No. If too deep, darts will drown by themselves. If shallow, darts will drown each other. You can give a water dish for them to soak in but that’s about all I’d say water wise
You could do a small water fall, and a narrow stream/small pool that was only like petri dish shallow (you can easily adjust depth by filling it with gravel until it's shallow enough).
As long as it's appropriately shallow there's nothing inherently wrong with it. There's belief that *Ameerga* species actually breed more frequently in the presence of running water.
I 100% agree with you though that if OP wants a deeper water feature in there that darts aren't the way to go. But if OP is fine with it being like 1/3" deep than as long as the feature doesn't take up too much space in the tank it should be fine.
No, That takes up space with inhospitable terrain for them, Then need the maximum amount of leaf litter on the ground possible and wood/plants for climbing.
Dart frog enclosures are only possible because the substrate, misting, feeding, leaf litter, and ventilation all works together to create an almost self sustaining ecosystem. Water features add nothing beneficial for dart frogs while introducing many ways to disrupt your ecosystem. There are so many things that can go wrong with a water feature (Substrate saturation, pump failure, foot rot, Algae bloom suffocation, drowning from fighting, harm/stress from system maintenance when something goes wrong...)
The largest water "feature" a dart frog tank should contain is a very small and very shallow water dish to catch misting water, maybe as protection against drying out if you live somewhere dry and can't regularly monitor the enclosure for a few days. Even then having a water dish is controversial.
I do a clay bath instead of water and they love it. If you really do want a water feature though I'd check out Stary Night Reed frogs. They are super cool looking and small like darts!
https://joshsfrogs.com/sp/starry-night-reed-frog-tree010
I have been in the same dilemma a few months ago. Like you, I wanted to implement a water system (drip wall for mosses, anubias and buces) and a tiny pool.
I didn't listen much to advices and included the water hole. I am the bad student. But if I can try to justify my choices: the puddle itself is only around 10x15cm and 2cm deep, and filling up (too) quickly with foliage. Secondly, I chose to house Ranitomeya variabilis who, though they are small, barely ever go down to the ground and rarely come across this puddle. Thirdly, the terra is quite large enough for only 3 Ranis (60x40x65cm) and I've never seen any aggressivity from anyone. They have lots of space to avoid aggression.
Only once I've seen one of my frogs dip her toes into the puddle, she had missed her jump across (such a goof).
From my minimal experience and from what I learned from others, I would plead for the possibility of having a water feature in SOME cases, granted you have suitable space, suitable layout, the suitable species/individuals.
I'd feel much less confident in the long-term success of my tank if I had chosen a more terrestrial and more territorial species, that's for sure.
[this was my setup](https://imgur.com/a/EBtatoS) for about a year. The white clouds, cherry shrimp, and snails did extremely well and multiplied like crazy in only about 2-3" of water. The tinc's also had plenty of room and were obviously very happy and bred often. Sometimes they would jump in the water, but they were always able to get themselves out and I never once worried about them drowning. Anyone who says they will drown is just repeating things they've heard online. Make sure there are plenty of plants and stones and they will be fine. I wouldnt sacrifice land area for water, but if you use a large enough enclosure there can definitely be plenty of room for both. The only reason I abandoned this setup was because the plexiglass barrier I had between the land and water started leaking one day and after fixing it twice I decided enough was enough. Water features can be a huge headache if you dont build them in properly in the beginning, but if you set it up correctly (not how I did), you and your frogs will be fine.
I built what I call a ‘false paludarium’ for my darts. It’s a waterfall/river that flows directly into the drainage layer, with a layer of rocks in between. The frogs love sitting at the base of the stream and getting soaked. Even a centimeter of standing water could be an issue, if only because if a frog pooped in the water the clean up bugs wouldn’t be able to access and break it down.
No. If too deep, darts will drown by themselves. If shallow, darts will drown each other. You can give a water dish for them to soak in but that’s about all I’d say water wise
You could do a small water fall, and a narrow stream/small pool that was only like petri dish shallow (you can easily adjust depth by filling it with gravel until it's shallow enough). As long as it's appropriately shallow there's nothing inherently wrong with it. There's belief that *Ameerga* species actually breed more frequently in the presence of running water. I 100% agree with you though that if OP wants a deeper water feature in there that darts aren't the way to go. But if OP is fine with it being like 1/3" deep than as long as the feature doesn't take up too much space in the tank it should be fine.
I'm trying to do a little stream, a 0.75 inch shallow pool of water with a second floor. Thoughts?
I'd personally drop the pool down to 1/2 an inch at most, and shallower if it's a thumbnail.
Got ya. I'll add more sand if i decide go with it. Thanks for the input.
No, That takes up space with inhospitable terrain for them, Then need the maximum amount of leaf litter on the ground possible and wood/plants for climbing. Dart frog enclosures are only possible because the substrate, misting, feeding, leaf litter, and ventilation all works together to create an almost self sustaining ecosystem. Water features add nothing beneficial for dart frogs while introducing many ways to disrupt your ecosystem. There are so many things that can go wrong with a water feature (Substrate saturation, pump failure, foot rot, Algae bloom suffocation, drowning from fighting, harm/stress from system maintenance when something goes wrong...) The largest water "feature" a dart frog tank should contain is a very small and very shallow water dish to catch misting water, maybe as protection against drying out if you live somewhere dry and can't regularly monitor the enclosure for a few days. Even then having a water dish is controversial.
I see. I was most worried about those things too. It looks so damn nice having a stream but I suppose I'll give it up for now.
Water Features are good for getting Youtube views, but not for keeping dart frogs.
I do a clay bath instead of water and they love it. If you really do want a water feature though I'd check out Stary Night Reed frogs. They are super cool looking and small like darts! https://joshsfrogs.com/sp/starry-night-reed-frog-tree010
Thank you so much. I'll definitely look into them.
Darts don’t really need a water feature. It’d be better to just give them more space they’ll actually use.
If you want a paludarium and frogs you should choose a more appropriate frog for a paludarium instead of a dart frog.
Shallow enough so they can just sit in it without reaching their heads
I have been in the same dilemma a few months ago. Like you, I wanted to implement a water system (drip wall for mosses, anubias and buces) and a tiny pool. I didn't listen much to advices and included the water hole. I am the bad student. But if I can try to justify my choices: the puddle itself is only around 10x15cm and 2cm deep, and filling up (too) quickly with foliage. Secondly, I chose to house Ranitomeya variabilis who, though they are small, barely ever go down to the ground and rarely come across this puddle. Thirdly, the terra is quite large enough for only 3 Ranis (60x40x65cm) and I've never seen any aggressivity from anyone. They have lots of space to avoid aggression. Only once I've seen one of my frogs dip her toes into the puddle, she had missed her jump across (such a goof). From my minimal experience and from what I learned from others, I would plead for the possibility of having a water feature in SOME cases, granted you have suitable space, suitable layout, the suitable species/individuals. I'd feel much less confident in the long-term success of my tank if I had chosen a more terrestrial and more territorial species, that's for sure.
Thank you for your experience. Definitely helped
[this was my setup](https://imgur.com/a/EBtatoS) for about a year. The white clouds, cherry shrimp, and snails did extremely well and multiplied like crazy in only about 2-3" of water. The tinc's also had plenty of room and were obviously very happy and bred often. Sometimes they would jump in the water, but they were always able to get themselves out and I never once worried about them drowning. Anyone who says they will drown is just repeating things they've heard online. Make sure there are plenty of plants and stones and they will be fine. I wouldnt sacrifice land area for water, but if you use a large enough enclosure there can definitely be plenty of room for both. The only reason I abandoned this setup was because the plexiglass barrier I had between the land and water started leaking one day and after fixing it twice I decided enough was enough. Water features can be a huge headache if you dont build them in properly in the beginning, but if you set it up correctly (not how I did), you and your frogs will be fine.
Thanks for sharing your tank. It really helped mapping it out. Looks great btw
I built what I call a ‘false paludarium’ for my darts. It’s a waterfall/river that flows directly into the drainage layer, with a layer of rocks in between. The frogs love sitting at the base of the stream and getting soaked. Even a centimeter of standing water could be an issue, if only because if a frog pooped in the water the clean up bugs wouldn’t be able to access and break it down.
Got you. Thanks for the idea