 80-100%, so keeping the glass clear will be a challenge sometimes. I would recommend using a solid glass top, with vents incorporated into the top. This will allow you to control the humidity as needed, cover the vents to increase the humidity, open the vents to clear the glass and decrease the humidity. You can also use a computer fan wired into your lights to blow air across the top of the tank, this will help to cool the tank, as well as helping to clear the glass. You can use a flourescent light also, however if the tank is tall you will need to increase the amount of wattage/ bulbs to compensate for the height of the tank. The flourescent do not put out as much heat as the PC lights, but they also do not put out as much light watt for watt.

Be sure your top is very secure and tight fitting to avoid escapees.

While corals do need the UV therefore you are not able to use tops on saltwater tanks, that is not an issue with a planted vivarium, provided you are able to supply enough light for the plants to grow. Power compacts are a great source for lighting, however the trade off is they do put out a lot of heat. The computer fans will help to counteract the heat from the lights.

What are the dimensions of your tank?