New Vivarium for Poison Dart Frogs Build

quick cellphone video

 

Got some frogs in the tank today!!!


(4) Dendrobates Azureus

They seem to love their new home and are hoppin' around all over the tank.

All I have right now are crappy cell phone pics but it gives you an idea of what they look like.

 

Ribbit

 

Thanks for the compliment!

I recommend visiting dendroboard.com as a great way to start doing research.

As with the reefing hobby doing the proper research will save you lot's of heartache in the future.

 

Now the frogs are all nice and comfy in their new tank I ran out of things to do. I decided to get rid of the controller I had originally bought for the tank and share my existing Apex that currently only runs my reef tank.


The controller I had before was specifically built for reptiles but was VERY limited. It only had 4 controllable outlets and the web interface was just scary. It's YEARS behind any controllers we have for our reef tanks.


I actually had an extra EB8 and PM1 that I'm not using so it was just a matter of running a long usb cable from my reef tank over to the frog tank.


One thing that an Apex can't do is monitor/control humidity levels so I managed to find a very affordable solution around that. I was thinking about building an arduino powered humidity controller but after shopping around I cam across the perfect pre-built solution.




It only ran me $30 and used a N/O relay to trigger devices. It can be set to be used as a dehumidifier or humidifier, or even a temperature controller.


In this case I am using it in humidifier mode. I merely had to hook the N/C relay up to my PM1's I/O, write some code based on the switch, and WHALAA! The Apex now controls the humidity in my tank.


I set a setpoint to 90% on the controller, if the sensor reads below 90% it closes the relay which closes the switch on the Apex. The mister outlet on the Apex uses a OSC statement which basically checks the status of the switch every 30 minutes. If the switch is closed it will mist for 30 seconds. I may change this as the humidity controller has it's own built in hysteresis and delay. I'll give it a couple days and see what happens.





I still need to mount the controller but everything seems to be working great so far. It's really remarkable what you can do with these controllers nowadays! The Apex is far superior to the controller I was using.


I currently am running some single blue LED's for a nice night time effect. Who know's now I have the Apex hooked up I may try out Neptunes new Lunar Sim module.


Well, time to feed the frogs.

 

Sorry for the late reply on this. Unlike fish and corals frogs don't really need a precise set temperature so ambient room temperature is fine. I do have a heater in the sump for the fish however.

 

I really wanted a Mist King system but due to space limitations in my stand I had to go with the Monsoon. I feel it's "OK" if your going to run a few misters with it. I've got 4 in my tank and a few of them don't work as well as others.


Also, I am using my Apex to control the unit. I have heard of lots of people having problems with the built in electronics on the Monsoon.


I may eventually switch to a Mist King but for now the Monsoon will get me by.

 

Updated pic by request. As you can see, it's a jungle in there. Going to do some pruning so my orchids get more air and light.