# Dendrobates leucomelas vivarium with construction pics



## Dartfrogfreak (Jun 22, 2005)

Hey guys thought Id share another one of my new vivs with yas!

Its a ZooMed 18Lx18Dx24H

Base layer









Next i cut holes to help hold the Manzanita root burls in place









Wood in place









Then I decided I should do side walls as well 
I kept each separate so very little foam / silicone would hit the seams of the tank. If the tank would ever need to be torn down this would make it much easier .

























Planted








Begonia U217 








Neoregelia dungsiana x 'Tiger'


































Neoregelia lilliputiana x 'Giant'









And a few shots of the inhabitants

































And a final overall shot of the viv









Hope you all enjoy!

Todd


----------



## eos (Dec 6, 2008)

Great looking tank... i love the moss covered wood... and nice background work!


----------



## hexentanz (Sep 18, 2008)

Very nice job!


----------



## Dartfrogfreak (Jun 22, 2005)

Thanx guys!

The frogs are all loving their home so far too!

Im really looking forward to seeing everything grow in. Especially the bromeliads. They should at maturity create a nice canopy making shade for some of the lower light plants like the Macodes and the Pilea.

Ill try to get a shot of each of the individuals when I have some time!


Todd


----------



## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

Looks great, nice growth!!


----------



## catmanjr (Oct 19, 2010)

awesome frogs i wish i had them and nice tank probably better than my dad(catman25) has done


----------



## driftfc (May 2, 2006)

what kind of moss did you use to cover the floor and that branch? looks really nice.


----------



## Dartfrogfreak (Jun 22, 2005)

The moss is 2 different species I got from another member.

Thanx Julio, there isnt a whole lot of new growth yet.Main difference from earlier pix is because I got a bunch more cuttings of the Ficus SP Panama and several more pieces of the macodes petola LOL.


Thanx,

Todd


----------



## Goji (Oct 14, 2010)

It looks beautiful. You did a great job. good luck


----------



## Woodsman (Jan 3, 2008)

That's a really beautiful terrarium. Maybe a better arboreal tank than a leucomelas tank, though.

Good luck with them, Richard.


----------



## Dartfrogfreak (Jun 22, 2005)

Actually they are using every inch of this tank. 

I agree tho I wish I wouldve made more outcrops in the backgrounds


Thanx,

Todd


----------



## Philsuma (Jul 18, 2006)

Todd,

If you have 5 in there.....that's a bit much. They are all subadults, If I remember our conversation correctly and a couple are from me, right?

To grow them out a little.....sure....and juveniles to subadults will climb quite a bit, but when they get big, 1-2 year old, they do "settle" down and use the horizontal space @ 70% of the time.

Leucs IMO are absolutely better suiter to a Horizontal tank.

a 40 gallon breeder is damn near perfect for a group and even a 20 gallon long size makes for an excellent enclosure.

IMO.....

Oh...and that viv is DEF Awesome !


----------



## Dartfrogfreak (Jun 22, 2005)

I agree. Ive placed 5 in there until I can sex them. Im hoping for 3.2 and then Ill leave a 2.1 trio in that tank and pull the 2 extras and place them into their own tank.


Todd


----------



## Gamble (Aug 1, 2010)

Wonderful Tank ... Im a little jealous. 
I may have to use some GF the next time I build another tank ... Always looks good in every tank I see. Good Job!
The 29L gal in my garage is calling my name to use it ... when I get the xtra $ i may have to turn it into a Leuc tank!


----------



## Arpeggio (Jan 15, 2011)

Wow man that looks fantastic!


----------



## Dartfrogfreak (Jun 22, 2005)

Hey guys I thought Id share a few updated shots of this viv!

The broms have become sorta leggy but not too bad. The leucs seem to love the canopy that has been created by the broms and the Hoya pubicalyx


















Macodes petola










I will upload some pix of the inhabitants as well as more viv pix later this week!



Todd


----------



## DANdroBATES (Aug 30, 2011)

What a drastic difference in pics. Those broms have really grown out. Impressive.


----------



## YoungFrogs412 (Aug 8, 2011)

Did you ever had problems with mold growing on the driftwood? 
I keep on spraying mine down for the past two weeks and they keep coming back!

Very nice tank and thanks for the update!


----------



## exboyz04 (Mar 20, 2009)

love the canopy and how its grown it looks well nice


----------



## Dartfrogfreak (Jun 22, 2005)

Thanx for the compliments guys!

I did not have much problem with mold growing on the driftwood this time.
Though I did seed the tank with springtails which probably helped. Mold growth for the first 2-4 weeks is pretty typical especially on wood.

All 5 frogs are doing well in there. Ive had eggs (All bad but its something) And its funny to watch but sometimes they will all court with each other. LOL
I havent seen much aggression occasional wrestling but thats it and it seems to be quite far between incidents. I see everyone out and about almost every day and they are all eating well and doing great.

While I do notice they spend most of their day on the ground under the canopy, I have noticed a ton of activity in the canopy in the mornings before the lights come on.
I feel I made a good choice of layout despite some opinions of it being a more aboreal setup.

I have some pics Im sorting thru as well as taking more here and there. I will upload once Im done sorting and have atleast 1 pic of each of them 


Todd


----------



## dendrothusiast (Sep 16, 2010)

what is that moss growing in the substrate underneath the jewel orchids? I have the exact same moss all in my viv but have never been able to i.d. it


----------



## azureus for life (Jun 19, 2010)

Beautiful tank! Great floral choices. I love it


----------



## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

that does look good...especially like the vine Macodes petola--where did you find it???


----------



## Dartfrogfreak (Jun 22, 2005)

I have no clue on the moss. To be honest not many people concentrate on IDing mosses enough to even have a genus let alone species name LOL.
That particular species crapped out in a month or so. I just got some more in a few weeks ago so we will see how it takes this time.


I got the Macodes petola from several sources . All from private collectors here on the board as I remember.

Thanx for all the compliments again!

Todd


----------



## dendrothusiast (Sep 16, 2010)

Dartfrogfreak said:


> I have no clue on the moss. To be honest not many people concentrate on IDing mosses enough to even have a genus let alone species name LOL.
> That particular species crapped out in a month or so. I just got some more in a few weeks ago so we will see how it takes this time.


dang. and here i thught i came to the end of that moss' i.d. journey. Still looks good man it loves heavy moisture and bright light makes it greener. the shadier it is - it grows green veins into the other moss pieces. Good luck with it


----------



## nguyenp209 (Jul 31, 2011)

One of my favorite tanks I have seen. You've done an amazing job!!!


----------



## lapidsilver (Sep 23, 2009)

Awesome tank! Keep up the good work.


----------



## stu&shaz (Nov 19, 2009)

great tank Todd,our leucs are in a 2 foot cube i guess appraoching a year old now,and they are all over lt,so far maybe they'll get more landloving with age ,well done mate
stu


----------



## BethInAK (Jul 12, 2011)

Great tank. I really like the diagonal wood and the moss!!!


----------



## Dartfrogfreak (Jun 22, 2005)

Thanx again guys.

Ive found as the frogs hit maturity they have used the vertical slightly less.
They seem to spend time in the middle and at the top of the canopy in the mornings before the lights come on. My timer turns on at 10AM giving them roughly 3 hours of playing up high in the viv. Once the lights have been on for a bit they tend to come down my guess due to the heat near the top.(I hope to have fixed that situation by removing the Spiral Compact fixture and replacing it with a T8 shoplights. These being mounted on the rack as opposed to sitting on the glass lid hopefully will slightly drop the temps a little.)
During the day they spend the majority of the time playing and frolicking under the canopy.

I love the layout of the viv and the canopy is definitely appreciated by the leucs. However it makes it quite difficult to photograph them

I will try to grab some pix occasionally as I get opportunities.


Todd
Todd


----------



## Exasperatus2002 (Jan 21, 2014)

Great set up!


----------

