How to PLANT a DART FROG VIVARIUM

Hello everyone!
In this video I'll be talking about what plants I use for my poison dart frog vivariums. I'm also going to be sharing a part of my thought process while planting vivariums. If you have any questions, feel free to let me know in the comments and I'll be happy to respond.
I'm not planning on returning to consistent uploads at the moment, because of school and various other things, but I'm still going to upload every once in a while and once I do, I'll do my best to maintain high quality.
This is my first video that's meant as a guide for beginners, my earlier videos have just been updates on and compilations with my animals with a couple tips and tricks here and there. This more educational theme is probably the type of content that I'll keep doing in the future.
My instagram: / gecko_geek06
Music:
Home - Come Back Down
Lakey Inspired - Distant
Lakey Inspired - Blue Boi

[@Tropical_Tutorials]

Thank you for watching! Here is a list of all the plants I showed with name in the background in this video, in case you want to get a good overview or google any of them. Of course these are only a couple of selected examples from my collection, and there are a ton of other species that you can use. I should also mention that almost all of these (aside from the Monstera obliqua and a few of the micro orchids) are fairly easy to care for if they are kept in vivarium conditions. If there's any plant you noticed in the background which's name wasn't written on screen, feel free to ask about it. Backdrop plants: Ficus sagittata Ficus pumila Marcgravia sintenisii Marcgravia sp. Costa Rica Java moss Alsobia dianthiflora Peperomia emarginella Ficus pumila Quercifolia Bromeliads: Vriesea fenestralis Vriesea Hybrid Fire Vriesea erythrodactylon Cryptanthus bivittatus Neoregelia Fireball A few different unknown Neoregelias Tillandsia tectorum Aroids: Philodendron verrucosum Philodendron mamei Green Form Philodendron mandaianum Philoddendron El Choco Red Monstera adansonii ssp. laniata Monstera dubia Philodendron Splendid (verrucosum x melanochrysum) Monstera obliqua Peruvian Form Philodendron Burle Marx Fantasy Syngonium wendlandii or rayii Philodendron melanochrysum Philodendron Burle Marx Variegata Philodendron Florida Ghost Monstera siltepecana Begonias: Begonia prismantocarpa Begonia elaeagnifolia Schulzei Begonia amphioxus Begonia chlorostricta Green Form An unknown species Ferns: Didymochlaena truncatula Pyrrosia lingua Davallia fejeensis Microgramma nitida Two unknown species from Dusk mossmix Orchids: Pleurothallis niveoglobula Pleurothallis sonderiana Coelogyne fimbriata Maxillaria variabilis Epidendrum porpax Haraella retrocalla Masdevallia minuta An unknown species Ludisia discolor Macodes petola

[@cristiaolson7327]

Thank you so much for actually posting the list of featured plants! It's incredibly helpful for a newcomer to the hobby, because while there are of course lots of normal houseplants that can be used in vivariums, one of the great joys of dart frogs is the incredible and lush jungle landscapes that can be created for them (and their keepers) to enjoy. Also, I have kept houseplants for decades, and keep hundreds of species. I know many of the plants I grow in my home would thrive, but they would also get far to large for a vivarium in just a year or two. Vivariums have opened up a whole world of beautiful, delicate, small and often colorful plants that would either struggle in my low humidity of would be lost between my larger houseplants in a pot on the shelf.

[@taylorhickman84]

What a great resource for newbies like myself. I'm building a large paludarium and the plants is bar far the most intimidating part.

[@Ash-mw3dg]

This video is so thorough! I love your vivariums and how much care you give your animals

[@andrewwe24]

That video is great! It's totally informative and a great starting point. I have Crested Geckos myself, but, have been doing research for Dart Frogs in the future. Your x-axis graph of Shown Background:Plant Coverage is a great! Thank you!

[@doxtorbork5567]

Fantastic video! Your frogs are absolutely lovely

[@chema8217]

Incredible video bro!! Keep the hard work ^^

[@joeyp734]

super nice!!!!

[@kyleferber1519]

Excellent tips, thank you for sharing your knowledge and time

[@ryanhlushak7387]

Great content, as someone setting up my first dart frog vivarium this is very useful. Thank you!

[@stephenw.6588]

Brilliant!! Thank you for giving us such a lengthy list. I appreciate your lighting and growth rate advice too.

[@willbillco3638]

Amazing thank you 👍

[@Garry_sus]

You deserve more attention very good video

[@brianveth1923]

Unbelievable! Incredible resource for someone like me who usually just puts Home Depot plants.

[@brianveth1923]

And subscribed. Looking forward to checking out your other videos. If your other videos are this good, you should have so many more subscribers

[@jackjohnson8217]

nice videos

[@yggdrasil3]

Wow, this is broadcast-level production values.

[@Tropical_Tutorials]

Thank you!

[@clubkidcarlos]

Fantastic video ! Great info ! What kind of light projects that rainbow shine down on the plants ?

[@Tropical_Tutorials]

It’s an LED grow light from the store Gemma, which I’m not sure you can get unless you’re in Sweden. I personally think it’s extremely ugly and I’ve stopped using it since, but if you like it you could probably find something similar

[@parleyk4503]

Can you do a video covering moss in a vivarium?

[@Tropical_Tutorials]

I do plan on covering it in my dart frog care series which is coming up, but I won’t be too positive to it. It’ll be more if it’s good or bad, not exactly a moss care sheet.

[@LJsReef]

Great video and I agree with most everything you said including wishing I had more epyphytic orchids 😁

[@greenmachinesweden]

Great vid mate! I think KZbin cancelled my subscription. Back on now, have to ho back and check what I have missed.

[@Tropical_Tutorials]

You haven’t missed much, this is my first video in almost year I think.

[@wan4891]

Subscribed to your channel to enjoy and absorb information and experience of which you have a lot: planning a paludarium in about 6 months of (hope so) 1200 (1400) * 600 * 1200. Also enjoyed until now and learned of the channel "biotope gallery". In one of their latests video's they had some "neon day" gecko's which a very beautiful. Hope that you will be able to make a bit reguarly updates 🙂 A question right now: do you have the "nepenthus" plant (or similar) and are they allowed in a paludarium with darth frogs? Best regards from the Netherlands

[@Tropical_Tutorials]

Thank you for the support! I’d love to make consistent uploads again, and I might do that this summer, but at the moment I can’t because of school. I’ve never kept Nepenthens and never would in a dart frog vivarium. I’ve both heard of some who did it without issues and some that had frogs die in them.

[@taylorhickman84]

I'm building a 36x18x36 paludarium and am wondering if I will have to do a combination of lighting types, one for the background plants, and one for the aquatic plants. The water will only be 8-9" deep, however the light is positioned 30" above the water surface. Currently I have a 36" Fluval plant which should work fine for the terrestrial plants, but I'm thinking the aquatic plants might benefit from a small spot lamp, so they get enough light w/o burning the plants positioned towards the top of the paludarium. Thoughts? TIA Also any recommendations for light cycle duration and misting schedule would be greatly appreciated.

[@Tropical_Tutorials]

Honestly there are a lot of people who know more than me about lighting, especially in water features (I don’t have any). Light cycle schedule is usually around 14h day 10h night for my frogs. The most natural would probably be 12/12 but I don’t think the frogs care about it that much and I prefer seeing them as much as possible. Misting schedule is impossible to say. For some of my more well ventilated vivariums I do 5 times a day for 15-20 seconds each (good drainage is super important when you’re misting that much), for some of my froglet vivariums with almost no ventilation (I have a few front opening Exo terras where the entire top is replaced with glass so only the front ventilation is left) I literally just hand spray it for 5 seconds every to every other day. Freshly planted vivariums usually have to be misted more than established ones. If you haven’t seen it yet, my complete dart frog care guide probably covers some of your questions.

[@NRG-ds5hc]

How often and for how many seconds do you spray your plants during one day?

[@Tropical_Tutorials]

That really depends on how much ventilation you have, how dry your indoor climate is and how grown in it is. For my big vivariums, which are quite well ventilated, my misting system runs for 10 seconds 6 times a day at the moment. During the warmest summer days, I might run it more often. In my froglet vivariums, which are quite small and have very limited ventilation, I only hand mist for a few seconds every or every other day.

[@NRG-ds5hc]

@@Tropical_Tutorials thank you so much that was super helpful! I was overwatering my plants in my huge chameleon terrarium!

[@djtanikgotbeatz]

Where do you get that rainbow lighting?

[@Tropical_Tutorials]

It's some random grow light for plants that I got from a Swedish company (Gemma LED) years ago. It's funny how I get so many questions about it since I personally hate it, but I guess it could be a nice touch depending on who you ask. The main light source should be cold white (around 6500k) though.

[@user-vd5gj3id7m]

Hello! Can I use monstera Peru and monstera tetrasperma for terrarium with dart frogs?

[@Tropical_Tutorials]

Absolutely! Personally I’d probably not use them in a small vivarium though because they grow quite fast.

[@user-vd5gj3id7m]

@@Tropical_Tutorials thank you! I have 90 cm tall terrarium :)

[@Tropical_Tutorials]

@@user-vd5gj3id7m Sounds good, they’re gonna look awesome in such a large vivarium.

[@jaidyn.m]

what’s the netting on the sides and back of the tank

[@Tropical_Tutorials]

If you mean the black netting, it’s hygrolon, and if you’re referring to the brown background in the biggest viv and some others, it’s coco fiber carpet (the thick type, the thin version apparently break down quickly)