[allllllen]

Hey guys, I just finished putting together / planting my 75 gallon about a week and a half ago. Everything seems to be going good so far. Even my water feature / waterfall is in good working order. No unexpected leaks or unwanted water splashing.
My question is: is it really necessary to give a new viv a month or so to settle in before introducing any dart frogs to it?
Thanks.
-Allen

 

[fieldnstream]

Absolutely necessary...no. A good idea...yes.
It really depends on a few variables: How old are the frogs you are going to put in? Will you be introducing the frogs all at once? Are they all the same age and from the same source? Do you want to have an established microfauna population? Could the plants you used have residual systemic fertilizers?

 

[Shinosuke]

I'm no expert but it probably has a lot to do with what you used to create the viv. If you just slapped in some substrate and already sterilized your plants then you're probably good to go. However, if you used certain chemicals in your build or seeded it with critters you probably want to give it more time.
Also, all the stuff that fieldnstream said!

 

[frogparty]

After a month, anything that could have gone wrong will have probably done so with the exception of water feature pump problems. It's much easier to fix issues when there aren't any frogs in it. Rooted in plants also tolerate the trampling much better.

 

[Dizzle21]

Exactly also gives you a safe period just in case your background fails

 

[Baltimore Bryan]

I agree with what others have said- not completely necessary but I would recommend it. Now I will say that I frequently throw together some grow-out vivs that are temporary until the main tank is done, or for froglets, quickly with a cleaned tank, some moss, leaves, and plant cuttings and put the frogs in that day or within a week. However, for more permanent set-ups that I don't plan on breaking down quickly and that are more complex, I would certainly wait to let the plants get adjusted and root as well as let the microfauna settle in. It's just so much easier in the long run to have the viv completely up and running and also established before adding the frogs, rather than having to go in and tweak this and move that, fix that leak and add more springtails, etc. once the frogs are already there.
Bryan

 

[leuc11]

Its up to you really I threw my vittatus in thier viv 10 minutes after I finished while I waited 2 monthes to let my other viv to grow in before I got frogs. I had good plant results to and encountered no problems so It all comes down to patience or no patience

 

[allllllen]

I see. Well my background is made from expanding foam ( great stuff and black pond foam) with silicone and coco fiber but before even planting it and getting it running, i gave it at least a month or a month and a half to make sure any of the strong odors were gone. ( so my background really cant fail )
After that is when i planted it, got all the springs in there and so on.
Ive had my froglets in their "quarantine / grow out" temporary tank for a little over a month. They should be a little over 3 or 4 months old.
I guess i can wait, i just feel like they would be enjoying the 75 gallon so much more then their little sterilite container haha.

 

[allllllen]

Appreciate all the responses!
Thanks guys!

 

[Dizzle21]

Gs backgrounds can still fail, one of mine had a large piece of heavy driftwood attached. Withen a few days after the tank was set up the gs pulled away from the glass. Its a good idea to silicone some eggcrate to the glass before foaming it so the gs has something to "bite" onto. In was in a hurry because i have a ton of tanks to do, needless to say the rest have eggcrate.

 

[aboznut]

I had some problems with my clay background but that took a few months down the road...

 

[Frogman955]

Gs backgrounds can still fail, one of mine had a large piece of heavy driftwood attached. Withen a few days after the tank was set up the gs pulled away from the glass. Its a good idea to silicone some eggcrate to the glass before foaming it so the gs has something to "bite" onto. In was in a hurry because i have a ton of tanks to do, needless to say the rest have eggcrate.

Hi people i`ve been lurking on here for a while now and think this is a great forum so well done on that score, but I now feel that I have something to offer.
I have to agree with everything quoted above.
I have just been building a new viv and have had my expanding foam pull away from the glass on one end due to the weight of the bog wood that I used.
Fortunately it can be repaired without stripping it all out, but it shows that it can and does happen.
Near the top of the viv I siliconed some egg crate to the glass to create two small shelves onto which I sprayed the foam and this has given it a solid foothold to the glass with no sign of it ever coming loose.
Previously I had 2 smaller vivs with branches attatched to the glass with Gorilla Glue which after a few months decided to detatch.
Fortunately the type of the branches and how they were sitting stopped anything bad from happening and I was able to refix them using silicone.
From now on i`m going to be taking more precautions against this kind of thing happening.

Mike