Perseverance Reef

[Fishy888]

It’s with a very heavy heart that I have to announce this, but our financial situation is not looking good with the rising costs and such. As a result this will be my last post in this thread. I am however keeping my YouTube channel and I will be in the Cafe’ from time to time.

Although I’m getting out of reefing, at least until the money situation gets better, I’ll be keeping the 210 itself and starting a dart frog vivarium instead. I might keep a small 10 gallon reef though too. Thank you to everyone for following me all this time. You are all amazing, and I’ll see you all in the Cafe’!

 

[sfin52]

Hows the vivarium going?

 

[Fishy888]

Hows the vivarium going?

It’s coming along. There’s much more to be done. I’m happy with it so far though.

I’ve added springtails and tropical dwarf white isopods thus far, and I have more coming. Those will become cultures in case the colonies in the viv die out or get eaten. I’m also going to turn over a log or two and hunt for some local varieties to culture. Once large enough they too will be added.

Speaking of adding I’ve added my first resident to my little ecosystem.

I had just misted the viv when Lycos the wolf spider came up alongside the glass. He’s standing on a sycamore leaf in this last image. He fell on the floor accidentally while transporting it in from outside so I took a picture of it while it was still but I got him into the tank. The first image of him is from the brief moment he was on the floor.

If Speedy Gonzales was crossed with a Mexican jumping bean you might get something like this spider. He’s the fastest spider I’ve ever seen and boy can he jump. He’ll make an interesting addition.

Happy Easter everyone! Jesus is risen!

 

[sfin52]

It’s coming along. There’s much more to be done. I’m happy with it so far though.

I’ve added springtails and tropical dwarf white isopods thus far, and I have more coming. Those will become cultures in case the colonies in the viv die out or get eaten. I’m also going to turn over a log or two and hunt for some local varieties to culture. Once large enough they too will be added.

Speaking of adding I’ve added my first resident to my little ecosystem.

I had just misted the viv when Lycos the wolf spider came up alongside the glass. He’s standing on a sycamore leaf in this last image. He fell on the floor accidentally while transporting it in from outside so I took a picture of it while it was still but I got him into the tank. The first image of him is from the brief moment he was on the floor.

If Speedy Gonzales was crossed with a Mexican jumping bean you might get something like this spider. He’s the fastest spider I’ve ever seen and boy can he jump. He’ll make an interesting addition.

Happy Easter everyone! Jesus is risen!

Won't he eat the posion dart frogs

 

[Mschmidt]

Truly he is risen.

Viv's looking nice.

 

[Fishy888]

Won't he eat the posion dart frogs

Only if I don’t get him out in time. He will likely get his own enclosure, but I’m a month or two from buying frogs yet. I just figured he could get any bugs I might have missed until then.

My next order for substrate will be here Wednesday or Thursday so I’ll be going through the leaf litter. I might take him out at that point. Right now he’s dime sized including leg span. He looks much bigger in the image than he is. In fact here’s an image I just took of him. He seems to like this branch even more than the leaf litter strangely enough.

I just bought an Amazon sword . Since they haven’t been grown submerged they won’t have to drop their leaves like they do when they go from terrestrial to water dwelling.

 

[Fishy888]

I just want to let you know how much I appreciate you all, and your friendships. The friends I’ve made here mean the world to me. In fact some of you have encouraged me to keep this thread alive even though the reef itself is gone.

I’ve decided to do just that! This way I still get to interact with my #Cronies and you all get to see my vivarium build as it progresses. It IS a build after all, so keeping this BUILD thread going is just logical!

Today not much has changed. I let the viv have a 24 hour “dry spell” so that my orchids could have their leaves dry off completely. I don’t want them to rot. Just as the rain began in earnest, more or less, I watered and misted everything.

Wednesday will be a different story though. I have more springtails and tropical dwarf isopods on the way. New substrate, called ABG mix (Atlanta Botanical Gardens), is also coming. 7 gallons worth. There’s also a creeping fig in the mix. All these goodies will be here Wednesday.

I’m going to take the leaf litter out once the soil mixture is ready so I can lay down the new substrate. Once that’s done I have some plants that need to be planted. I’ll then replace the leaf litter, probably adding a good amount to it. While it’s out I’ll make sure no bad bugs have made their way in while I wasn’t looking. I’ll also grab Lycos the wolf spiderling and put him in another enclosure while I’m at it.

I’ve already laid down about an inch of pea gravel as my drainage layer. I also laid down some fiberglass screen mesh so the substrate can’t get into the drainage layer. Anerobic bacteria would be bad so I want to keep everything but excess water out of that layer. I’ll also need to be able to draw that excess water out.

I’m going to use a simple airline tube for that. I’ll keep a siphon in the tube and keep a ball valve on it. Actually I might just use RO tubing and a push connect ball valve on it. Right now I don’t go crazy with the misting and watering so I rarely have much water in the drainage layer.

That’ll change though once I get a Mist King setup. My wife is even on board with me doing that. I’ll be saving up for a bit though since they’re $200 to $300 depending on which system and how many nozzles one needs.

The Mist King is just like what some grocery stores use to mist their veggies. In fact they make systems for grocery stores too. It’ll truly be a rainforest in there! Of course they use a decent amount of water so it has to be drained several times a day depending on how long the system runs and how many times per day it runs. For my purposes, I’d probably run it twice, and possibly as much as three times a day.

I can see some signs that the plants I’ve already planted are establishing. The orchid blooms are growing right towards the lights and the pothos is growing fairly rapidly. Even the ivy cuttings, which are wedged into loose bark on one of the logs, are growing towards the light and look great. Now I need my springtails and isopods to flourish.

If everything goes according to plan I’ll be ordering my first two Dendrobates Leucomelas. I’ll buy one or two a month after that until I have eight. I’m going to breed them of course. They’ll be loving life if I have anything to say about it!

 

[sfin52]

Heck ya

 

[Fishy888]

I just noticed this about 30 minutes ago when I went to get some pop from downstairs. Even when the lights are out I like to check on things. I don’t know how I missed this earlier but check this out!

The first fungal formation in the new vivarium! It’s actually a sign of a healthy dart frog vivarium. The springtails will likely gather there soon if they haven’t already. It’s so amazing seeing things like this in the comfort of home! What the Lord’s hands have made!

I suspect the formation is just getting started. Clearly it’s some type of shelf fungus. I can’t wait to see it grow more! Right now it’s about as big as a 3” x 5” card. Of course just like in the forest, shelf fungi, mushrooms, etc don’t last forever but they do make spores so they can always grow back eventually. Perhaps other species will get a foothold too.

 

[Mschmidt]

I made my own ABG without too much issue, and it was a lot cheaper than what at least josh's frogs had to offer.

 

[Fishy888]

I made my own ABG without too much issue, and it was a lot cheaper than what at least josh's frogs had to offer.

I almost went that way but that tree fern is crazy expensive so I wouldn’t be saving much sadly.

 

[Fishy888]

I made my own ABG without too much issue, and it was a lot cheaper than what at least josh's frogs had to offer.

Do you still keep darts? If so which ones?

 

[Mschmidt]

Do you still keep darts? If so which ones?

I got distracted with the reef and kept the viv only plants for a while till I sold the tank. Spent too long trying to get lids on the cheap.

 

[Fishy888]

In a couple of hours I’ll be adding my ABG mix to the vivarium. It came today along with some isopods and springtails.

Those I’m going to culture separately from the vivarium. This way I have cultures in case the springtails and/or isopods get eaten or just crash.

I bought some baker’s yeast and I have plenty of leaves and bark for them too. The yeast will feed the springtails and the leaves and bark will feed both. I also have some veggies for the isopods.

Once I get the ABG mix in the vivarium I’ll plant my terrestrial plants (as opposed to epiphytes, which grow on tree trunks and branches). I have a Rex begonia, some purple waffle plants and the creeping fig which came today as well. Although I have two ivy varieties that are “planted” (read, stuffed in between the wood and loose bark of a log) I need to get them rooted in ABG mix. They’ll make for some lush, woody vines along with my pothos, which is already in ABG mix in the vivarium.

 

[Fishy888]

In a couple of hours I’ll be adding my ABG mix to the vivarium. It came today along with some isopods and springtails.

Those I’m going to culture separately from the vivarium. This way I have cultures in case the springtails and/or isopods get eaten or just crash.

I bought some baker’s yeast and I have plenty of leaves and bark for them too. The yeast will feed the springtails and the leaves and bark will feed both. I also have some veggies for the isopods.

Once I get the ABG mix in the vivarium I’ll plant my terrestrial plants (as opposed to epiphytes, which grow on tree trunks and branches). I have a Rex begonia, some purple waffle plants and the creeping fig which came today as well. Although I have two ivy varieties that are “planted” (read, stuffed in between the wood and loose bark of a log) I need to get them rooted in ABG mix. They’ll make for some lush, woody vines along with my pothos, which is already in ABG mix in the vivarium.

I almost forgot, I’ve also got an Amazon sword to plant too

 

[Projects with Sam]

wow! seems you know your stuff! Have you seen the SerpaDesign YouTube channel?

 

[Fishy888]

wow! seems you know your stuff! Have you seen the SerpaDesign YouTube channel?

Yes. He’s got some nice displays.

 

[Fishy888]

I’ve decided to change some things around. I took out the big log in the center that had the orchid and bromeliad on it, and I planted all the plants but one, the purple waffle plant. That one will get planted today. I’m going to add more wood still but thinner branches with more character.

I met a local frogger thanks to a good friend of mine. As a result I decided to go with P. Terribilis instead of D. Leucomelas. My new frogging friend is selling them at less than half the price Josh’s Frogs sells them for so I picked up a froglet from him. In a couple of weeks I’ll be getting two more. I want to have 8 to start with. My plan is to get 2 to 3 a month until I have 8, then I’ll let them breed.

When I got my first frog my new friend hooked me up with another springtail culture, a fruit fly culture, and several more plants I didn’t have already.

The froglet is doing great so far. It’s about 6 to 7 months old now, so in 2 to 3 more months if it’s a male he should start calling.

I’ll post pictures later today.

 

[Projects with Sam]

I’ve decided to change some things around. I took out the big log in the center that had the orchid and bromeliad on it, and I planted all the plants but one, the purple waffle plant. That one will get planted today. I’m going to add more wood still but thinner branches with more character.

I met a local frogger thanks to a good friend of mine. As a result I decided to go with P. Terribilis instead of D. Leucomelas. My new frogging friend is selling them at less than half the price Josh’s Frogs sells them for so I picked up a froglet from him. In a couple of weeks I’ll be getting two more. I want to have 8 to start with. My plan is to get 2 to 3 a month until I have 8, then I’ll let them breed.

When I got my first frog my new friend hooked me up with another springtail culture, a fruit fly culture, and several more plants I didn’t have already.

The froglet is doing great so far. It’s about 6 to 7 months old now, so in 2 to 3 more months if it’s a male he should start calling.

I’ll post pictures later today.

so the dart frogs in captivity aren't dangerous/poisonous right? They aren't eating the beetles that give them their poison so you can handle them?

 

[Fishy888]

so the dart frogs in captivity aren't dangerous/poisonous right? They aren't eating the beetles that give them their poison so you can handle them?

Correct. Dart frogs get their poison from tropical mites, ants, and beetles. Since they don’t have access to what they’d eat in the rainforest they can’t become poisonous. I handled my frog briefly and I’m still here to tell the tale.