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Serving the Dart Frog Community Since 2004...

Complete noob, where do I start?
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Complete noob, where do I start?
#1
I am seriously considering setting up a vivarium as my next hobby. I love the ides of the little habitat, and they are nice enough looking that my wife loves the idea as well.

I have been poking around this forum a bit. I want to know..is there a complete newbie guide somewhere that I can read and therefor know what alot of the terms you guys use mean? I want to do this right.
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#2
I'm a relative noob at this too, havign only built one viv so far. I did months of research before I finally got my feet wet. There Is alot of good infromation in these forums and you should eb able to find whatever it is you are looking for in here. If you have any questions I will be more than happy to answer them as best I can as will others. Feel free to PM me anytime as Iam constantly checking this site. Good Luck!
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#3
Hi RedSkies,
welcome to the hobby.
As Travis said, some of your best information can be found on the forums. Also a lot of vendors (ourself included) will usually have an introduction page, on their website, on how to get started setting up your vivarium. Most of the pages are fairly basic, but at least it will give you an idea what is needed to get started. After that you are only limited by your imagination. There are a lot of websites that have galleries of vivariums that can be used for ideas and inspiration. Any questions you might have let us know, we will do the best we can to answer them for you. Most of all, take your time, and have fun with it!

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#4
Actually, I read one of your posts on these forums and followed the link to your site already..I read the intro as well. My wife and I both loved the setup you had in your gallery, um...pic 28. I would love to do something like that!

If you have a little pool at the bottom like that, is it also to keep a very small fish or two, or should they be avoided?

I guess I will just dive into this forum and study. Right now I am looking at the basics I will need, such as lighting and substrate and such. I cecked out black jungle and just got myself confused. Are things like coconut huts and bags of 5 tea leaves nescessary? I guess I just need to know more. Thanks!
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#5
Tea leaves are used when bringing up tadpoles, as far as I know. The are boiled for there tannins to create tadpole tea. I haven't used them because as of yet I don't have my frogs. I am letting my viv grow before I get them in the spring. Coco huts are used for breeding your PDf's.
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#6
RedSkies,
do you have an idea of which dart frogs you are interested in starting with?
I think I know which picture you are referring to. We do have a small school of Neon Tetras as well as a couple of Amano shrimp in the water area of that tank.
As Travis said, the Almond leaves are used to brew a "tea" that is used to raise tadpoles in. Coco huts are used as spawning sites for some of the large dart frogs.
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#7
RedSkies Wrote:If you have a little pool at the bottom like that, is it also to keep a very small fish or two, or should they be avoided?

I have two tanks with significant water, and they both house killifish. I never feed them, but they absolutely thrive on fallen in fruitflies. They breed well too. The frogs never touched them, however I suspect they may have occasionally tried to eat fry from the surface. Not 100% sure of this though. Heres a photo from one of my fish/frog tanks

[Image: EannulatusMonrovia.jpg]
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#8
hop-a-long Wrote:
RedSkies Wrote:If you have a little pool at the bottom like that, is it also to keep a very small fish or two, or should they be avoided?

I have two tanks with significant water, and they both house killifish. I never feed them, but they absolutely thrive on fallen in fruitflies. They breed well too. The frogs never touched them, however I suspect they may have occasionally tried to eat fry from the surface. Not 100% sure of this though. Heres a photo from one of my fish/frog tanks

[Image: EannulatusMonrovia.jpg]

what species of killifish to you keep in your Paludarium?
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#9
That looks like a clown killie (epiplatys sp?) I used to keep them they are very small... I never considered them in a "water feature" in a viv (wheels spinning.... Big Grin)
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#10
"If you have a little pool at the bottom like that, is it also to keep a very small fish or two, or should they be avoided" ?

I have two tanks with significant water, and they both house. I never feed them, but they absolutely thrive on fallen in fruit flies. They breed well too. The frogs never touched them, however I suspect they may have occasionally tried to eat fry from the surface. Not 100% sure of this though. Here's a photo from one of my fish/frog tanks

Very cool. I have often thought about adding fish to some of my vivs. I just don't have very big water features.

Rich
Darts with parasites are analogous to mixed tanks, there are no known benefits to the frogs with either.


If tone is more important to you than content, you are at the wrong place.

My new email address is: rich.frye@icloud.com and new phone number is 773 577 3476
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#11
Welcome!
A good place for information is Black Jungle Supply lots of informtion and they have a new good book on Dart Frogs. I just got the book and full of information and supplies. All I can say is read all you can about the subject and just go with looks good to you and you cant go wrong.
Good Luck!
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#12
Quote:Very cool. I have often thought about adding fish to some of my vivs. i just don't have very big water features.

I had 4 danios in a 35 gallon tank that had about 6 gallons of water. They lived for about a year. Now, I haven't seen them in a quite some time. The tank had a pair of leucs.

I just found 12 froglets in the tank (talk about over crowded...2 adults and 12 babies in a 35 gallon hex). It was way over grown and I was checking for eggs twice a week. I believe there were 3 sets of clutches with 4 froglets that that made it. The oldest 4 froglets were the size of my 3 month out of the water leucs.
www.JoshsFrogs.com - All Your Poison Dart Frog Supplies in One Place!
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#13
I have always wanted to keep some neon tetras in a vivarium with frogs, so would you recommend it?
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#14
you probably could but neons like a lot of room to swim, despite their small size. something more sedentary like some killies are probably better suited. (Most people don't know about killies but they have a cult following in the fish world...they're the coolest IMO. Give em a websearch and you might be hooked!)

Also, as far as tropical fish go neons aren't the easiest to keep.

Hope that helps,

Matt
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#15


I have heard that they are not able to breed Neon Tetras in captivity, and the ones found in fish shops are wild caught/ imports, and have a high mortality rate.
Cardinal tetras are very similar in appearance and are bred in captivity, and have a better success rate.
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