# The Story So Far - Dart Vivs



## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Well, I just realised, I often post commented on other people's vivs etc etc, but I haven't given you folks the chance to have your say about mine. :lol2: So, high time I did perhaps, so here are my dart vivs, some inhabited, some not (Given I have 3 without frogs, I am having a bit of a Morgan Freeman moment here... lol).

On with the show:-

D. Leucomeles viv - 45cm w x45cm d x 60cm h ZooMed










I indulged my wife's dislike of heavy planting on this one, however the simplicity of the design is quite nice, and the frogs are happy enough and bold enough, even if I would prefer more broms in there. lol

D. tinctorius Regina viv - 60cm w x 45cm d x 60cm h Exo Terra










This was my first dart viv, and first species. Not the best morph to start with, I lost both males within 2 weeks of buying them. I now have a new male in there keeping my female company, different blood line. So things seem to be working out.

D. tinctorius Azureas viv - 40cm Rana cube










I made heavy use of wood in this one, creating additional horizontal space for my azzies, which they DO use extensively. The wood also serves to create additional hiding places for them. This one is sort of a compromise between my wife's tastes on planting and my own.

40cm ENT Cube - Uninhabited (except by woodlice and springtails... lol)










I once again indulged my tasted in planting in this one, going for a lush verdant look. Probably my fave design so far. : victory:

50cm w x 40 cm d x 40cm h ENT - Uninhabited, Unfinished










This is the main one I am working on at the moment, most of my focus is on completing this. I have a nice piece of bogwood ordered to go slightly off center in there, and will be adding lots more plants, including a fair few creepers. A good chance that in time those 2 big broms will outgrow this, but for now I like how they look in there.  This one is going to be the heaviest planted yet in time. Oh and in case anybody wondered, there WILL be leaf litter going in once the planting is complete and the wood has gone in. No more moss will be added at floor level.

30cm w x40 cm d x 40cm h ENT - Uninhabited, barely started










Working on this one at the same time as the 50cm, just more slowly as it has no lighting on there even yet. I have however added substrate and quite a few 35mm film pots, some of which may end up been replaced though as a lot of them are the white ones, which look flippin awful. :lol2: Soon as I can get some black ones I'll switch them out and just use halves of them inside the black ones. Oh and you have probably already guessed, this is going to be used to house a pair of thumbnails one day.

Well, not all my phib vivs, my wife has a White's viv (a darned mess, and far too small) and a grey tree frog viv (way too few plants, and huge considering all it has in there is 2 baby grey tree frogs... lol).

Comments are welcomed, as are questions, and constructive criticism. lol

Ade


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## manda88 (Nov 27, 2009)

They're all great, I really like the 40cm ENT cube :2thumb:


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## andie (Sep 23, 2007)

Very nice, you have an artistic eye.:2thumb:


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## reptilelover96 (Feb 17, 2010)

i LOVE the very first one AMAZING honist, love everything!! lol x


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## Jezza84 (Dec 9, 2009)

nice vivs mate


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## ilovetoads2 (Oct 31, 2008)

They are all great. Well done!


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Thanks folks, really glad you like them. 

Thanks for the compliment Andie.:2thumb: I came to the dart hobby via planted aquariums and freshwater shrimp tanks, so learned a lot about positioning plants and wood etc from these. I have to say though, I really wish I had come to the dart frog hobby sooner, I LOVE it! For one thing, vivs tend not to get ruined by algae. :smile:

Of course, the other great thing about the phib hobby is, well, other phib hobbyists. Nowhere near as vicious as planted tank hobbyists (who will accuse you of heresy for even considering using methods not considered fashionable). You're a lot like shrimp hobbyists in that respect. 

Ade


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## soundstounite (Sep 6, 2009)

Hey buddy,how its going mate will post more than one on this Ade me tired old brain ain't big enough for all at once: love the first,even though am with ya would like more plants....though have i spotted one little oakleaf in there.....if so i think your being cunning as before your good lady knows it, it will be creeping every where:2thumb:


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Darn, you spotted it. lol

It was a lot bigger when it went in, but that viv isn't on the misting system, so a lot of it's leaves fell off. It's getting hooked up to the misting system though just as soon as I can buy another nozzle, 4mm T connector and a nice long length of 4mm pipe. Then it should take off like it has in the vivs on my rack. 

The orchid in the middle should grow a bit as well, it's a bulbophyllum lobbi. 

Still, I might try to sneak some Neoregelia liliputiana plants onto the sides when she's looking the other way... She likes them as they stay small. lol

Ade


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## soundstounite (Sep 6, 2009)

viv 2...so glad it worked out in the end mate what a 'mare...... early days though as far as the plants go still too much background vis ...but again sunny will take care of that eh?


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## soundstounite (Sep 6, 2009)

Ha ha your too quick for me mate though i missed the orchid:blush:,thanks for that buddy, viv 3 is totally my fav the wood is stonking and its placement,my only dislike is that you didn't cover the sides ....But that is just one guy's preference: a matter of taste


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Hoping so yeah, yet again this viv isn't on a misting system, I had 3 sunny plants actually DIE on me in there! lol Has a fogger, and I hand mist once a day (when I started I relied on the fogger too much, hence lost a ficus). That was the first dart viv I did though, so learned from my mistakes on that one a fair bit. There's also sheet moss hiding in there, that hopefully one day will spread to the sides and start climbing......

Ade


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

soundstounite said:


> Ha ha your too quick for me mate though i missed the orchid:blush:,thanks for that buddy, viv 3 is totally my fav the wood is stonking and its placement,my only dislike is that you didn't cover the sides ....But that is just one guy's preference: a matter of taste


Ahhaaa, you missed the plants hiding.... More oakleaf ficus over in the back left corner, liliputiana on the back, and sheet moss over on the right, which I expect to expand to fill more. :lol2:

Ade


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Ahhh, hang on, you possibly mean with coco matting or something? They are actually partially covered, with siliconed on xaxim granuals, so it's not quite as bad as you think. 

Ade


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## soundstounite (Sep 6, 2009)

viv 4 again cracking wood and where ya put it, we also like is it a savu pod ...far right as a planter,kiddo is the moss starting to grow on that ? great novel idea its hard to see from the pic. buddy i might be getting mixed am knackered but why not cover your film canasters in gorilla glue then compo/ might be a bit easier on the eye?


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## soundstounite (Sep 6, 2009)

yep i clocked the sides were half covered just the last 2 your on especially the one your on now is my cup of tea 3 sides covered,i here what your saying about the broms it is so difficult to judge,especially when the buggers pup and you've got 3 big uns where one filled the gap nice as it were, so all in all top banana me old mate love the plants/ wood andya better keep us all updated on how the others turn out better go and try an get some pics up before i fall asleep in me tea...Stu:whistling2::2thumb::2thumb:


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

soundstounite said:


> viv 4 again cracking wood and where ya put it, we also like is it a savu pod ...far right as a planter,kiddo is the moss starting to grow on that ? great novel idea its hard to see from the pic. buddy i might be getting mixed am knackered but why not cover your film canasters in gorilla glue then compo/ might be a bit easier on the eye?


It is indeed a Savu pod, with a watermelon pellonia rooted cutting planted in it. Was a bit of an afterthought really, wherever I put the Savu pod it looked wrong, and I couldn't find a good spot fo the pellonia... lol

Only moss in viv 4 is pillow moss, I used it to help keep the substrate from sliding into the drainage gully, along with a strip of cork bark.

Viv 3 however I have a sapucuja pod siliconed onto the xaxim panel on the back, which I used as a planter for a liliputiana neo, and topped it with sheet moss which is going great guns. It seems that sheet mos prefers to be higher up nearer to the lighting, that on the bottom went dormant, I have now moved it onto the wood, where it gets more light and moisture.

I'm not a huge fan of covering the 'ground' with moss, I prefer to use it as a feature, with the rest covered in leaf litter.

Oh and yeah I will cover the black film pots with glue and some form of substrate once I can get some. The white are just too ugly. lol No Gorilla glue left anyway, I ran out doing the 2 newest ones. I'll probably use silicone and get some more xaxim granules and use that, as I have a full tube of Silirub AQ unopened, and a bit of Silirub II left as well. lol I'll then get some more moss and cover them with this to soften the outlines of them.

Ade


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

soundstounite said:


> yep i clocked the sides were half covered just the last 2 your on especially the one your on now is my cup of tea 3 sides covered,i here what your saying about the broms it is so difficult to judge,especially when the buggers pup and you've got 3 big uns where one filled the gap nice as it were, so all in all top banana me old mate love the plants/ wood andya better keep us all updated on how the others turn out better go and try an get some pics up before i fall asleep in me tea...Stu:whistling2::2thumb::2thumb:


Aye, i have a STRONG feeling that once finished the 50cm will become my favourite. I really went to down on that one, there are even half plant pots glued into the side covering, with 1 oriented to provide a hiding place. I intend to put quite a few more broms in this one, along with more creepers.

Ade


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Looking good.:2thumb:


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Updates for the 50cm and thumbnail viv:-

Thumbnail viv- needs a couple of more plants on the left side:-










50cm - Finished, but needs a 2nd misting nozzle, 1 doesn't reach both sides at once.










Ade


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

No idea if anybody is still interesting, but I am going to post these anyway. I was asked by a friend, and fellow member, to take some new pics of my vivs, so I did. Forgot the leuc viv though (thought I'd taken one, but nope).

Anyway, here we go:-

Regina viv (60cm w x 45 cm d x 60cm h)









Azureas viv (40 cm Rana cube)









40cm ENT cube









50cm w x 40 cm d x 40cm h








(I LOVE this one, as expected I reckon it's my nicest yet)

30cm w x 40 cm d x 40cm h thumbnail viv








The lovely brom on the left is new in there, arrived today from ENT. It's a neo hybrid, Neoregelia atlantis, and is gorgeous! Oh and no, I didn't pay shipping just for that, I bought 11 liters of their instant ff culture media as well. :2thumb: Oh and the tillandsia in there rotted, no surprise as it was sat for a week with nearly no light and no spraying, then suddenly given 2 hourly mistings...

Ade


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## Alex M (May 28, 2008)

Funnily enough Wolfenrock, i actually think the leucomelas viv (very first pic in thread) looks by far the best of the lot, i LIKE that it isn't cluttered with 120,000 broms and more pups than Battersea Dogs Home - There is clear room for things to naturally grow in. I think it looks amazing - and the space is part of what makes it amazing (same theory in drumming oddly enough Stu/Harvey ). One of my favourite PDF vivs that.

Cheers
Al


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## soundstounite (Sep 6, 2009)

Alex M said:


> Funnily enough Wolfenrock, i actually think the leucomelas viv (very first pic in thread) looks by far the best of the lot, i LIKE that it isn't cluttered with 120,000 broms and more pups than Battersea Dogs Home - There is clear room for things to naturally grow in. I think it looks amazing - and the space is part of what makes it amazing (same theory in drumming oddly enough Stu/Harvey ). One of my favourite PDF vivs that.
> 
> Cheers
> Al


 Ade I will always be interested in what ya doing mate, and agreed the neo. atlantis is a stunner....small with a big vase and love the colours,I think i have it too (but you know how i struggle with nomneclature)!!!! Ade how do ya attach your tillandsias(case in point i read it all backwards had to be corrected loads and am still struggling) and what is the correct oriantation...bulb up /down ...confused i am (computer being a sod hope this time it gets there). Sorry ade but just a little drummers hijack:blush:,Al we play for the band/song some times less is too much,if we can make the rest sound better we put down the sticks(but don't tell em we're having a rest) but just occassionally, ya gotta lift it,its all about levels .eh..? love the frank bough though,but ya can't take the bonzo out of a midlander,its in the water...init?:notworthy:


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Thanks Al, although I've possibly ruined it for you. lol The cryptanthus set of a LOT of offsets and 2 got broken off by the frogs so I planted them. I also added 1 more brom on the right side. I was thinking it needed the dead dried moss replacing with live, but the EpiWeb moss mix I used in there is finally showing signs of green, so with luck the walls will soon be a lot greener. :2thumb: It's not that I don't like the minimalist look, it's that I hate the look of coco panels. 

Hiya Stu. I attach my tillandsias using silicone. I glue the SIDE of the base to the wood/vine etc with this, the trick is to not put glue/silicone on the bit where it would have been attached to the parent plant originally. Leaves can grow back, but glue that bit and it's done for. I basically but then in 24 hours before the misting system goes on usually, or I mount them outside the viv, let them cure and then put that bit of decor in. I tend to use a bit of plastic coated garden wire to hold them in place whilst the silicone sets. I tried hot melt glue once, but it doesn't stay stuck for long when used on plants in humid vivs. I tend to only mount them from between midway up and the top of the viv, this is where airflow is best in my experience, and closer to the heat from the lights which helps them dry faster after misting. Hope that helps.

Ade


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## detail3r (Jul 13, 2010)

Cheers for the progress updates Ade 

I LOVE the layout of the 50 x 40 x 40 - the bogwood seems to really complete the viv. You seem to have an eye for layout and detail.


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Nah, Wlofie, *none* of us are interested at all!:whistling2:



:lol2:Lol, looking very good!:2thumb: The Neo I got from Justairplants is doing amazingly well, especially since it is just crowded into a standard treefrog exo with only a halegen desk lamp as a light. Having a dilemna at the mo, actually; the pups are all achieving decent size and putting out roots- leave them where they are, or snip and replant? Trouble is, this is the only vertically-oriented viv I have at the mo- where would I put the new plants? I'm inclined to leave them where they are, for now.


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## soundstounite (Sep 6, 2009)

Hiya kiddo yep that is a massive help,(thanks for the detail buddy),our placing is similar to what you have stated,and def. hear what your saying about NOT covering the base where it was attached to its parent,with silicon. my only concern now is do they grow upwards,kinda like a brom or hanging down slightly,if "up" then might the be more probs with them rotting, like a brom the axils will fill/hold water(though not much of course,but it might not dry betwixt spraying),whereas if they were hanging down then they would drain as it were.....i think i need a trip to s America there is so much to learn...but there is more chance of me going to the moon...bugger!!!!


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## soundstounite (Sep 6, 2009)

Ron Magpie said:


> Nah, Wlofie, *none* of us are interested at all!:whistling2:
> 
> 
> 
> :lol2:Lol, looking very good!:2thumb: The Neo I got from Justairplants is doing amazingly well, especially since it is just crowded into a standard treefrog exo with only a halegen desk lamp as a light. Having a dilemna at the mo, actually; the pups are all achieving decent size and putting out roots- leave them where they are, or snip and replant? Trouble is, this is the only vertically-oriented viv I have at the mo- where would I put the new plants? I'm inclined to leave them where they are, for now.


:lol2: You'll just have to build another viv then mate and erm...KEEP BROMS IN IT,we've a mate that will tell ya what to do...erm. and the serious bit,i am almost sure if ya cut the pups fairly early ya will prolong the life of the parent,and it will pup again,so double wammy you can still build your brom viv and have lots in the present tank


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

soundstounite said:


> :lol2: *You'll just have to build another viv then mate and erm...KEEP BROMS IN IT*,we've a mate that will tell ya what to do...erm. and the serious bit,i am almost sure if ya cut the pups fairly early ya will prolong the life of the parent,and it will pup again,so double wammy you can still build your brom viv and have lots in the present tank


In my abundant spare space...:whistling2:

As for the orientation of broms, I have lived in South America, and in my experience they grow everywhichway- although the ambient temps mean that excess water evapourates pretty quickly anyway.


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## soundstounite (Sep 6, 2009)

Ron Magpie said:


> In my abundant spare space...:whistling2:
> 
> As for the orientation of broms, I have lived in South America, and in my experience they grow everywhichway- although the ambient temps mean that excess water evapourates pretty quickly anyway.


 Mate don't want to hijack Ade's thread talk on me orchids eh?


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

Yup, I put them any which way. If putting tillandsia upright though I make sure they are close to a vent, and in a warm spot (close to the lights), that way they dry faster.

Those pups, if space is getting low, snip them, plant them in hanging baskets.  Pretty soon you will have lots of mother plants you can snip offsets off when needed. 

Oh and yeah, I really like bogwood in vivs, it really seems to set them off and provides a perch that even fat tincs can climb on. 

Ade


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## Wolfenrook (Jul 2, 2010)

soundstounite said:


> Mate don't want to hijack Ade's thread talk on me orchids eh?


Hijack away, I have orchids in my 60x45x60 and my Leuc viv.  Same rules as for tillandsia, orient so the crown drains well. 

Ade


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## soundstounite (Sep 6, 2009)

Wolfenrook said:


> Hijack away, I have orchids in my 60x45x60 and my Leuc viv.  Same rules as for tillandsia, orient so the crown drains well.
> 
> Ade


 Manners maketh the man eh? and cost nothin' silly old fart ain't i, gotcha mate will sort me till. bulbosa on da 'morrow thanks sir:2thumb: ,there was a bit about orchid on gardeners world kiddo,well interesting but to to breif, and i thinks we both have ...oh man ya know this is gonna stump me ...bulbophyllum lobbii, mine was rummin £12 and the first thing i did when i got the poor sod home was rip it apart into ...erm 3 bulby thingios, i reckon they'll all be doers, if me air,circulation/lighting is right...so do ya fix them with silicon as well mate?...we used pins with a little bit of moss to create a localised area of humidity around the root ball? fascinating this stuff/mini rainforrests in one's house coupled with one day,stunning darts...wonderous


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## s6t6nic6l (May 15, 2010)

superb set-ups. i can imagine the great feeling of satisfaction and rewards you guys must feel on completion of these vivs. they look great and a real focal point to any room they reside in. keep up the good work coz they're a fascinating subject matter.: victory:


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