I'm new to keeping amphibians and would like to get into the hobby. I have been doing a lot of research, but the more I know the better! I have a 20 gallon high (24X13X17) sitting around that I would like to turn into a poison dart vivarium with live plants. I have a light with a colormax T5 18W and a6700K T5 18w full spectrum bulbs. I plan to use the substrate mix from Josh's Frogs and culturing isopods and springtails in the viv. I would like to keep a pair of 'tincs' in this viv and am leaning toward 'Cobalts', but am open to suggestions .

Here is a list of plants that I found that I would like to use in my viv. Obviously I will not be able to put all of these in this viv, but I was hoping I could hear other people experiences with some of these plants as far as difficulty and growth rate along with helping me choose which plants would go best together due to environment needs and contrast. I tried to choose plants that I thought could grow in the same viv all plants can be found at Josh's Frogs and that is also where I am getting my information for these.

Bromelids:
Neoregelia 'Mo Peppa Please'
Neoregelia punctatissimia 'Joao Marcio'
Neoregelia 'Pepper'

Background/Vines:
Philodendron cordatum
Tradescantia fluminensis 'Wandering Jew Tricolor'
Alocasia 'Tiny Dancers'
Pilea spruceana 'Friendship Plant'
Syngonium obtusifolia variegata
Calathea 'Velvet Touch'

Mid/Foreground:
Cryptanthus bivittatus 'Red Star'
Episcia cupreata 'Silver Skies'
Selaginella martinsii 'Jori'-Jori Spikemoss
Nephrolepis cordifolia 'Lemon Button Fern'
Macodes petola Jewel Orchid
Streptocarpella sp.
Columnea 'California Gold'-Goldfish Plant

I plan on using great stuff for my background covered in coco fiber. I plan to have a low corner outlined in medium to large river rocks so the water as a place to pool or at least drain to provide a damper area. I do a viv setup in mind will try to post pictures soon. It will have a large corner shelf and I medium piece of driftwood that is perfect from planting bromeliads! There will be another small shelf area and a large piece of drift that will be in the middle of the div.

Also post pictures of similar sized builds for inspiration! Thanks for reading and/or commenting

Hello everyone! First of all I can't wait to get to know all of you and see your different darts and viv and hear everyone's experiences! It's so amazing how a hobby can bring people together I do not currently have any darts or vivs set up yet. I want to make sure I am well educated and up to the task of keeping these beautiful creatures before I dive in. I have kept fish for several years and live aquatic plants. I have even done some breeding for local fish stores and other private sales. I also have experience in keeping other reptiles such as snakes and bearded dragons. I like the idea of darts because of their amazing colors and activeness during day hours. I also LOVE having natural environment habitats with live plants! I also like that I don't have to have a very large tank to keep them, and by large I mean 55 gal+. Although I am only starting out with a 20 gallon high that I have laying around. I have done a lot of research and would love to have a pair of D. tinctorius 'Cobalt' in this viv. I thank everyone in advance for all their help and encouragement and can't wait to get going on this project. Although it will probably be slow moving as I am expecting a little girl who is due at the end of June, so this project will come along as money and time are aviliable. I also want to get the viv established and give the plants some time to grow and fill in before adding any frogs along with the cultures of Isopods and springtails that I plan on letting culture in my viv.

Guys I'm copying and pasting this from posts I have made here in England,please forgive me,I've had a horrendous week and don't really feel like writing out the sadness over and over. I would ask guys that once again the EU will be the butt of much angst by my american frogger mates ,please don't think bad of all of us. Some of us really do care so lets not do all the bashing this time. But it is very important I think that everyone knows, what has happened. I am very aware that frogs have moved from EU even UK to America,so I hope to prevent that on this occassion.

Oh one last little thing from me just me,lads your example with the auctions, your generosity, the little notes from folks here of support to me via PM, the dudes helping with sponsorship Thank you you folks rock !!

As many of you know I am a staunch supporter of sustainable frogs for our hobby. I have and am trying to do what I can in my own little way to help support the work of one project in particular. This project is called Tesoros de Colombia. Please read the other threads here on this very forum if you have not yet become aware of this incredible story. Oh hell, well I'm at it sign the petition and give a bit to help too.

I've been talking to the guy that runs this for a good while now. He is called Ivan Lozano. Recently Tesoros have had some restrictions put on export,hence the petition,and me asking for help again. So i'm back trying to help Ivan and talking with him oft of late. In a conversation in the last few days he mentioned that he is devastated that someone has recently smuggled a lot of Lehmanni out of Colombia,and they are bound for the EU. It seems that a whole population of Red lehmanni have been pretty much systematically wiped out. Lehmanni are just hanging on by a thread guys,the situation with them is very very serious. The pet trade is implicated in this fiasco,over collecting for export cited as a primary source of population decline even above habitat destruction.

It is utterly heartbreaking to me that this hobby I adore so much can plausibly part of causing an animal's extinction in the wild especially one that we are meant to adore and be fascinated by. That this should happen at a time when a man has tried for 9 years, I think now, to provide a legal and sustainable means to provide us with these very frogs is unbelievable. It is an action taken for pure selfish and monetary gains.

Obviously,Ivan is incredibly sad,authorities are being made aware and I would urge anyone here to steer clear of these stolen animals and their potential offspring on a huge level!! This is a most grave situation,frankly I would love to see them returned to Colombia. But I think the damage is already done and I just hope beyond hope that a viable population still exists in the wild now.If ever you needed a rock solid reason to donate to Tesoros or to not buy a particularly stunning frog..... you now have it.



Part of Ivan's remit is not just to provide us with genuine legit colombian frogs,but also there is a rock solid genuine conservation side to his business. At this time he is working on the reintroduction of truncatus to an area where they once existed. The habitat restoration is I think complete,the next step the frogs. This primary experiment,will give him more knowledge for the future plan,This is to reinstate a whole population of lemanni, to the wild.

What the guy must be thinking at this time beggars belief, He's banging his head against this bloody wall (his government) the hobby support is well not great,(fair play to the yanks for trying) and some XXXXXX goes in to his country and steals a lot of a seriously endangered species for who,our hobby in europe


Guys I am seriously upset by this news I can't believe it has happened the timing is horrendous. It will also possibly mean Ivan, if he can stay fighting for his cause and get past this permit nonsense will not export the red morph to europe now. He doesn't want his legitamate frogs to be mixed into these and somehow get legalised I guess, and frankly if that is what he decides then I can't blame him. So some scum has concievably blocked this frog for all of us,But I guess that is for the best as obviously if any red lehmans show up in the reasonably near future even genuine CB it will be seriously evident where they have come from.

Once again please stay away from these frogs,we are close to Europe,part of it, we hear rumours and folks regularly go to EU to bring new frogs here,but we just can't be part of whole populations being wiped of the face of the earth and undermine the work done by Ivan and his Team into the bargain

Seriously gutted !!

Stu

http://youtu.be/hx8Guvsb0Bc

Hey all. Jim here in Bellingham, WA. Longtime freshwater fish keeper, new to frogs. I've been reading for a couple of months over at dendroboard and found my way here. In the process of setting up my first viv using what I've learned. I'll continue reading and share if I have anything to offer. Always on the lookout for local folks, resources & breeders so feel free to contact me via pm or ?Thanks for all the great info!
Jim

I wanted to share this as this is not only something that I have been using for many months, but something I feel that should be part of every froggers dusting regimen and tadpole feeding schedule.

Astaxanthin is a keto-carotenoid. It belongs to a larger class of phytochemicals known as terpenes, which are built from five carbon precursors; isopentenyl diphosphate and dimethylallyl diphosphate is a 100% all natural algae is produced from Haematococcus microalgae. This algae is composed of many different types of carotenoids. Carotenoids such as Astaxanthin, with of the remaining parts consisting of canthaxanthin, lutein and beta-carotene carotenoids.

As many of you know amphibians rely on different caretenoids to successfully process specific vitamins, minerals, and even calcium for proper homeostasis. Like most reptiles, amphibians heavily rely on Vitamin A for oogenesis, vision, taste, and for proper saliva ratios on the tongue to properly catch prey. With that being said, this carotenoid not only offers the optimal ingredients needed for proper vitamin absorption it also acts as a nutural color enhancer. It has been studied that in many salmoniods that astaxanthin brightnes the color of these fish substancially. With my own use, and other hobbyists use it is noted it does the exact same thing with amphibians.

When I use this carotenoid I dust the fruit flies weekly with it. It sticks to the flies extremely well, and also does not flake off like many other supplements seem to do. SInce starting this supplement about 6 months ago I have noticed a dramatic increase of viable egg production in many of my Ranitomeya. While it is still being studied on everything that astaxantin does for the amphibian (100% positive) the facts are adding up, and egg development being a key with this caroteniod.

My supplement schedule is as follows: Vitamin A plus every 2 weeks, astaxanthin once weekly, Calcium Plus 5 days a week. I am hoping to start carrying Dendrocare here shortly as well, which honestly is significantly better for Dart frogs than the Calcium Plus in my opinion.

I am not only posting this to hopefully educate, but to also see who else is using the carotenoid, and their thoughts on it. I use astaxanthin in my tad pole food that I make and I have noticed considerable positive results when using it in comparison to not using it. My girlfriend is studying to be a Veterinarian, and will be a board certified (the 6th in the country) amphibian veterinarian. With that being said we have access to something called VIN, which is a forum for Veterinarians to post studies, ask questions, and brianstorm cases. This website is a weath of information that I have access to, and hopefully soon I will be able to post studies on astaxanthin and its positive properties with amphibian homeostasis, after I get permission of course.

So to my horror slugs are becoming a problem. I'm not sure where I got them but in all honesty I did not serialize all my pants before putting them in the viv. By not doing this I must have introduced them along the line somewhere.

At first I thought it was just one. I caught it and fed it to my fish. A fitting end to the creature that was eating my plants. It was not big. Maybe a half inch in length. So with the removal of it I thought the catastrophe was averted, but that was just wishful thinking. I soon found another. It was smaller maybe 1/4 inch. I was still in denial thinking that surely the one I had got rid of before was too small to have reproduced and this must have been another that hitchhiked and after removed would be the last I would see of them.

I was wrong. I keep finding small baby slugs here and there. They are starting to inpact my plants significantly and I don't think picking them out when I see them is going to do the trick anymore.

So my question is, short of a complete redo what can I do to remove these pest?

Well I had had it with the enigma that is seasonal hydei production. After another spring of terrible yields I am contemplating a shift to Turkish gliders as my main food source since they have been great producers, and bean beetles as my large supplemental food item. This helps simplify my bug rack rotation as well.

So any downsides to my plan?

Hello all! I have the following for sale and all were bred by me. Shipping is available from FedEx to ShipCenters only, or home delivery if weather is looking between 40 and 80 during that day. Orders under $150 are subject to a $15 packing charge for materials. I double box, and use phase22 pouches.

D. Tinctorius 'New River'
about 4-5 months
limited qty
$55 each





D. Tinctorius 'New River'
sub-adults (10 months or so)
limited qty
$85 each



D. Tinctorius 'Green Sipilawini'
about 4-5 months
limited qty
$45 each





D. Tinctorius 'Azureus'
Probable pair
Few pairs available
This pair is on hold. Have 3 pairs available.
$225 shipped

Came home last night and discovered a clutch of eggs from my Baru's. I Have my fingers crossed that all goes well.