# Water features for 10 gallon dart frog tank



## ANudibranch28 (Apr 24, 2021)

I'm kind of a beginner when it comes to dart frogs as I've only had my tank for 5 months now, so I'm not sure if this is a good idea, but I want to add a water feature for my terrarium. It's a 10 gallon and has 1 Dendrobates Auratus 'Super Blue'. Are there any suggestions for what I could do? I was thinking either a river, waterfall, or pond.


----------



## connorology (Oct 6, 2018)

ANudibranch28 said:


> I'm kind of a beginner when it comes to dart frogs as I've only had my tank for 5 months now, so I'm not sure if this is a good idea, but I want to add a water feature for my terrarium. It's a 10 gallon and has 1 Dendrobates Auratus 'Super Blue'. Are there any suggestions for what I could do? I was thinking either a river, waterfall, or pond.


Hello! I'd probably recommend holding off on the water feature, at least for the near future. We'll see what others say, but rightly or wrongly, I think folks on here are pretty anti-water feature. I think water features can be cool and functional in the right context, but I wouldn't recommend them for a beginner. The main issue IMO is that maintaining acceptably clean water within a cycled healthy vivarium can be pretty advanced stuff. It's basically a blend of aquarium keeping and vivarium keeping, so you would need to be at least somewhat experienced at both or you'd essentially be doubling your hazards (I've seen folks speculate about frogs drowning - I'd personally be more concerned about ammonia/nutrient buildup).

So it's a lot of variables if you're starting out, and you'd likely need a much larger than ten gallon tank to do it right. I'm not a fish guy, but the general rule of thumb I have heard is that the smaller the water volume the less stable the system. 

But, where there's a will there's a way - if you're set on it I might try keeping a fish tank and a vivarium for a while and learn all you can about both (water parameters, viv parameters, species behavior, etc) and then sort of think how in the future you could build a very large vivarium with a water feature and get the whole system cycled


----------



## geginn64 (Jun 24, 2020)

Connorology made alot of great points! 

When I started on my viv I wanted a water feature. Thankfully, several on hereswayed me into not building one and I'm glad I didn't.
It is not a necessity as much as it is esthetically pleasing to our eyes and ears. But there is the possibility of the feature failing resulting in tearing out all of your hard work later, or sooner. 
I feel the size of your viv is just too small for such a feature. Once all of your planting and the plants mature you might find out that there isn't any room left.
These little frogs are not built for swimming and the possibility of drowning could happen. 
I wanted to build a very shallow water stream that water barely covered the small pebbles so a frog could just walk on and over or just sit on. Even that would have been a headache eventually. 
I'm not saying to build or not to build. The frog(s) most likely will not care if there is or is not a cascading waterfall or a very shallow stream or pond.
If you are set on building a feature I would suggest do as much research as you possibly can. And get a much – much larger aquarium/vivarium. Also a good canister filter like Fluval to help keep tannins from turning your water as dark as a weak cup of coffee.

I hope we can help in one way or another. I'm still learning myself and the more experienced one here can and do teach me a lot about my questions and about the pics of my vivarium. 

I wish you the best!l

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk


----------



## Harpspiel (Jan 18, 2015)

Aside from the issues with darts and water features, which I will let others expound on, 10 gallons is tiny. If you add a water feature to a 10 gallon I’m pretty certain you will make the whole tank into a “marginal” (water’s edge) environment. Everything will be constantly wet due to a combination of splashing, wicking and added humidity. You’ll need a special set of plants like Bucephalandras, Biophytums, filmy ferns, etc. - any plants you have now would likely melt or rot from the added water. It’s potentially a cool build but getting pretty far away from dart frog territory.


----------



## ANudibranch28 (Apr 24, 2021)

Thank you all so much for the replies. I think, if I ever get a 50+ gallon viv or terrarium, THEN I might do a water feature, but for now I'll hold off.


----------



## Kmc (Jul 26, 2019)

Frogs are more likely to die mysteriously or for more observant keepers, noticed as ill, with integrated water features than without, or small ones that are completely replaced every 12 to 24 hours to stop turnover.

Pathogenic microorganisms arnt filtered out with a good filter or lots of aquatic plants. 

There are people who have them and it works but these are usually large, established environments sparsely populated.


----------



## asteroids (Mar 20, 2021)

A water feature in a 10g would be great for species like fire belly toads, but not so much dart frogs. a 10g is already tiny to begin with, so adding a water feature would take away even more space. Here is one in a 10g tank I made for a fire belly toad (Who is benefited from a water feature)







The feature was not running in this picture, sorry


----------



## Socratic Monologue (Apr 7, 2018)

@ANudibranch28 , if the viv you mentioned here is the same one as pictured here, it would be best to identify it as an ExoTerra 12 x 12 x 18. A "10 gallon" is not only a description, it is the name of a fish tank that is 20 x 10 x 12 inches. This clarity matters, because recommendations for a vertically oriented enclosure are often different than those for a horizontally oriented one.


----------



## varanoid (Jan 21, 2011)

I'm generally against water features for darts all together. Can they be done safely and effectively......yes......but not in a 10 gallon tanks regardless of it's dimensions. 10 gallons is pretty small. It limits the species eligible for the setup as well as any plants you plan to use. An empty 10 gallon looks sizeable when empty, but when you account for a false bottom, substrate, and background it's really cramped.


----------



## davecalk (Dec 17, 2008)

ANudibranch28 said:


> I'm kind of a beginner when it comes to dart frogs as I've only had my tank for 5 months now, so I'm not sure if this is a good idea, but I want to add a water feature for my terrarium. It's a 10 gallon and has 1 Dendrobates Auratus 'Super Blue'. Are there any suggestions for what I could do? I was thinking either a river, waterfall, or pond.


 Everyone said that that tank is too small for a water feature along with being new to the hobby. All of that is accurate and relevant. If you think you need a little bit of a water feature then slope your gravel so that you have a little tiny corner in one side of the tank that is below the water level of thing tank. If you don't have a drain in your tank you could use this corner to drain the water from the tank. Beyond that it is not a good idea to put any kind of a larger water feature into a tank that size.


----------



## jgragg (Nov 23, 2009)

@OP - tons of good info already offered here, I won't belabor any of it.

However, I can make one "gateway drug" recommendation - a drip wall with a wicking break for the substrate. 
Pros (or, answers to the legitimate objections made above):

No standing water.
No recirculated water.
Easily made low-profile.
Much easier to build and manage than a conventional open-water water feature.
Hands down the best way to get a nice patch of lush happy moss.
Cons:

Pretty much requires a drill & drain. Or extreme care with your water inputs, and manual extraction.
Still costs you the time and money of a pump, reservoir, timer (mine only run a couple times a day for about a minute each run), drain bucket, and water lines for fresh and drain water. Gear-wise it's all the same crap as a conventional lotic water feature - it's just an easier build, and much easier to maintain. But the cost is about the same, unless you go big on filtration with your conventional water feature (its own set of hassles).
You gotta nail that wicking break. Otherwise, sodden mess.
This can be a fun little project, which can give you some great experience (and maybe help you invent some choice new cuss words), as well as mitigate the worst concerns already well-enumerated by others here. Honestly though I'd *still recommend your first one to be in a dedicated, no-animals tank*.

good luck!


----------

