New To The Dart Frog/Vivarium World

[qfriend]

Hi everyone. Great Site.

I am new to the Dart Frog/Vivarium World. I am in the process of setting up a 55 g. D. Frog Vivarium. I am thinking Dbt's.

1. If I purchase a waterfall, is it necessary for me to create an additional myself?

2. I prefer a black base bottom: Type 1 Setup. With a little leaf litter and Jungle/tree bark, along with some live tropical plants.

I'm Trying to go for the Natural Black-Brown/Green Tropical Feel. I think it will contrast with my frogs and Black 55 g. setup nicely and bring a sense of calm realism to my setup.

3. Can Co-Co Fiber be used alone with the other substrate items mentioned on top? Will I compromise drainage without gravel? I noticed a local pet store had a small terrarium setup with only the Co-Co Fiber and the Associate advised that it was ok. as long as I monitored my automatic mister. The gravel thing just doesn't do for my ideas. I appreciate your suggestions to a newbie. smile.

[brettlt]

I can't believe no one has responded yet, so I will give it a shot.

I do not understand question #1 or #2. So I will move to #3. It is not usually reccommended to use coco fiber alone as it tends to get soaked and does not drain well. There are many ideas about mixes. I have a lot of water and needed a lot of drainage, so I used 1" of leca on top of my "false bottom", then fiberglass screen, then a mix that consisted of
4 parts coco fiber
2 parts milled sphagnum moss
2 parts chopped Oak leaf litter
2 parts natural charcoal
1/2 part boiled, washed, rinsed play sand
and then whole oak leaves on top.

This seems to be working well, but it has only been up for about 6 weeks.

[Rainfrog]

You will definately want a drainage layer of your plant will start to rot and you will have odor problems

[tomatogirl]

Where do you get natural charcoal? Does this chemically purify things like the carbon used in aquariums? (Forgive me, I'm still figuring all this out, and fascinated.) I know that many people growing aquatic plants in aquaria don't use carbon because it can adsorb some of the micronutrients they add into the water column for the plants (iron particularly, which is often a limiting micro). Any ideas why this doesn't affect nutrient absorbtion by the plants? I may be in way left field here-- I'm just curious about its role in the system. (In a previous life I was definitely a dead cat...)

[brettlt]

You can buy natural charcoal at garden centers, Home Depot, and even Walmart. It is charred hardwood. The bags at Home Depot and Walmart will be much larger pieces than at the garden center, at least the ones in the barbeque area. It helps areate the soil, since it does not break down for many many years. It is used in a way similiar to a cypress mulch.
It is not really for purifying like carbon, at least not as far as I know. Also, springtails like to hang out on it.

[funwithfrogs]

i read somewhere that you put a layer of charcoal (fish type activated carbon) in terrariums (im talking strictly plants) for the property of absorbing nutrients and then releasing them, i think Nitrates were the suggested form of nutrient. Im clueless with frogs as to what type of charcoal to use, however im quite positive charcoal is not a requirement, but drainage is necessary. I would use rocks on top of your false bottom and then another layer of fiberglass screen between the rocks and your soil-sphagnum peat -leaf litter mix. I wonder though, if the drainage is really necessary with a false bottom high enough off the water level surface? It seems a little redundant. (i think i just posed more questions than i answered.....my apologies)

[Rainfrog]

To question 1: No. If you want to purchase a preformed water fall that would work fine. In a 55 gallon tank you could definately have 2 or more waterfalls if you want. #2. I dont understand.