You have already received some good advice. As you have recognized temperature is going to be a huge issue for you. Get a digital thermometer
with a remote probe. Radio shack sells a nice dual display model for about $20 and you can get the single display model at Lowes or Home depot for about $10. This will allow you to closely monitor the temps in the enclosure. As others have said, do not rush into getting your animals. Get your enclosure setup and planted and then wait a few weeks for your fruit flies to start producing, plants to be come established, etc. By waiting a month to get your animals this will allow you to trend the temperatures inside the enclosures and to develop some type mitigation strategy and implement it if the temps too high. If you have the animals in the enclosure and the temps go into the low or mid 90's it can kill your frogs. I have had it happen to me. I usually recommend P. terribillis as a starter frog, but they seem to be more sensitive high temps than Dendrobates (or at least mine were). I'd go with Kyle's suggestion of leucs or auratus as your first frogs. Tincs and azuerus are great, but the adult females could fight if you have them in a 20 gallon tank. I had a 1:2 group of tincs in a 30 gallon and got both females to breed with little if any damage to each other's eggs, but the tank was heavily planted and multi-tiered with a stream running thru it so there were a lot of physical barriers in the enclosure. Regardless of what frogs you get, make sure that you have multiple hiding spots, it will definitely help them acclimate better.
As far as plants: There are many good places to get plants on this site, and I can personally recommend Peace of the topics. You mentioned Ficus benjamina, I actually have one of these in my terribillis enclosure right now. I have to trim it every couple of weeks, but the terribillis like to sleep in the upper branches. It is the only time that I ever see them off the ground and looks pretty neat.
The thing about just stacking the gravel and then putting an indent in it for the pond is that you are making the enclosure really heavy, plus the land area becomes that much higher. Four inches of gravel + 3 inches of soil in a 20 gallon tank uses over 1/3 the height of the tank. You can also drop down a part of the false bottom (I think you said you were using one) by making it a slanting section that goes to the bottom of the tank. Still cover everything with the fiberglass screen and then cover this and the ramp with gravel.
Good luck with your enclosure and frogs!
Ed
with a remote probe. Radio shack sells a nice dual display model for about $20 and you can get the single display model at Lowes or Home depot for about $10. This will allow you to closely monitor the temps in the enclosure. As others have said, do not rush into getting your animals. Get your enclosure setup and planted and then wait a few weeks for your fruit flies to start producing, plants to be come established, etc. By waiting a month to get your animals this will allow you to trend the temperatures inside the enclosures and to develop some type mitigation strategy and implement it if the temps too high. If you have the animals in the enclosure and the temps go into the low or mid 90's it can kill your frogs. I have had it happen to me. I usually recommend P. terribillis as a starter frog, but they seem to be more sensitive high temps than Dendrobates (or at least mine were). I'd go with Kyle's suggestion of leucs or auratus as your first frogs. Tincs and azuerus are great, but the adult females could fight if you have them in a 20 gallon tank. I had a 1:2 group of tincs in a 30 gallon and got both females to breed with little if any damage to each other's eggs, but the tank was heavily planted and multi-tiered with a stream running thru it so there were a lot of physical barriers in the enclosure. Regardless of what frogs you get, make sure that you have multiple hiding spots, it will definitely help them acclimate better.
As far as plants: There are many good places to get plants on this site, and I can personally recommend Peace of the topics. You mentioned Ficus benjamina, I actually have one of these in my terribillis enclosure right now. I have to trim it every couple of weeks, but the terribillis like to sleep in the upper branches. It is the only time that I ever see them off the ground and looks pretty neat.
The thing about just stacking the gravel and then putting an indent in it for the pond is that you are making the enclosure really heavy, plus the land area becomes that much higher. Four inches of gravel + 3 inches of soil in a 20 gallon tank uses over 1/3 the height of the tank. You can also drop down a part of the false bottom (I think you said you were using one) by making it a slanting section that goes to the bottom of the tank. Still cover everything with the fiberglass screen and then cover this and the ramp with gravel.
Good luck with your enclosure and frogs!
Ed
