Calling all PDF owners!

[blightedchemist]

I have some preliminary questions about keeping pdfs. We have had an abandoned 32 gallon aquarium in our house just sitting out of sight for quite some time. Today it hit me, that I would love to(after much research) keep some pdfs in an ecosystem in that 32 gallon tank. Now I will look through these forums and others, and other websites obviously before such a task is started. I would like a summary on how much it would cost first to start a pdf display, and a good starting point i could go from for such a display. and directions or statements are definetly much appreciated!

 

[Euphoric]

Do you mean posion dart frog?

 

[blightedchemist]

I sure do.

 

[Euphoric]

OK, lol sorry I am not a frog expert so I wasn't sure.
However, I have been looking to get some posions too.
From what I gather you want to have a drainage system.

It includes stuff you can get at lowe's or home deopot. You want some pvc pipe and electrical lighting grid. The pvc holds the grid up and then you have some pcv pipe coming out so you can siphon the water out when you clean.

On top of the grid you put large rocks, or there are some special rounded (I forget the name) but I was told rocks are just fine, and then on top of that the substrate.

Then I was told a lot of moss and natural plants.

So the estimated cost was pretty cheap, I think 20 at lowes (although for a 32 it will be more, mine was for a ten gallon), aquarium gravel is 10 bucks for 10 lbs, substrate is 6 or so, and moss is about 8 for a large bag.

But dont' forget heating/lights you may need and the natural plants.

 

[blightedchemist]

yeah that sounds about right, seems like poison dart frog setups are some of the most complex 'land' setups ive heard of. another idea i had was setting up a reef tank. but thats for another forum altogether.

 

[Euphoric]

Haha reef tanks are even more expensive. I am setting up a five gallon before I go big. thankfully there is a petstore that sells very small coral (Perfect for that size thank) for like 3.99-10.99 so I can create a mini reef.

 

[blightedchemist]

Yeah I've decided against a reef tank for now, considering its a larger tank, I will start off with a nano reef some time in the future. As of now, I am still considering darts, maybe a water dragon or more possible a ball python.

 

[Euphoric]

The ball python is you cheapest bet,
Personally I don't like dragons or iguanas (Bad experiance) but dragons do get large and need a lot of upgrading.
But posions are the coolest.

 

[hondawingsfly]

a nice looking setup shouldnt be too much to build it just depends a lot on if your getting into mysting systems and things like that, i would use probably small cleaned gravel for the bottom of the tank then on top of that live moss and sphagnum moss, i would put some nice plants in there deff some bromilliads maybe mini ferns i think a lot of plant life looks good just want to try to get at least rain forest looking plants. also some nice driftwood looks good and you can tie the bromilliads to the wood with fishing line and they will grow on there. then youll need a hood with a light and timer and fruit fly cultures. joshs frogs is a good place to buy fruit fly cultures and medium, then just have your own cultures in mason jars for feeding. uhm i cant think of much else but i sure i forgot stuff dendroboard.com will be a good place for you to get more information.

 

[Nubster]

I have over $300 invested in my PDF setup and it is pretty simple. That does not include the cost of the frogs ($300 more) or the tank which I had on hand. Here is a shot of my vivarium...

 

[Pookachu]

dont know anything about PDF's (just the adobe kind), but that is a really neat setup!

 

[hondawingsfly]

that setup looks great

 

[blightedchemist]

yeah it does look really nice. The fiber background material looks really good in there. I kindof put building a PDF display on the back burner for a while. mostly because I dont have a sizable tank to use, and maintaining fruitfly cultures could be a little more difficulty than I'm looking for currently.