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So I am almost done setting up my vivarium for my dart frogs that I plan to purchase in the next two weeks at the Long Island Reptile Show on March 15. I have a quick question regarding my filter I am installing. I tried a canister filter but had problems so I returned it and decided that for $20 I might as well build my own wet dry filter. Pretty much I will have a 2" overflow installed under my false bottom that will allow the water to flow into the overflow, down a tube attached to a hole in the bottom of the tank, into the wet dry and then pumped back into my tank down a waterfall via a submersible pump. My biggest issue was deciding how big of a hole to drill in the bottom of my tank. I had ordered a 1" hole diamond drill bit. I had read that for a tank between 25-90 gallons, a 1" hole is big enough. However, with a bulkhead, the tube delivering the water to the filter can only have a diameter of 0.5". Is this big enough to deliver the water to my filter without creating any annoying sounds or having any problems? Keep in mind that my tank only will be holding a maximum of 5 gallons (extra water will be housed in the wet dry so that even after water evaporated, there is enough water to be siphoned to my tank).
Thanks for the input!!
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How big is your enclosure?
Can you post some pics?
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Yes. Sorry for not posting that information. My enclosure is a 30 gallon tall tank. The dimensions are 24" long by 24" high by 12" deep. My false bottom is 2" high and so I have just under 2" of water. I have posted an older photo. I plant to put the hole in the front right corner so that I can make a removable false bottom square so that I have access to the overflow.
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That is a very tall tank. Add to that, you are decreasing the amount of floor space, which is actually 'living' space by about 33%.
What kind of frogs are you wanting to put in there?
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I plan to put 2, maybe 3, d. Tincs. I had spoken with some people who said definitely don't exceed 3. What would you recommend?
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All 'heavy bodied' frogs will benefit from more floor space. No dart frogs live, play, hide or are 'found' in water. In fact, there have been numerous drownings reported. The common misconception is that 'all frogs love and need water'. Untrue. Dart frogs are land frogs.
Your viv is too tall (designed) for tincs. I would go with two to three thumbnail frogs or pumilio.
