Just kidding!!!

I saw the thread about 86'ing some terms and thought this would be a good title to wrangle people in.

On to the serious...

I'm wondering if there is any guidelines or rules of thumb regarding vivarium size and it's ease of acclimating to the hobby? I know with saltwater tanks, in general, the larger the tank the larger the volume, the more "buffer", and thus the less likely a person is to crash a tank. I wasn't sure if there is a "smaller is more manageable" rule or not.

The reason I ask is that I'm prepared to go one of four routes. (Feel free to slap the crap out of me at any point.)

1) Purchase new. If I went this route I'd likely end up with something in the 36"x12"x12" range, maybe a touch bigger.
2) Utilize existing 46 gallon bowfront tank. Now I know that people want measurements but I wasn't sure how to express a bowfront in terms of measure as it's odd shaped.
3) Utilize existing 84"x24"x24" tank. Yes... I know it's huge and was likely going to separate it into 3-4 smaller areas and perhaps keep different frogs or setups in each section.
4) Build new. If I build my own I've got lots of different ways I can go, but I believe that I have enough resources to just use an existing "tank" already in my possession.

I did, on a whim, go out and purchase a few plants. I've picked up a Rhoeo Tri-color and 2 bromeliads. (Guzmania) Whether or not these will have a place in the end, I don't really care. I've been revamping my house and along with my Christmas Cactus I like my new house plants.

Lastly, I usually frown upon "kits" when it comes to something particular, but I was wondering if the care kits from Josh's Frogs are good starters for the substrate, etc? They seems to be inclusive, but in the end I only care about the health and comfort of my frogs. Whichever they end up being.

Any input on this would be awesome! (Thanks for reading all the way to the end.)

I always build the viv for the morph of the dart frog I am going to keep in it, some like more vertical spaces and some are more terrestrial although IMO all of them like to climb.
As far as size that would depend on which dart and how many you are going to put in the viv.

Have you decided on a paticular dart frog yet?

I have not purchased any kits, I make the substrate myself and like to pick out all of my plants individually.

As far as utilizing a large viv and splitting it up, it is quite tricky to split up a viv so each of the inhabitants are not going to cross contaminate one another between sections.

Thanks for the reply Beth!

I think the girlfriend and I have "settled" on some sort of Tinc. I'm not sold on the exact one as of yet, but knew that I should have at least the type picked out. (I guess that would have helped huh?) FTR, I'm reaaaaaaaly leaning towards D. tinctorius Patricia or something of the sort.

I'd like to go with 4. Now if that's not a good idea for a starter, I'm fine with that too. As I've stated, the health and comfort of my little friends is paramount.

I hear you on the splitting of the tank. Just a little background: The tank is structurally partitioned into 3 sections. I would use these lateral supports to create the upper barriers and use black lexan/PC for the vertical (to completely isolate them visually). I'd use standard aquarium building tactics and materials to achieve a water tight seal, then utilizing custom glass tops for the vertical closure. (IMO, this would separate them as well as having 2 vivs sitting next to each other, no?)

That being said!!!!! I'm leaning towards the bow-front. It has good floorspace and it quite tall for it's footprint. It use to be a saltwater coral breeder/grow-out. (I used to sell/trade coral back in the day.)

I'm reading my bum off when I can, and just want to make sure I'm not missing something... so any ideas/hints/tips/tricks that anybody can think of would be great. I really don't want to make any rookie mistakes. I managed to not have any of those in the saltwater growing pains... don't want to start now.

Once I read you were interested in Tincs my first thought was the bow front. : )
If it was me I would try 3 juvie tincs instead of 4 due to the case that they can be aggressive unless your plan is to sex them and split them up.

If you can split your big viv ( I would do a water test to make sure each section is sealed) it should be ok, you are right about the visual barriers between the sections.
I split a 18x18x36 exo in half and used clay as a barrier.

Looks like you are off to a great start!
Research is a must IMO, plus it is an ongoing process even after years in the hobby.

I normally buy 5 Tinc froglets to try and ensure I get at least one pair out of it. As they get older and sexable I pull any extra females or pairs. Depends...

Some examples of froglets I've purchased.

Alanis- Bought 5. Ended up with 3.2 Sold off a pair and kept 2.1

Lorenzo- Bought 4. All turned out to be male.

Patricia- Bought 5. Ended up with 4.1 and they're all together still and breeding.

Bakhuis- Bought 5. Ended up with 4.1 and they're all together and breeding.

Citronalla- Bought 4. Ended up with 1.3 A pair together and two females in a separate tank.

2.1.1 = 2 males, 1 female, 1 juvy

Cheers

Beth -

Three will work if you guys think that would be best. I'm not overly worried about breeding or having a mated pair at this point and would rather not worry about having to separate anything out. (At least not having to plan for it, if I need to, I will.) I'm going to hopefully start working on the tank tomorrow and planning out my floor/background. I've been looking for a good place to source info on this subject but it seems like I'm taking pieces from lots of different article on that. Is there any definitive reading online anywhere that you'd suggest for viv building? I'm hitting the library tomorrow as well to see about some of the printed books available.

Glenn -

Thanks for the tips as well. Are there any typical major issues with starting with a pair and adding a third? Does it need to be proven if added later? Does the size of the viv play any role in adding a 3rd, 4th, etc. later?

I do not know of any books that go into detail about Viv building but I have not read Jason Juchams book. There are plenty of well laid out construction journals on DartFrogz.

Glenn knows more about Tincs than I do but from what I have read they do better in Pairs or Trios, they are not group frogs even in a big viv.

Leucs, auratus and Terribs, galacs, nominal imis and vents can do well in groups. There are other group frogs as well (these are just off the top of my head).
In my opinion the terribs are the best group frog plus they are big frogs and will appreciate a large terrestrial viv.

We really need to know what tank size you're going to use. After that we can be of more help.

My apologies Glenn, I thought I made it clear. (I did in my head! Hahaha) I will be using the 46g bow-front. I will also be going with Tincs, for sure, for this round.