Bioactive Dart Frog Vivarium Build

Описание: Bioactive Dart Frog Vivarium Build: I started this video with full narration but then decided that the talking was taking away from some cool footage of my frogs. So here's three minutes of vivarium footage - details below if you're interested.

This vivarium was set up for two Phyllobates terribilis frogs who needed to be rehomed from a local keeper. My roommate and I built this enclosure when we were locked down during the California Camp Fire in 2018, and I figured it would be appropriate to share it during our national 2020 lockdown. The enclosure has been going strong for almost 18 months.

The tank itself is a 44 gallon pentagon aquarium we found used on Craigslist and re-sealed. We used the spray foam, silicone, and coco-fiber method for building the backdrop, and the eggcrate false bottom method for the drainage layer. The top is built from an aquarium topper that came with the tank and a sheet of acrylic purchased from Lowe's. We added integrated strip LED lights, LED screw-in bar lights, and a computer fan that promotes ventilation in the enclosure and prevents the glass from fogging.

We originally controlled parameters with a hygrometer probe that would turn on the fan when the humidity reached about 80% at the top of the enclosure, but the probe eventually failed and it didn’t seem an essential part of the setup. Currently we thoroughly mist the enclosure once per day and leave the fan on for 12-24 hours per day. If I was doing this build again, I would have drilled vents into the glass right above the substrate layer to promote passive ventilation. The fan works well, but is an unnecessary moving part if you have properly set up passive ventilation. I also would not have glued the top together in a way that prevents accessing the strip LEDs. Strip LEDs are very inexpensive and bright, but the connectors that are sold for them are low quality and tend to corrode after several months and need to be replaced.

The plants used here are more common varieties as they were some of the first live plants I bought for use in vivariums. The full plant list is included below. In addition to the frogs and plants, the vivarium houses a mourning gecko, three species of isopods, and some greenhouse millipedes that snuck in. Special thanks to my roommate Nick De Lacey for his contributions to this project.

Lights:
2 x UEETEK E27 LED 11 Watt
LE 16.4ft LED Strip Light, Super Bright, 300 LEDs SMD 5050

Controller (Broken):
Diymore XH-M452 Thermostat Temperature Humidity Thermometer Hygrometer Controller Module DC 12V LED Digital Display Dual Outputs

Computer Fan:
Noctua NF-A4x10 FLX, Premium Quiet Fan

Substrate:
How to Make ABG Substrate Mix for Bioactive Vivariums:    • How to Make ABG Substrate Mix For Your Bio...  

Plants:
Creeping fig (Ficus pumila), Climbing fig (Ficus radicans), Rubber fig (Ficus elastica), Purple Heart (Tradescantia zebrina), Spiderwort ‘Green and Yellow’ (Tradescantia fluminensis), Lemon button fern (Nephrolepis cordifolia), Peperomia “rosso” (Peperomia caperata), Baby Rubber Plant (Peperomia obtusifolia), Rainbow peperomia (Peperomia clusiifolia), Turbo Peperomia (Peperomia turboensis), Neoregelia fireball, Neoregelia tiger cub, Airplants (Tilandsia bulbosa and Tilandsia ionantha), Espresso Pilea (Pilea sp.), Rabbit’s Foot Fern (Davallia tyermanii), Fittonia “leather leaf” (Fittonia albivenis), Pleurothallis orchid (Pleurothallis restrepiodes), Jewel orchid (Ludisia discolor), Asparagus Fern (Asparagus setaceus), Liverwort (Riccia species), Dwarf Baby Tears (Hemianthus callitrichoides), and African Violet (Saintpaulia sp.).

Music:

Forest Food: Ethernate (Used with permission)
H.E.R: Morgan Komure (Used with permission)