Corpus Callosum
Premium Member
So... too broke and busy to get back into saltwater until I graduate, but keeping myself busy..
My Vivaria
- Thread starter Corpus Callosum
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Corpus Callosum
Premium Member
This guy born 2 days ago.. he's like only 1/2 cm long!
directional
New member
oh my god that setup is so beautiful ... how much work is put into that? and how what is the maintenence?
Corpus Callosum
Premium Member
After I set up the tank I do absolutely nothing.. there is a piece of glass covering 80% of the tank top so humidity is maintained.. I mist once a week but I don't even have to if I don't want to. There is zero equipment other than a fan I built to recirculate air within the vivarium and the lights themselves. I feed the frogs fruit flies which I culture every 3-4 days. I have a hole in the bottom of the tank with a bulkhead+valve for drainage and otherwise there is zero maintenance.
Corpus Callosum
Premium Member
Oh, and Scott, the tank with the variabilis (the green/yellow/black frogs in the middle pictures) is the 29 you 'donated to my cause' a few months ago 
. Thanks to Larry for drilling it for me as well.
The 'isla solarte' pumilio (orange frogs, egg feeders and more territorial), are in a 40 breeder shown in the pic with T5's.
The large and rigid rosette like plants are bromeliads, epiphytes which holds water in between the leaves, and this is where the frogs breed and raise their tadpoles.
Thanks,
. Thanks to Larry for drilling it for me as well.The 'isla solarte' pumilio (orange frogs, egg feeders and more territorial), are in a 40 breeder shown in the pic with T5's.
The large and rigid rosette like plants are bromeliads, epiphytes which holds water in between the leaves, and this is where the frogs breed and raise their tadpoles.
Thanks,
Reef Junkie
Premium Member
Wait, I am friends with the owners of D&J reptiles and Doug has told me the maintenance required to keep those frogs alive, nevermind breeding. Those frogs are just as difficult or even harder to keep then a reef tank! Not nearly as expensive though.
Incredible, I love it!
Incredible, I love it!
imlocke
New member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11037698#post11037698 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Reef Junkie
Wait, I am friends with the owners of D&J reptiles and Doug has told me the maintenance required to keep those frogs alive, nevermind breeding. Those frogs are just as difficult or even harder to keep then a reef tank! Not nearly as expensive though.
Incredible, I love it!
Hmm, how come you say theres a lot required, and the guy with the frogs and breeding them says there isn't?
lolThe pictures totally make me want to try setting one up...but I don't know about culturing flies ... I don't know if I wanna see if I end up with a million flies in my house.. lol
Corpus Callosum
Premium Member
Some species are harder than others. Also breeding is another ball game, you could have very healthy frogs and they might not breed because they are not fond of the environment. I'm still pretty new to the hobby of darts, so I can't say if its easy or hard.. I just know I haven't given them any special care, and I've had some success breeding them. But I am guilty of having experience with plants and vivariums for many years..
The flies I culture are genetically altered and cannot fly. If they get loose they usually die within a day.. but if you are careful when feeding nothing gets loose, these 2 tanks are in my bedroom and I have never seen a fly anywhere in my room. The most effort I do is that I dust my fruit flies with vitamins, calcium, and a color enhancer when I feed. But I think a more important point is that you don't need the frogs to have the plants do good (they are free fertilizer though), so if you just want a nice low maintenance tank with beautiful plants and no frogs.. that's doable and very cheap!
This is the male when he is calling.. it sounds like an insect buzzing but it is not annoying..
The result..
Ready to come out..
Female transporting tadpole on her back to put him into the water in the bromeliad..
2 months later it ventures out..
Don't let the pictures deceive you. All the adult frogs pictured in this thread are no larger than 1.25" , thus the smaller food items required to culture for them.
The flies I culture are genetically altered and cannot fly. If they get loose they usually die within a day.. but if you are careful when feeding nothing gets loose, these 2 tanks are in my bedroom and I have never seen a fly anywhere in my room. The most effort I do is that I dust my fruit flies with vitamins, calcium, and a color enhancer when I feed. But I think a more important point is that you don't need the frogs to have the plants do good (they are free fertilizer though), so if you just want a nice low maintenance tank with beautiful plants and no frogs.. that's doable and very cheap!
This is the male when he is calling.. it sounds like an insect buzzing but it is not annoying..
The result..
Ready to come out..
Female transporting tadpole on her back to put him into the water in the bromeliad..
2 months later it ventures out..
Don't let the pictures deceive you. All the adult frogs pictured in this thread are no larger than 1.25" , thus the smaller food items required to culture for them.
Last edited:
Monkeyfish
Active member
Amazing. Very nice set-up.
Corpus Callosum
Premium Member
Culturing Drosophila sp. (more specifically I work with the species melanogaster) is pretty simple, I would say the only thing you have to worry about is contamination and mites.. but both are easy to get around if you do your reading. I buy premade dry media that you just add water to.. mostly because I'm too lazy to make my own.. but it's mostly just potato flakes and yeast. Then I add excelsior, the fibery material inside in these pics, to give them more surface area to pupate on and balance moisture.. you could use coffee filters even.. there are tons of methods.
Then you just add some flies from another culture and close it up.. since they can't fly they just look like ants moving around. They are like 3mm or so in length. A few days later you'll see small maggots in the media, which will pupate on the sides of the culture and the media, and hatch out in a few days. The culture lasts around a month or so, so I just make them every 2 weeks and it takes 10 minutes. 2-3 cultures could probably feed 10-20 frogs.. I only have 6 frogs but keep that many cultures as backup in case one crashes. But that is the 'downfall' of darts.. they require smaller food items which are not commercially available in local pet stores and you usually have to culture them yourself.. unless you go to a university and can use their flies, since melanogaster are commonly used in genetics research..
Fresh culture..
Two weeks later its producing well..
I like giving my animals variety.. so I also culture a few varieties of springtails (a type of soil arthropod that decompose dead leaves and are like 1-2mm in size).. but that's even easier than the flies..
Then you just add some flies from another culture and close it up.. since they can't fly they just look like ants moving around. They are like 3mm or so in length. A few days later you'll see small maggots in the media, which will pupate on the sides of the culture and the media, and hatch out in a few days. The culture lasts around a month or so, so I just make them every 2 weeks and it takes 10 minutes. 2-3 cultures could probably feed 10-20 frogs.. I only have 6 frogs but keep that many cultures as backup in case one crashes. But that is the 'downfall' of darts.. they require smaller food items which are not commercially available in local pet stores and you usually have to culture them yourself.. unless you go to a university and can use their flies, since melanogaster are commonly used in genetics research..
Fresh culture..
Two weeks later its producing well..
I like giving my animals variety.. so I also culture a few varieties of springtails (a type of soil arthropod that decompose dead leaves and are like 1-2mm in size).. but that's even easier than the flies..
Corpus Callosum
Premium Member
If you want the live tutorial, and are passing by exit 33 on the LIE, let me know.. more than welcome to drop by..
I moved back in with my parents for my last year since dorming was getting expensive and free rent is priceless.. they are somehow tolerating me..
I moved back in with my parents for my last year since dorming was getting expensive and free rent is priceless.. they are somehow tolerating me..
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