# 18 x 24 anthonyi Zaruma/Buenaventura biotope update



## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

Update thread on this tank with new photos. As much as possible plants occuring in the vicinity of Zaruma/the Buenaventura preserve in El Oro province were used, or otherwise similar plants from the same genus. The tank houses 1.3 SI anthonyi. Lots of breeding and tadpoles. I got some weeping moss and carbon rili shrimp for wetter areas and the water section. 

Latest layout. Moved the Stelis argentata. Will add more clay and some plants to where it used to be. Maybe Restrepia trichoglossa?




Foreground: Zootrophion atropurpureum, Passiflora discophora, Pleurothallis grobyi


Stelis argentata in its old spot in tank. You can also see a mystery Drymonia, a bit of Anthurium scandens, and Anthurium sp. 'ECG' 


One of the female anthonyi. The frogs really like to hang out on the leaf litter either right up at the front or frequently amongst the cover of the roots/branches in the center of the tank


Side view, again not quite the current layout. 


Largest female anthonyi


And some tadpoles. The pond is full of these critters must be ~30 or so.


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## mongo77 (Apr 28, 2008)

Tank looks great. Good luck with all those tads!


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## rigel10 (Jun 1, 2012)

Great frogs and tank! I love biotope vivs!


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

Thanks guys!

Does anyone have the problem of not knowing when to stop tinkering with a vivarium? Seems every time I look at it I have a new idea and end up adding/rearranging things. I decided to put in a few new hygrolon vines-hopefully it doesn't end up looking too cluttered!

~Joseph


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## mongo77 (Apr 28, 2008)

Start a new tank and you'll leave this one alone for a while.


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## xxmonitorlizardxx (Mar 12, 2013)

What lighting are you using?


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

monitor: One of those is a ~11 watt planted aquarium LED fixture of some sort I got from an aquatics wholesaler. I can't figure out the brand-I really like the slim design. It does run a bit on the higher kelvin side however.

The other light is a plant grow LED from Firstrays.com Produces nice warm tone and has 660nm leds for the plants.

I'm also finally going to pick up Dracula mopsus and cordobae this week from a grower in the bay area!

I reconfigured and added in a new liana...these are all connected to a timed input of water so they stay constantly moist. One liana with aquamat was not wicking well enough to keep stuff on it moist so I wrapped one of these water lianas around it.


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## Moghue (Jan 15, 2013)

WOW nice tank. Im hoping mine will fill in more with what plants i have in there. Plus you have anthonyi which i have, they are great little frogs and always out and about.


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## bruhmelioid (Jun 14, 2014)

That's a good looking tank! I always seem to have a hard time doing what I want in a smaller enclosure, but you seem to have it fairly well figured out. 

Good luck with all of the froglets to come!


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

Added a few new plants!(which necessitates rearranging everything else, of course...) Most notably the showpieces for this tank-Dracula cordobae and Dracula mopsus. The mopsus division turned out much bigger than I was expecting-a few of the leaves touch the front but I'm betting as the plant rounds out this will not be an issue. It was difficult to mount in that spot(tied it down with some string and hemp cord) but hopefully it works out and doesn't keep wobbling around. It is strategically placed to show off the small pendant blooms this species produces.

I really hope cordobae does well for me-it has multiple spikes coming off of it right now.

I've got this tank to the point where the distinctive plants are found in the particular area I am trying to replicate. Many of the others are similar stunt doubles. So I feel this qualifies fairly well for a biotope. 

I added a lot of smaller plants to the hygrolon lianas. Previously I've been running water through these but I am unsure if this will keep up with all these plants. I think this tank could really use a mistking or a fogger system but I started the thing from ground up intending not to have to use either. We'll see if I jump for one. 






Anyone have any thoughts on the ID of the fern? I thought it was kind of cool...we will see if it turns out to be well mannered or not. Photos don't pick it up well but the leaves are a faint blueish green. 






First Philo. verrucosum leaf! 




Proud father. Some froglets have begun crawling out of the pond.


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## rigel10 (Jun 1, 2012)

Really nice! I know Dracula are very difficult to grow. Keep us updated!


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

That really depends on the species. Most of the genus are cool growers-and thusly are rather touchy. They also much prefer water with a very low TDS content. And of course they appreciate air flow. A grower I know likes to use live sphagnum to pot these guys up in.

mopsus is a pretty hardy little Dracula. A quick DB search turned up success with this species as well as lotax in vivaria-couldn't determine how well vented the viv was. Andy's lists mopsus as a vivarium species.

cordobae is a species that prefers warmer conditions than most of the other species(would be classed as an intermediate sp. found between 750-1000m elevation).


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

I will add some pictures, but I redid the tank a bit-I kind of prefer the look in the pictures here but I removed the hygrolon liana the mopsus was on and added in a thicker one that I sloped to look like a log. Should look even better as it fills out.

I finally have an orchid spiking in this tank! The Stelis argentata is firing up 3 spikes. I knocked off one during the redo so it may have been meaning to do more.


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

Ok, since it is about to get put in a car and driven to WA some reference pictures are in order. Here's hoping the plants/critters survive. I will be removing the adults and draining most of the water from the bottom but their is no practical way to capture all the tadpoles and froglets. I think they will do fine though.








Visible in this picture: Big clump of Pleurothallis picta, Pleurothallis grobyi, Passiflora discophora, Trichosalpinx chamealepanthes, Lepanthes fiskei


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## Defica (Mar 5, 2013)

How often do you mist? I've got a Zootrophion atropurpureum that dropped it's first new leaf and I'm a bit worried I've got my tank too wet.

Your tank looks fantastic btw.


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

Dylan: Thanks! I had a zoomed reptirain going for a while. Then I put in the hygrolon lianas and watered those from within using it or a dosing pump. Right now I am hand misting and looking into either putting in a misting system, or a fogger.

How do you have that orchid planted? I would take it out and inspect the roots and see if everything is ok. If it is getting sprayed frequently and you have it mossed with sphagnum that could be doing it. Mine is just the root ball tied to the side of an aquamat liana that stays pretty moist. This species is probably a bit more tolerant than some pleuros(like, say, Dracula) as the leaves are fairly large and thick.


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## Defica (Mar 5, 2013)

I'll take a look tonight. I've got it mounted on hygrolon with a little sphagnum. The roots were in pretty bad shape when I mounted it. 

Thanks for the feedback.


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

That sounds like it should be ok. If it is a bit wet you might try sandwiching a bit of filter floss, ecoweb, treefern fiber, or similar material to make the wicking more difficult. Zootrophion atropurpeureum appears to so far be a pretty fast growing orchid. 

I suppose it is probably illegal to keep updating without photos but 3 species of orchids are currently sending up spikes. I spotted mopsus working on at least one new spike, and the cordobae has thrown out 2 new spikes in addition to the several it has currently.


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

not sure why this pic is stretched oddly

Dracula cordobae has done quite well in this tank so far. New leaves. Smaller plant is about to bloom, larger one is working on what looks like 6 spikes.


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

Orchids in bloom.

3 species have bloomed so far! Stelis argentata which fired out 5 spikes that I did not take photos of. 

I noticed this bizarre bright purple flower from Zootrophion atropurpureum.





and Dracula cordobae is opening a bloom. Smaller plant has 3 spikes larger one looks like 8-may cut some off that are going in unpromising directions to save plants energy. 



Full tank shot for perspective on how big this bloom is.


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

The Dracula seem to be performing very well-both D. cordobae plants have been throwing out new leaves and flowers. D. mopsus has been putting out new leaves...no blooms yet. The old leaves on the plants from one source have a lot of spotting but this has not affected the new growth at all. 


Some D. cordobae flowers-this sp. can also rebloom off the same spike at least once. Unfortunately these flowers seem to be drawn by the light of the adjacent viv so they are not really growing the right way. 


None of the moss mix is really showing much signs of growth-but some greenhouse mosses seem to be doing ok on the hygrolon.


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## benjaminfrogs (Sep 26, 2014)

What color are your frogs? Are they maroon or deep red? They are hard to discern from the pictures and I have never seen them in person


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