Here is a photo of my 20 gal vivarium with live plants, tropical java moss, and 3 resident D. auratus (mint green) poison arrow frogs. I have a recirculating pump in the back left corner that draws water through the hydroponic clay substrate and dumps it back out above the "pond" to simulate a flowing spring/stream. It has been set up over a year now. Using german compact flourescent lighting (2 X 97Watts at 10000K). Plants love the light and humidity and I am always cutting things back. Here is a close up. Note that the back wall is covered with treefern panels and I have live bromeliads growing on the back wall. George
Thanks. I cut small shallow pockets in the fern panel and used just a small dab of Liquid Nails adhesive to afix the bromeliads onto the background. They have since grown additional holdfasts and are pretty firmly rooted now. There are actually two separate fern panels siliconed against the back glass. I filled all cracks with sphagnum moss. I am amazed how well plants grow under these high light, high humidity conditions. It looks like I have the same species of fern in my viv as what's in yours. My peperomia has flowered on me twice. Note that the top is almost completely covered with a piece of clear lexan. Humidity stays above 85 %. I think the key element to one of these "systems" is the lighting. It is hard to beat compact flourescents for sun-like intensity. They are expensive (two bulb retrofit fixture for 2 x 97w 36" cost about $160). But the bulbs last a long time and the effect is stunning, especially in a dimly lit room in the evening. And when the male PDF's start their musical trill, it is like having a slice of the rainforest in your living room. I am in the process of converting a 90gal Oceanic Lizard Lounge into a dart frog system. That system will have a mister on timer. I have two Dendrobates tinctorius that are waiting to go into it. I'll post those pictures in a couple months after everything stabilizes and acclimates. George
I am going to get some PDFs from a local breeder and I am setting up their vivarium. Can you tell me what kind of plants you are using in the tank? I dont know which one to get :/
Liljimmy- this post is from 2005, to get a response from everyone you might want to post a new thread asking your questions in the general amphibians section of the forum. Good luck!
