DIY Dart Frog Starter Kit - Assembly Instructions

[FrogPimp]

Let this thread serve as a reference for those who win my TARAS/CRE donation items, which up until this point have been 18x18x24 DIY dart frog starter kits with four Azureus frogs:






The assembly instructions contained herein are to help you build your tank the way in which it was intended to be built when I pre-fabricated all of the pieces. Any deviation from these instructions may result in undesirable consequences.

This thread is by no means an exhaustive methodology for creating dart frog habitats. Anything over and above the beginner level is beyond the scope of this thread. This is a dart frog starter kit.

The $100 prize money is for supplies that were not included, such as:
- light fixture/light bulbs
- spray bottle (for misting)
- drain bucket
- silicone/glue
- dirt/plants
- cage furniture, etc.

Perhaps a moderator could disable posting by others in this thread, or just delete posts made by others, or even stick this to the top of the page. Thank you.

[FrogPimp]

Step 1

Obtain some supplies.

You will need silicone and glue.

These are what I recommend, available at Home Depot or Rona:

[FrogPimp]

Step 2 (30 minutes of work)

A) Silicone the bottom edges and corners of the tank to ensure it will not leak. Be sure to silicone to a height at least one inch above the height of the deli containers.

B) Silicone the deli containers into place as indicated in the picture below. Four of the five deli containers are for each of the corners and the fifth is for the center. Note that the deli containers are to be siliconed in place upside down. It is important that the deli containers be setup exactly as shown.

This is how your tank should look once you are finished with silicone:



It does not matter how pretty or ugly your silicone job is because you will never see it! Don't waste your time being pretty!

Allow the silicone to dry for 2 weeks minimum.

You can move to the next step while you are waiting.

[FrogPimp]

Step 3 (15 minutes of work)

Glue your screen to your eggcrate.

Note that there is a square hole in your screen and a square hole in your eggcrate. These must line up!

Glue around the entire perimeter, as well as around the square hole.



Allow the glue to dry for 3 days minimum.

[FrogPimp]

Step 4 (5 minutes of work)

Silicone your sewer (pop bottle top) to the screen/eggcrate. This must also line up with the square holes as shown in the picture:



Here I used a Powerade bottle. You will have a Coke bottle.

Allow the silicone to dry for 2 weeks minimum.

[FrogPimp]

Step 5 (5 minutes of work)

Place your screen/eggcrate/sewer in place onto your deli containers. No silicone or glue required at this step.

Your tank should now look like this:




Note in the above picture how your bottle top (sewer), screen, egg crate, and deli container all line up? This is very important!

[FrogPimp]

Step 6 (15 minutes of work)

Hide your ugly silicone job!

Tape around the outside of the tank with your favourite tape.



Tip: Use a wide tape so that you only have to wrap around the tank a few times.

[FrogPimp]

Step 7 (15 minutes of work)

Add dirt. Add plants. Add cage furniture, etc.






You are finished! Your tank is now frog ready.

This should have only taken approximately an hour and ten minutes of total work time.

[FrogPimp]

There are still a few things which you will need to do prior to obtaining your frogs:


#1 - Obtain a mist bottle and a drain bucket. Practice misting and draining your tank. Mist with dechlorinated tap water, or bottled water.

Draining Instructions:
1) Fill your drain hose (included) with water.
2) Take the bottle cap off of your sewer.
3) Insert your drain hose to the bottom of the tank.
4) Put the other end of your drain hose into the drain bucket and allow the water to drain.
***This works via gravity, thus your tank will need to be positioned above your drain bucket (i.e. put your tank on a table and the drain bucket on the floor).
***Be sure to replace the bottle cap to prevent your frogs from getting into the false bottom!

Realistically, you should only need to drain your tank 6-10 times per year, depending on how much you mist. It only takes 1-2 minutes to drain.


#2 - Obtain some fruit flies and practice culturing them prior to obtaining your frogs. If you don't have flies to feed your frogs then your frogs will slowly starve to death. Google will be your friend here. There is no point in me describing how to culture fruit flies when the internet is at your fingertips. I included a few Repashy products, including SuperFly, which will be your culturing medium. The other products are calcium/vitamins for dusting your fruit flies before feeding them to your frogs.


Once you are comfortable with operating your tank and culturing fruit flies, then contact me and I will bring you some frogs. I will bring a whole bunch and you can choose any four you like!