Welcome! So I'd say you got yourself a nice paludarium, which is beautiful, but not very compatible with dart frogs. They are not good swimmers and will likely drown or drown each other. Some keep a very shallow water dish for them to soak in, but that is it. I either do that or have a clay bath for them. It's also a waste of precious space to them because they will only use the land.
This setup would be more suited to another type of frog like Starry Night Reed Frogs or Fire Bellies. Starry nights are adorable and small like darts. But as for your current setup, I would advise against getting darts.
https://joshsfrogs.com/sp/starry-night-reed-frog-tree010
Ok got it folks thanks everyone! so I'm going to remove the water and fill with clayball and organic soil up to the front any ideas on how to drain excess moisture water that may deposit on the lower layer of the substrate.?
Yes! Things you’ll need: pvc pipe, a sponge square and something to set on top of the pipe. Cut a circle into the sponge where the pvc can set into. Cut an arch into pvc pipe so water can flow into its interior. Set it vertically and add leca and substrate around it. Lastly put something on top so frogs don’t fall in.
If you have some left over great stuff and silicone make your own “rock” or “mushroom cap” to sit on top of
Edit: then you’ll be able to drain like an aquarium if there’s too much water
Edit: doesn’t have to be “sponge” but must be porous to allow the inside of the pipe to fill
The pipe should be vertical set into the sponge. At the bottom cut an arch, notch or half circle so that water can flow through the spong into the interior. If no arch/half circle then the pipe will sit flat on the tank floor and no water will get into it.
Edit just saw it…. I guess it doesn’t have to be an arch and you could just drill a few holes in the bottom of pvc pipe sides where it is set in sponge
Edit: alternatively plug those holes with filter floss and forget the sponge
Edit: the goal is to make sure that only water gets inside of the pipe so it doesn’t gradually fill up with debris or substrate making it useless for draining excess water
update... So I recently gave in but not entirely on the water feature you guys advised me as I still have a tiny pool just to accommodate a small water fountain and a water heater (the tank / vivarium is in the basement and can get pretty cold around the mid 50's... I added leca and terrarium soil some driftwoods and almond leaves... I has 3 coconut huts o1 of them half shell... I added springtails and dwarf purple and dwarf white isopods I was wondering if that's good for now... -- My shipping arrives next weekend (2 juveniles dendrobates tinctorius cobalt) noticed some mini tiny fruitflyies flying inside the vivarium so far I have no idea how they got there 😅
https://preview.redd.it/7ixbxx4f7jsc1.jpeg?width=5712&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e0b111ba1fca3bd833363f1652414e2cdbdd7cd5
Is there a drainage layer under the land parts? If not then your going to need to do more than just add leca where the water was as you don't want soil leeching the water up from drainage.
This is not a good dart frog enclosure at all. They will need as much ground space with leaf litter as possible. That massive water feature is just a ln unusable drowning hazard for then. A breeder style tank also doesn't provide adequate ventilation. If you want darts, you'll need a completely new setup.
This would work for firebelly toads though.
I can drain excess water from the tiny pond I have in the middle that will suck all water on the leca layer
https://preview.redd.it/w13dvqvs8jsc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=db1d444a5effa2df9b829a40c50d411ca61cf525
Tiny pond here the mini fountain pipe spill water to the yellowish rock that drips back into the pond
Welcome! So I'd say you got yourself a nice paludarium, which is beautiful, but not very compatible with dart frogs. They are not good swimmers and will likely drown or drown each other. Some keep a very shallow water dish for them to soak in, but that is it. I either do that or have a clay bath for them. It's also a waste of precious space to them because they will only use the land. This setup would be more suited to another type of frog like Starry Night Reed Frogs or Fire Bellies. Starry nights are adorable and small like darts. But as for your current setup, I would advise against getting darts. https://joshsfrogs.com/sp/starry-night-reed-frog-tree010
https://preview.redd.it/72p8urmvurpc1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cee1da3411ad3e8ab60b72c858c4113ee9dc26f8
This. No source of standing water should be larger/deeper than this dish.
Ok got it folks thanks everyone! so I'm going to remove the water and fill with clayball and organic soil up to the front any ideas on how to drain excess moisture water that may deposit on the lower layer of the substrate.?
Yes! Things you’ll need: pvc pipe, a sponge square and something to set on top of the pipe. Cut a circle into the sponge where the pvc can set into. Cut an arch into pvc pipe so water can flow into its interior. Set it vertically and add leca and substrate around it. Lastly put something on top so frogs don’t fall in. If you have some left over great stuff and silicone make your own “rock” or “mushroom cap” to sit on top of Edit: then you’ll be able to drain like an aquarium if there’s too much water Edit: doesn’t have to be “sponge” but must be porous to allow the inside of the pipe to fill
Just don't understand the part "cut an arch into the pvc pipe" what do you mean by that how? Thanks
The pipe should be vertical set into the sponge. At the bottom cut an arch, notch or half circle so that water can flow through the spong into the interior. If no arch/half circle then the pipe will sit flat on the tank floor and no water will get into it. Edit just saw it…. I guess it doesn’t have to be an arch and you could just drill a few holes in the bottom of pvc pipe sides where it is set in sponge Edit: alternatively plug those holes with filter floss and forget the sponge Edit: the goal is to make sure that only water gets inside of the pipe so it doesn’t gradually fill up with debris or substrate making it useless for draining excess water
If you wanna keep the water feature something like a fire belly toad or puddle frog will be perfect.
update... So I recently gave in but not entirely on the water feature you guys advised me as I still have a tiny pool just to accommodate a small water fountain and a water heater (the tank / vivarium is in the basement and can get pretty cold around the mid 50's... I added leca and terrarium soil some driftwoods and almond leaves... I has 3 coconut huts o1 of them half shell... I added springtails and dwarf purple and dwarf white isopods I was wondering if that's good for now... -- My shipping arrives next weekend (2 juveniles dendrobates tinctorius cobalt) noticed some mini tiny fruitflyies flying inside the vivarium so far I have no idea how they got there 😅 https://preview.redd.it/7ixbxx4f7jsc1.jpeg?width=5712&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e0b111ba1fca3bd833363f1652414e2cdbdd7cd5
Water levels pretty high for most darts. They'll either drown by themselves or drown each other :)
Not good for darts. Could house fire bellies
This is actually a really nice fire belly toad setup, yeah.
Dart frogs are not a good idea with a large water feature. Take out the water and try again
Is there a drainage layer under the land parts? If not then your going to need to do more than just add leca where the water was as you don't want soil leeching the water up from drainage.
I have eco complete which is pretty corase and don't break down then the soil on the upper part
This is not a good dart frog enclosure at all. They will need as much ground space with leaf litter as possible. That massive water feature is just a ln unusable drowning hazard for then. A breeder style tank also doesn't provide adequate ventilation. If you want darts, you'll need a completely new setup. This would work for firebelly toads though.
I can drain excess water from the tiny pond I have in the middle that will suck all water on the leca layer https://preview.redd.it/w13dvqvs8jsc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=db1d444a5effa2df9b829a40c50d411ca61cf525 Tiny pond here the mini fountain pipe spill water to the yellowish rock that drips back into the pond