a big mountain hello

[powderhogg01]

Hey everyone, I am in colorado, living high up on the continental divide. I have always had fish and lizards and have decided to build out a tank for all three.
I have a 6'x19" by 36" tank which did not survive a move. I have decided to tank the tank and build it into a 2 section dart frog vivarium. the larger section will house a lizard species as well as several small fish species. the smaller section will be for the dart frogs.
I will get some pictures loaded into my computer and will post them at a later date. I have the foam mostly in place, and have some of the background with coco and moss. I am going to run a separate sump for each tank, a 20 gallon for the large side and a 10 for the frogs, acting as a water source for the misters and a small water feature.
I am looking for the best source of wood for my tank currently, as thats about where I am in the build. I am at the point where I am finishing the hardscape and am ready to see this tank come to life.

[Philsuma]

Hi there and Welcome to Dart Den ! There are a lot of CO froggers. I have an uncle in Denver and I'd really like to come back out west to see him. Don't be shy and post away!

Cork is a pretty useful wood, as it can take the humidity. Most woods root.

Please read these threads thoroughly:

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=4134

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=4496

[powderhogg01]

I have had the tank partially built for over a year while I Read and planned everything out. This is not an idea off a whim of a hat, it is something i have been working towards for a long time. I plan on using some cork, but was looking for maybe which woods look best over the course of time. I was liking the way ghostwood looks once it gets all covered in moss.
I understand the wood will degrade over time in the viv, thats what it is there for anyways.. add visual appeal and some long standing effect on the tank.
I should state that I am only trying to house one species of dart frog, and in the larger section lizards and fish. The tank is fully sealed at the separation, air and water tight which will limit any contagions from moving from one tank into the next.
I do not have a camera of any quality right now, so bare with my lack of pictures. I will house 2 separate life support systems below the tank, running a sump for the pond filtration and a psuedo sump for the dart frogs. The mister will get its own r/o water which will help keep the glass clean.
I am looking for anyone willing to do trades or sell background materials for cheap. currently looking for spagum as well as pillow moss, woods of any good variety and of course plants.
I breed tropical fish, and have experience in reptile husbandry. I have kept reef tanks and planted freshwater tanks for the last decade and am really ready to have a slice of the jungle in my home.
I plan on lighting the tank with 2 HO-T5 lights which are dimmable. I will also have 2 led lights in the lizard side and one in the frog side. These will all go into my reef controller which I will use to control every aspect of the tank from humidity to rain system to sunrise and set. I played with the idea of getting an ecozone so I can have 365 control of weather conditions within the tank, however at this point I will likely use the controller I have.
I will do a ventilation system similar to grimms, however I plan on making it so I can replace the fan if needs be. this duct tower will pull the moist air from the ground level and will displace it out the top section of the viv giving the plants the air movement they need. If I find it needed I will add a small circ fan into the tank where I need in order to keep the glass from becoming too foggy.
anyone have any other suggestions before I drill the tank bottom and get the hardware going.

[powderhogg01]

some low quality pictures so you can at least see what I am working with.

lizard side

whole tank
f
frog side

[Philsuma]

looks like a right-crackin' start and I can tell you have done quite a bit of research for construction. Good on ya.

I'd still consider cross contamination - lizard/frog, frog/lizard. I'm no vet, but it scares me. There's also a recent 'help me' thread from a guy with a rack of frogs and lizards with the frogs losing weight and dying.

[powderhogg01]

I have read a few threads, and it seems a lot of the time those keepers are not keeping things truly separate. feeding the same foods and waters, possibly even having water systems mixing between tanks. I will be keeping the sump sealed and it will have a uv filter in line killing any pathogens in the water. the frog tank will be running on its own sealed sump system. I will be using direct r/o from my ro system, its has a tds count of 0 always(as long as the filters are changed ever few months)..
I will continue to research what I can where I can, but I truly think this idea will work out.