# No ventilation?



## oneshot (Mar 5, 2010)

I’m trying to design a simple way to convert an aquarium to a vivarium. I have a simple solution but it would leave out the usual ventilation at the top. I know many times we end up covering up most if not all ventilation to keep it humid. So I’m wondering if a tank with no ventilation would be ok. I’m talking about the health of the frogs, not the fogging of the glass.


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## Encyclia (Aug 23, 2013)

Is this for keeping dart frogs? If so, then nope. This doesn't reflect the current best practices of dart frog husbandry. Completely sealed tanks were (or should have been, anyway) left behind more than a decade ago. Under the best of circumstances, a top opening fish tank is difficult to manage with regard to ventilation. What you propose would be much worse. You will probably need not only a vent, but also a fan to move air because you don't have access to the passive ventilation available in a purpose-built enclosure. 100% humidity is not good for dart frogs.

Mark


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## bulbophyllum (Feb 6, 2012)

I hate to say it but, pretty much everyone is going to say fish tanks kinda suck for dart frogs. You totally can make them work. It's not that hard. But, an exo terra front opening tank is way better. It is already vented properly except a little too much on the top and is so much easier day to day to access from the front.

Fish tanks totally work fine if you do get the air flow right and that means either cutting vents in the glass, removing a pane and rebuilding that side with a vent strip, or using a fan. A vertical conversion also works well from what I hear.

But, building a top for a fish tank and setting up a fan is really not that hard and is pretty necessary to maintain a healthy environment for your frogs in my opinion.


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## varanoid (Jan 21, 2011)

I'll also add that proper ventilation is also important for healthy plants. It makes a huge difference and sufficient ventilation increases the variety of plants you can keep significantly, if not exponentially. Cheers


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