# Bunsin's 29 Gallon P. vittatus Vivarium



## Bunsincunsin

I thought I would share some photos of my 29 gallon Phyllobates vittatus viv. now that it has had some time to grow in a bit. It houses a group of four vittatus; there's currently one calling male and one suspected female and the other two I believe to be males. I think they will be one year old by the end of Novemeber. I've still got a couple more Peperomia species to put in but they are currently in seperate grow-out containers until I can get some cuttings from them.

Full plant list includes:
Bolbitis heteroclita tenuissima
Dischidia bengalensis 'wide leaf form'
Dischidia ruscifolia
Elaphoglossum peltatum 'coarse leaf form'
Fittonia verschaffeltii 'minima'
Marcgravia sp.
Microgramma heterophylla
Microgramma lycopodioides
Microgramma vacciniifolia
Neoregelia 'sara head'
Peperomia prostrata
Peperomia serpens


One of the inhabitants during quarantine:



After initial planting:



8 Months in:



Vivarium left, center and right (click to enlarge/undistort):





Fittonia verschaffeltii 'minima':



Peperomia serpens:




Peperomia prostrata:



Elaphoglossum peltatum 'coarse leaf form':



Microgramma lycopodioides:



Microgramma heterophylla (click to enlarge/undistort):


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## ICS523

wow really nice viv, your frogs are going to love it.


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## Frogtofall

Very nice! I love the Sara Head and Dischidia of course.


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## Dizzle21

WOW! what a beautiful viv! Both plants and frogs seem very healthy!
What is that in the top left corner of the 2nd and 3rd picture?


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## Bunsincunsin

Thanks for the comments guys!



Dizzle21 said:


> WOW! what a beautiful viv! Both plants and frogs seem very healthy!


Thank you! Yeah, the plants seem to be liking the conditions I'm providing for them; roots are going everywhere, broms are putting new leaves out every now and then, Dischidias are putting out some decent growth (I've even seen a few flowers from the ruscifolia) and the prostrata is going crazy! As I type this the male vittatus is calling like crazy too.

The vittatus are pretty shy, but the calling male seems to be getting more and more bold to the point where he will actually stand his ground as I put my face up to the glass (to a certain extent, of course). They do get me nervous - sometimes I won't see one of them for a week or two and I'll start to get paranoid that something happened to them and then one day, out of no where, I'll see all of them out sitting around the calling male. I actually kind of like how shy they are; it makes me appreciate the plants a little more and reminds me just how gorgeous the frogs are when I do get a few-second glimpse of them.



Dizzle21 said:


> What is that in the top left corner of the 2nd and 3rd picture?


That's the lid to my false-bottom access pipe for siphoning off excess water.


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## Bunsincunsin

Here's some audio I got early this afternoon of my male vittatus calling (hiding, of course!). You might want to turn the volume up a bit; it's kind of quiet.

Phyllobates vittatus Calling Part I (Audio, 0:55) | Flickr


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## Bunsincunsin

I had the macro setup out before the lights went off and figured I'd share a few photos of some plants I have in grow-out containers (hopefully these will make their way into the viv. soon).


Gonocormus sp. fern that I had pop up in some Black Jungle tropical moss I purchased a while back. The rhizomes survived a bleach dip (the moss was full of worms, slugs and snails) and the new fronds are looking pretty nice!




Peperomia sp. 'Banos, Ecuador' which I received as a small bonus cutting from Manuran with the purchase of some P. serpens cuttings. The leaves have some really nice patterning, but the flash blows it out a bit...



And finally, some Peperomia sp. 'Little Red Tree' - this plant got really beat up during shipping, but I was able to salvage a few stems and leaves which have now rooted and are beginning to put out some new growth.


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## BlueRidge

Awesome looking tank, looks perfect for that group.


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## Bunsincunsin

Not much of an update since the last full tank shot, but I figured I'd snap a quick photo since the glass was clean. The frogs just turned 1 year old OOTW around late November/early December.


Full Tank Shot:



One of the vittatus through dirty/foggy glass:



Crazy growth from the Peperomia serpens 'small leaf form' (and this is after I took five nice sized cuttings from it just a few weeks ago):



Peperomia sp. 'Banos, Ecuador' right before I put it in the viv. two months ago. It's putting out quite a bit of new growth, but most of the leaves are still smaller than 5mm or so. I'll try to get some updated shots of this soon...



Peperomia prostrata - which is starting to turn into somewhat of weed in my tank!





Some sort of liverwort that came up in the moss with the Gonocormus sp. fern:







And, how about a dwarf white isopod...?


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## eos

Looks very nice. I love how it looks open, but there are tons of hiding spots for the frogs to feel comfortable too.


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## Mitch

Great looking viv. Looks very natural. Nice photos too!


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## Bunsincunsin

eos said:


> Looks very nice. I love how it looks open, but there are tons of hiding spots for the frogs to feel comfortable too.





Mitch said:


> Great looking viv. Looks very natural. Nice photos too!


Thanks for the comments, guys.

I added a nice sized piece of cork bark to the right side of the viv. with some patches of sphagnum and a few nice cuttings of Peperomia serpens 'small leaf form'. The Elaphoglossum peltatum is sending out some new rhizomes right at the base of it; hopefully I can train it to climb up and then I'll have a little epiphyte "log".

The frogs always seem to go MIA for a week after I rearrange or add something to the tank. I'll probably post another update in a few weeks or so...


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## Bunsincunsin

Marcgravia sp. new growth. This plant has taken well over three months to establish and adjust to new growing conditions. I think it is just starting to put out some new growth in my viv. (maybe?), but it has been slowly putting out new growth in several grow-out containers for a few weeks now (these photos are of those plants).






And a few new ones...

Peperomia sp. 'Ecuador'




Monstera obliqua


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## Buddysfrogs

I love that brom on the background. Its beautiful. Do you know what the name is? Beautiful tank.
Buddy

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2


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## MrBiggs

I like the tank! Is the fan a DIY? Could you detail that a bit?


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## Bunsincunsin

Buddysfrogs said:


> I love that brom on the background. Its beautiful. Do you know what the name is? Beautiful tank.
> Buddy


Thanks, Buddy. The bromeliad is a Neoregelia 'sara head'.




MrBiggs said:


> I like the tank! Is the fan a DIY? Could you detail that a bit?


Hey Travis, thanks! Yes, the fan is a DIY unit; I basically copied what Pumilo did for his 75 gallon corner tank (though, with slightly different parts) - see this post: http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/me...6581-pumilos-75-corner-viv-13.html#post692895


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## Bunsincunsin

Here are a couple really horrible photos of one of the vittatus up in the big bromeliad:





















And, some random plant photos...


Some fern that's popping up in a grow-out container:



















Dischidia ruscifolia


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## Bunsincunsin

I put the Monstera obliqua in the viv. and also added another piece of cork bark to the left side of the tank. The vittatus are really liking the addition of these cork pieces and are now able to use the upper part of the background - not to mention they've created more hiding spots for the frogs as well. I've been seeing them out more often now. I'll try to get an updated full tank shot soon.

Here are some more plant photos until then...


Elaphoglossum peltatum



Peperomia serpens 'small leaf form'


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## rigel10

As said Eos, it looks very open, but at the same time it looks natural. Beautiful! And beautiful frogs!


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## KarmaPolice

I like your plant choice for this tank. Subscribed


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## Bunsincunsin

rigel10 said:


> As said Eos, it looks very open, but at the same time it looks natural. Beautiful! And beautiful frogs!





KarmaPolice said:


> I like your plant choice for this tank. Subscribed


Thanks!



So, this tank is officially one year old. It's been cool to watch this thing grow in and evolve over the months - I can't wait to build the next one!

Here it is one year ago, for reference (this was a few months before I added the vittatus):



Bunsincunsin said:


>



And today:




You can see the cork bark pieces I added to both the right and left sides. I initially just added the one on the right side, but then decided to add another to the left side to clean up where the Peperomia serpens 'big leaf form' was. I also added a few new hides and more leaf litter to the left side. I tore out a bunch of Dischidia ruscifolia from the background and I'm thinking about adding in an orchid or two... I just have to decide which ones now...!


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## mitcholito

Bunsincunsin said:


> Gonocormus sp. fern that I had pop up in some Black Jungle tropical moss I purchased a while back. The rhizomes survived a bleach dip (the moss was full of worms, slugs and snails) and the new fronds are looking pretty nice!


Thats a rare one and a very nice surprice.  I love filmy ferns! Great tank also!


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## Bunsincunsin

Thanks. I'll have to get some more photos of that Gonocormus - it's starting to spread out more and the fronds are now about twice the size that they were in those photos.


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## Bunsincunsin

I finally got a close-up of one of my vittatus - not the best photo, but the only one I could get before I scared him away by hitting the flash against the top of the light hood... Surprisingly he stayed put as I opened the lid to the tank and changed lenses on my camera! It's cool, you can see the chromatophores (?) in the orange stripe on its nose. The photo was taken with a Nikon D7000 with a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D on a Nikon PK-13 27.5mm extension tube.


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## Bunsincunsin

Just a little update...

I got a few orchids and mounted them onto a cork bark tube. I took out the Dischidia and moved the Microgramma lycopodioides into a brighter location; it seems to be doing better and is now putting out some new rhizomes. I've been slowly trying to turn this into a loose Costa Rican biotope as I find plants that have similar growth habits to those that are in there now; I will probably replace the Peperomia sp. 'Banos, Ecuador' with something similar from CR as well as the Fittonia... Also, I now have two calling male vittatus in the tank; I believe the group is a 3.1.

The updated plant list includes:

Elaphoglossum peltatum 'coarse leaf form'
Fittonia verschaffeltii 'minima'
Gonocormus sp.
Lepanthes eciliata
Marcgravia sp.
Microgramma heterophylla
Microgramma lycopodioides
Monstera obliqua
Neoregelia 'sara head'
Peperomia prostrata
Peperomia serpens
Peperomia sp. 'Banos, Ecuador'
Pleurothallis costaricensis
Pleurothallis grobyi


Full tank shot (excuse the reflection on the left side of the tank...) - I'll try to get some other shots that will hopefully show off the branch a little better...




Lepanthes eciliata in bud - it's also sending out a new growth:




Pleurothallis grobyi:




Pleurothallis costaricensis:




Peperomia sp. 'Banos, Ecuador"


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## Bunsincunsin

Bunsincunsin said:


> Lepanthes eciliata in bud - it's also sending out a new growth:



I came home from the beach yesterday to find this!


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## TheCoop

All I can say is wow! Beautiful Viv bud.. I'm gonna hit you up when I need some more Peps


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## skanderson

great looking viv. love the plant selection and always like to see nice vits.


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## Bunsincunsin

TheCoop said:


> All I can say is wow! Beautiful Viv bud.. I'm gonna hit you up when I need some more Peps


Thanks man; I've got a couple of cool ones plus some ferns I can send you, just let me know!



skanderson said:


> great looking viv. love the plant selection and always like to see nice vits.


Thanks!


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## cpalmerpdx

Really beautiful viv, Shaun


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## pdfCrazy

Very nice tank. I think vittatus are undervalued frogs. I'd like to do a 40 breeder with about 6-10 vittatus as a group in the future.


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## Dendro Dave

pdfCrazy said:


> Very nice tank. I think vittatus are undervalued frogs. I'd like to do a 40 breeder with about 6-10 vittatus as a group in the future.


Ya the ones I had (became victims of the ice storm years back) from sports_doc (who has these breeders now?) had really nice red color. I don't think he keeps them anymore so I'd love to know who is working with them to get again in the future. I might have an old pm from Doc letting me know, I'll have to go digging. I don't know, maybe others would color up as nice with good supplements, but I'd like to start with good colorful stock 

They were cool frogs, and actually pretty good/colorful display animals IMO, and mine at least were fairly bold. Like a lot of other less popular darts, they really have to be seen in person to be appreciated. Trivs and some bassleri are the same way. I became surprisingly fond of them and the black bassleri.


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## Bunsincunsin

cpalmerpdx said:


> Really beautiful viv, Shaun


Thanks, Catherine!



pdfCrazy said:


> Very nice tank. I think vittatus are undervalued frogs. I'd like to do a 40 breeder with about 6-10 vittatus as a group in the future.


Thanks. They're definitely cool frogs; they're gorgeous, have a really nice call and a lot of character. I'm glad I chose them.


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## Bunsincunsin

Just a close-up shot of Lepanthes eciliata...


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## LordHollis

Defanitly looks nice good job


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## Bunsincunsin

This just bloomed yesterday!

Pleurothallis costaricensis:


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## Ellylove

Your tank looks fantastic! LOVE the close up shots and ohmygosh I'm jealous of your mini orchids!!!


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## Bunsincunsin

Thanks, Ellylove.



Here's a quick shot I just took of one of my males calling; he's been going at it all day now.


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## GP dynamite

Everything looks fantastic. I love your orchids as well.


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## Bunsincunsin

Thanks, Ed.


I just got this one in today - finished re-mounting it and took some photos. Love the foliage on this one!

Trichosalpinx orbicularis






Underside:




I got a few other Costa Ricans in recently that I still need to get some photos of. I'll most likely be replacing at least one of the broms, if not both, with one and the other may replace the P. prostrata and the F. verschafeltii as a form of ground cover.


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## Bunsincunsin

Here's a quick video I took the other day; surprisingly I was able to grab my camera, switch lenses and setup the tripod and still get the guy calling out in the open! I was trying to focus on the Lepanthes eciliata bloom at the end but was unable to get a focus on it - sorry about the dirty glass. And, how about another photo of the male previously posted?...

Video (you'll probably have to turn the volume up a bit...): Phyllobates vittatus Calling | Flickr - Photo Sharing!


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## amazonangel

Nice, you always know they're happy when they start calling


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## Bunsincunsin

Here are a few photos of a really cool, miniature Philodendron that I got a while back from a very generous board member (thanks again!) - Philodendron sp. 'Costa Rica'. This will be going in as soon as it roots and begins to send out some new growth - though, I have been informed that it is a _very_ slow grower.


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## Bunsincunsin

It has been getting fairly warm in my room lately, but the _vittatus_ don't seem to mind...


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## Bunsincunsin

Here's a newer addition to the viv. - Peperomia emarginella 'Panama'


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## rigel10

Do you have any other frog? Or other vivs?


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## Bunsincunsin

rigel10 said:


> Do you have any other frog? Or other vivs?


Nope - just these guys for now.


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## rigel10

I started with a trio of epips but a few months after I took other frogs - and I would like more! Now I have ten vivs, six with frogs (pums, imis and epips). Greetings


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## Bunsincunsin




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## iRyan

Bunsincunsin said:


>


Very nice shot. This thread has sold me on wanting some of these guys in the near future.


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## Bunsincunsin




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## Bunsincunsin




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## Bunsincunsin

Here are some updated shots of the tank I took a few minutes ago. Some things are still changing, but for the most part I think I've got it where I want it!


The updated plant list includes:

_Elaphoglossum peltatum_ 'coarse leaf form'
_Lepanthes eciliata_
_Marcgravia_ sp.
_Neoregelia_ 'sara head'
_Peperomia emarginella_ ‘Panama’
_Peperomia serpens_
_Peperomia_ sp. ‘Costa Rica’
_Philodendron verrucosum_
_Philodendron_ sp. ‘Costa Rica’
_Pleurothallis gracillima_
_Pleurothallis grobyi_
_Selaginella_ sp. ‘Costa Rica’
_Trichosalpinx orbicularis_


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## rigel10

Always glad to see how evolves your viv. Too bad for me the lack of space, otherwise vittatus would be in my wishlist!


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## Bunsincunsin




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## rigel10

Gorgeous! Do not you fear that Philodendron verrucosum grows too much?


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## Bunsincunsin

rigel10 said:


> Gorgeous! Do not you fear that Philodendron verrucosum grows too much?


Thanks!

Do you mean that it will outgrow the tank (get too big)? I'm not too concerned; so far the leaves have been staying about the same size or smaller - which is perfect. I was told that _P. verrucosum_ is easy to keep at a desired/manageable size and that only once it's allowed to climb it will begin to produce the larger leaves.


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## frogparty

Good to know! I love that plant, but have always hesitated to use it because i feared it would get too large.


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## snake54320

Bunsincunsin said:


> Thanks!
> 
> Do you mean that it will outgrow the tank (get too big)? I'm not too concerned; so far the leaves have been staying about the same size or smaller - which is perfect. I was told that _P. verrucosum_ is easy to keep at a desired/manageable size and that only once it's allowed to climb it will begin to produce the larger leaves.


Do you think this could also be the case with other big-leaf reputated plants such as _Monstera spp_ (thinking about _M. acuminata_ in particular) ? 

Beautifull tank whatsoever, even so the design is very minimalist, the plants were perfectly chosen and give a real sens of harmony to the set-up.


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## Greasy

Ooo I like that Philodendron as well! Interesting texture and color but relatively discrete... Do you mind telling me where you purchased yours?


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## Dartfrogfreak

Very nice vivarium!

I love P. vittatus!


Todd


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## Spaff

IceDragon said:


> Ooo I like that Philodendron as well! Interesting texture and color but relatively discrete... Do you mind telling me where you purchased yours?


What's even better is that this species is one of those that produces fuzzy petioles, which just adds to why this species is awesome!


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## Bunsincunsin

snake54320 said:


> Do you think this could also be the case with other big-leaf reputated plants such as _Monstera spp_ (thinking about _M. acuminata_ in particular) ?
> 
> Beautifull tank whatsoever, even so the design is very minimalist, the plants were perfectly chosen and give a real sens of harmony to the set-up.


Thank you. I would think it could be possible to keep most anything at a desired size with a bit of pruning, but I can't really say for sure - some plants are notorious for getting too big; it wouldn't hurt to give it a try - if it doesn't work out the worst that can happen is you have to trade it out to someone for a more suitable plant.




IceDragon said:


> Ooo I like that Philodendron as well! Interesting texture and color but relatively discrete... Do you mind telling me where you purchased yours?


I purchased mine from boardmember Manuran - he always has top quality plants!




Dartfrogfreak said:


> Very nice vivarium!
> 
> I love P. vittatus!
> 
> 
> Todd


Thanks Todd. They really are great frogs!


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## Bunsincunsin

I'm assuming this is normal - and that she's just gravid - but wow, she's big!


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## harrisbt

By the looks of it, she may have fully developed the tads already and will pop out a dozen froglets.


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## p51mustang23

Nice work! I'm about to plant my first viv, and I will most surely be stealing some ideas about plant selection from this one.


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## Bunsincunsin

New leaf litter, new full tank shot.


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## rigel10

Very nice! I like the viv which look wild, when the plants grow without see the hand of the "gardener".


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## butterslug

beautiful viv and photography, good luck!


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## dendrothusiast

Hey Shaun what kind of leaf litter is that if you don't mind me asking? I'm really liking how this tank has filled in.


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## Bunsincunsin

rigel10 said:


> Very nice! I like the viv which look wild, when the plants grow without see the hand of the "gardener".


Thank you rigel, it has been looking pretty wild in there lately - and this photo was taken after I did some trimming! I think the problem is that the tank is just too small, not that the plants are out-growing it. 



butterslug said:


> beautiful viv and photography, good luck!


Thanks.



dendrothusiast said:


> Hey Shaun what kind of leaf litter is that if you don't mind me asking? I'm really liking how this tank has filled in.


Arman, I currently have a mix of Magnolia and Laurel Oak leaf litter in there; the Laurel Oak was purchased from boardmember Reef_Haven, if you are looking for a source.


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## hydrophyte

Man, you sure have a good eye for arranging stuff in a viv.


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## Bunsincunsin

hydrophyte said:


> Man, you sure have a good eye for arranging stuff in a viv.


Thanks, Devin. It certainly isn't as nice as some of the other vivaria on here. It has taken me a few times to get the right placements (as you can see from all of the changes in the tank layout) - I think the plants do most of the work, though! 


Here's a new shot of one of the males:


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## Bunsincunsin

I had a couple of extra rocks after making a set for my new Peruvian display, so I decided to add them to my _vittatus_ tank.

A quick updated full tank shot at just over three years:


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## Bunsincunsin




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## NJR

Awesome. It was cool without the cork, but now its awesome.


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## Sammie

I think you're being way to modest when you say "It certainly isn't as nice as some of the other vivaria on here.". It most definitely is, in fact it's one of my all time favorites, and I'm not easily impressed. It's "clean" and lush at the same time, very elegant!

I tip my hat to you my good sir


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## Devanny

I LOVE the tank! 😃


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## Chrisc147

I love all of the orchids. I have a whole tank dedicated to just orchids. Especially like the Lepanthes and Trichosalpinx.


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## rigel10

Chrisc147 said:


> I love all of the orchids. I have a whole tank dedicated to just orchids. Especially like the Lepanthes and Trichosalpinx.


Why do you wait to post pictures?

@Bunsin: What plant is that with broad leaves in the foreground in your last FTS?


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## Bunsincunsin

rigel10 said:


> What plant is that with broad leaves in the foreground in your last FTS?


_Philodendron verrucosum_


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## Bunsincunsin




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## Bunsincunsin

I found one of the males transporting some tadpoles last weekend. Here are a few photos of two of them.


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## dennis2311

Good luck with them, wish you the very best!


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## roundfrog

Your tank looks great!
Do you notice a difference in size between a non-gravid female and a regular male? I know I have a male, as he calls all day, but I'm not sure about a female.
Thanks


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## Bunsincunsin

roundfrog said:


> Do you notice a difference in size between a non-gravid female and a regular male?


I would say the females are noticeably larger than the males - slightly longer and a little wider. If your males are overweight it might be more difficult to distinguish between sexes.


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## rigel10

Nice! Keep us updated


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## Andrew Lee

Post some pics when the tadpoles become froglets or develop legs!


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## harrisbt

Would love to see an update of this tank and these frogs! Always looked to this tank for inspiration and enjoyed the HQ photos.


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## Okapi

harrisbt said:


> Would love to see an update of this tank and these frogs!


I second this


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