# New to Darts



## scooter7728 (Sep 1, 2014)

I'm new to the dart scene, but been into reptiles since I was a kid. I've been doing research and of course you come up with multiple answers and directions to go. I've got most of my supplies coming to start piecing my tank together. Going with a 40 gal tall tank figured plenty of room for at least 4-6 frogs to roam and climb. Gonna stay with one species to make it easier on me and the quality of life for my frogs. I was thinking of going with the Auratus or the Azureus as our first frog. Any pointers on things to avoid would be helpful plus tips on keeping healthy frogs.


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## mfsidore (Oct 10, 2012)

I don't recommend that many azureus together or any tinc for that matter, if you wanted to do 2 males to 1 female that would be okay, or get 4-6 Auratus. hope this helps, good luck!


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## scooter7728 (Sep 1, 2014)

ok thanks for the advice. Now do you go with a misting system or just mist it yourself


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## Friggy_frogger (Aug 24, 2014)

auto misters can get expensive I mist by hand unless you have a bunch of vivs


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## RRRavelo (Nov 21, 2007)

You may be better served with a 20 gal. high with 3 azureus or 20 long with 2 tincs. I keep my auratus in a 10 gal and they do fine. You could rack 3 10 gal vertical setups and get 3 differrent thumnail groups in the space your 40 would use up.
All these are good starter dart frogs thu leucs are my favorite for starting . Whatever you choose this is a good spot do get your information.
Good Luck with it.


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## scooter7728 (Sep 1, 2014)

i was looking at a mist king starter system. I like the idea of a fogger system but not sure you can compare that to a misting setup as far as functionality


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## scooter7728 (Sep 1, 2014)

i found the 40 gal in the garbage (perks of the job). I do have a 30 gal breeder sitting around. this is our first setup gonna be in my sons room. So we'll see how everything goes would love to have a few pairs of my own


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## InvertaHerp (Mar 4, 2013)

Another thing: under no circumstances should you order frogs from USA Frog


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## scooter7728 (Sep 1, 2014)

been looking around trying to stay local. Why not from USA I saw them on Kingsnake? I just ordered some supplies from Josh Frogs. I'm going to the White Plains reptile expo this sunday and gonna look around. I wanna setup my tank and start some fly cultures before I buy any frogs.


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## InvertaHerp (Mar 4, 2013)

Kingsnake in general has a bit of a bad rap. USA is a family who mass breeds frogs and mix morphs under the guise of being scientists. Just stay away.


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## L8apex (May 2, 2014)

RRRavelo said:


> You may be better served with a 20 gal. high with 3 azureus or 20 long with 2 tincs. I keep my auratus in a 10 gal and they do fine. You could rack 3 10 gal vertical setups and get 3 differrent thumnail groups in the space your 40 would use up.
> All these are good starter dart frogs thu leucs are my favorite for starting . Whatever you choose this is a good spot do get your information.
> Good Luck with it.


I'd rather have one 40 than a handful of tens, they seem so cramped. I rarely hear people recommend a smaller tank for frogs? 

Have fun with the 40, it will be awesome. Then you'll be doing the 30 immediately after 

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/be...ular-helpful-beginner-discussion-threads.html


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## scooter7728 (Sep 1, 2014)

yah once I have the basics down I definitely see myself starting more tanks, thanks for the heads up on the USA place. I see lots of sites just not sure who to go with.


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## scooter7728 (Sep 1, 2014)

I hope I don't get blasted for this one, instead of using real wood branches would it be okay to use some of the plastic ones they sell. I use to use them for my snakes, some are pretty real looking. I don't know if moss will grow on them like the real ones.


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## ColleenT (Aug 21, 2014)

you could, but natural just looks so much nicer. and doesn't cost that much more. I have discovered not much is cheap in this hobby, so get used to that. There are many reputable places to get dart frogs, and Black Jungle will be at the White Plains show selling some great frogs. you could put them in QT while you set up your viv. there will also be other reputable vendors at the show( i'm going- but i'm just a buyer of whatever i need at home) Congrats on your decision to join the hobby. i'm new also.


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## scooter7728 (Sep 1, 2014)

Thanks yeah ive been to the show before I'm sure there will be a few places selling frogs. Might wait til repticon on the 21st


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## SuperFastSlug (Jul 17, 2013)

scooter7728 said:


> i was looking at a mist king starter system. I like the idea of a fogger system but not sure you can compare that to a misting setup as far as functionality


Welcome! Foggers are nice, but they dont do a lot for the plants or anything, they just kinda raise the ambient humidity. However, I would definitely recommend a mistking. They work awesome, and are expandable so you can use it on multiple tanks easily. And I would go with a 40 gal personally. Good luck!


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## mfsidore (Oct 10, 2012)

scooter7728 said:


> i found the 40 gal in the garbage (perks of the job). I do have a 30 gal breeder sitting around. this is our first setup gonna be in my sons room. So we'll see how everything goes would love to have a few pairs of my own


I hear ya dude, you ain't the only one... good luck!


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## scooter7728 (Sep 1, 2014)

just grabbed 2 plants from lowes, I will wanna spray them down from what I've read. 50/50 common bleach and tap water is ok?


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## scooter7728 (Sep 1, 2014)

and springtails I can just buy a culture and dump the water into my soil and they will reproduce easily. If I decide to make a culture once I start it just add water and do I have to change the carbon ever?


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## L8apex (May 2, 2014)

scooter7728 said:


> and springtails I can just buy a culture and dump the water into my soil and they will reproduce easily. If I decide to make a culture once I start it just add water and do I have to change the carbon ever?


I'm not going to get into the plant thing, everyone has a method, look that up. I'd add some of the charcoal from their culture which has eggs (right into the bottom of the substrate) and some bug burger or similar, then pour some adults in. I add a layer of LL then more substrate on top then more LL. When I do that the springs and isos breed like crazy and eat underneath while other stuff starts to break down, then they really build a good population. Then I pour more in every few days just to speed it along or whenever froglets are eating them all up 

FWIW springs LOVE real wood, I think that's part of why my microfauna populations stay so high even with froglets


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## scooter7728 (Sep 1, 2014)

Ok thanks, I like the idea of having a food source always in the tank


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## ColleenT (Aug 21, 2014)

plants- let soak in plain water for an hour or so, then add enough bleach to make it 5% bleach. 50% will kill your plants. then soak another hour or so and rinse well.


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## scooter7728 (Sep 1, 2014)

well i put together my tank let me know any suggestions, I used hydro balls-weed barrier-plantation soil-topped with josh frogs sheet moss I soaked it and rang it out a bit and layed it over all the bare soil topped that with oak leaves and a few magnolias


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## scooter7728 (Sep 1, 2014)

gonna look for some more stuff at the show to possibly throw in there


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## scooter7728 (Sep 1, 2014)

well got back from the show and picked up some pretty little Auratus Turquoise frogs from Tincman thanks again. Also grabbed some stuff to make my tank look alot better. Can't wait til the nest show already .


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## scooter7728 (Sep 1, 2014)

this guy was hungry soon as we got home


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## scooter7728 (Sep 1, 2014)

instead of buying an expensive zoo med bulb could I buy bulbs from home depot or lowes. what would I be looking for as far as watts or a kelvin rating


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## JMims (Jul 15, 2013)

You want 5000-6000K bulbs for good plant growth...some of our sponsors also sell them relatively cheap. Make sure that vivarium is nicely seeded with springs and isopods too. Good luck!


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## ColleenT (Aug 21, 2014)

i know my azureus like to climb up high. if you decide to get any wood for the upper level, they would probably enjoy that.


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## scooter7728 (Sep 1, 2014)

Thanks grabbed a 15 watt eco ge bulb for aquariums think its rated at 5000, they climb up on the cork tube i didnt wanna cram to much stuff in there


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## scooter7728 (Sep 1, 2014)

fruit flies climbing out? i feed my frogs and some of the fruit flies make a run for it. I was thinking of put a piece of clear packing tape across the top of the glass figured maybe they cant stick to it. I flick them down for now any cure for that one


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## JMims (Jul 15, 2013)

Yeah it can be a little annoying at times, a piece of bug burger or banana might help draw them to on spot in the tank...also might draw some microfauna and make a nice feeding station for the frogs.


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## scooter7728 (Sep 1, 2014)

my new find is baby springtails in the water dish almost everyday like a group of them. i dump them out and the next day more. is this common


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## JMims (Jul 15, 2013)

Its pretty normal to find springtails floating in water in the vivarium, I wouldn't stress over it, probably don't need to dump 'em out every day.


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## scooter7728 (Sep 1, 2014)

Ok thanks i guess they never drown


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## scooter7728 (Sep 1, 2014)

leaf litter does it have to cover the whole floor or can I have spots of just moss?


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## JMims (Jul 15, 2013)

You can have some Small spots with moss, but make sure the leaf litter is nice and thick everywhere else as it is very benificial for the health of your frogs.


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## scooter7728 (Sep 1, 2014)

I made a mel ff culture 9/7, I have larva crawling around and some getting to the next stage of transforming I guess just stuck to the sides,but nothing yet. still not too many flies in there not like when I buy a culture. Did I do something wrong?


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## big_frog (Mar 16, 2010)

InvertaHerp said:


> Kingsnake in general has a bit of a bad rap. USA is a family of ignorant ass clowns who mass breed frogs and mix morphs under the guise of being scientists. Just stay away.


Very untrue! Many reputable vendors post there. So your saying that Josh's frogs, black jungle, etc.has a bad rap too? They post there invertaherp.
As far as USA frog I have yet to have anyone who's bought or dealt with them actually post. It's all people who have a personal problem with them. Go to their website and make your own educated choice.. Not saying they are good or bad just stick to the facts and see through the childish name calling.


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## carola1155 (Sep 10, 2007)

Before this gets dragged off topic... Please keep in mind that there is an existing thread for any and *ALL* discussion about that company. 

In the future, please address any questions about them privately or by pointing people to that thread.

Further discussion about them here will be deleted.

Thank you for your cooperation.


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## JMims (Jul 15, 2013)

scooter7728 said:


> I made a mel ff culture 9/7, I have larva crawling around and some getting to the next stage of transforming I guess just stuck to the sides,but nothing yet. still not too many flies in there not like when I buy a culture. Did I do something wrong?


I suggest making more than one (maybe two) cultures every week. What type of fly media are you using? What do you use for somthing inside the culture for flys and larve to climb on? Make sure you keep your cultures on some sort of mite paper too, mites can really take a toll on them. If it looks like you dont have enough flys in your cultures then you might want to buy some extras until you get the hang of it. Also search around on the forum for some culturing threads and read up.
Goodluck!


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## scooter7728 (Sep 1, 2014)

i'm using josh media with excelsior. I did everything right I added little too much water 8 oz to 1/2 cup media. I've been told use 1/2 cup water w/ 1/3 cup media. I have lots of larva just dont seem to be hatching . I figured 2 cultures at a time is a waste I only have 4 frogs at the moment.


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## JMims (Jul 15, 2013)

The only reason I would sugest two cultures is just in case one crashes you have at least backup. In regards to no larve hatching yet, just give it a few more days and you should have some good production.


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## carola1155 (Sep 10, 2007)

scooter7728 said:


> I figured 2 cultures at a time is a waste I only have 4 frogs at the moment.


Famous last words... haha

As JMims said.. it is better to have a backup. 

Trust me, you'd rather have too many flies than too few. You could make smaller cultures (cut the media and water back proportionately) once you get the hang of things. But I would wait at least a couple months to make sure you have it down first.


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## MSon (Aug 15, 2014)

Be careful. It is an extremely addicting hobby. You will soon be working for free. Pdfs are like a drug.


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## scooter7728 (Sep 1, 2014)

I have 2 ?'s today. First can you supply too much light, if my tank is 30" long should I use a 30" light/24" bulb or should I use a smaller light to provide some secluded areas? Second regarding plants are there any plants we shouldnt use? I like coleous they grow nice and firm and creeping jenny is easy to grow and will attach anywhere.


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## scooter7728 (Sep 1, 2014)

anyone feed pea aphids to their frogs?


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## scooter7728 (Sep 1, 2014)

well I figured I'd share my new frogs and changes we redid the 29 gal to a 30 gal breeder I think its much nicer


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## scooter7728 (Sep 1, 2014)

then I went out and bought myself some frogs frist these cobalt tincs


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## scooter7728 (Sep 1, 2014)

then I got me some yellow galactonotus


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## scooter7728 (Sep 1, 2014)

i just finished this, first tank I converted with just some homed depot bought items few mistakes but still fun to try


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