Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi
I have used wet paper towels in my 20 gallon extra high tank for my 3 green treefrogs for over a year. The tank has potted plants and several branches the frogs are very happy and I change the papertowels every few days.
I am thinking of moss as it looks nicer and I imagine holds moisture as well as papertowels but not sure. Anyone have any experiense input with this?
I plan to buy large bale and replace it when I change it.

Thanks

I use "green moss" that I buy in bags from the garden department.

I put a layer of the moss over the soil in which the plants are rooted.

I started by soaking it for several minutes. Every day I mist the enclosure several times. I also add water to the soil once a week or so.

The moss dries out quickly. It may help the soil retain moisture, but the moss itself is very dry. I stick with it for aesthetic purposes.

Now there are mosses you can buy that look like the moss you see around trees in temperate forests. That stuff can be kept moist and it may grow some.

NOTE: I use the green moss for my dumpy. He spends little time on the tank floor, but doesn't seem bothered by the dry moss when he is down there.

Thanks they have green moss in the area plant place to going look into that. You keep your tank with live plants never any problems with ammonia in the soil?
the planted look does look nice just thought in long run wouldnt work.

You keep your tank with live plants never any problems with ammonia in the soil?

My frog seems to excrete some waste into the water bowl, which I clean regularly, and some waste onto the green moss. The moss seems to keep the soil clean by absorbing the waste.

I use the "smell test" on the tank to determine when to clean it out. If I get a whiff of anything foul, I pull out all of the moss and rinse it multiple times in hot water. Then I wring it out and put it back.

I also pull out the cork bark section and large branch and clean them with hot water.

I clean the glass on a more frequent basis.

So far the plants are very healthy. I also seem to have a colony of pill bugs (AKA sow bugs or wood lice) along with small earthworms in the soil.

When I set up my tank I started with a layer of rubber mat. I think it's the kind used for a welcome mat, except it has large holes in it. I cut it to fit the floor of the tank. Then I placed a layer of air-conditioning filter material over that. Then a layer of topsoil/coco fiber mix. I then planted some pothos and other tropical plants. Finally I placed a layer of green moss over that.

I then introduced some bugs and worms.

This all drains well and is almost self-sustaining, except for cleaning out the moss and wood.

thanks for the info thinking of trying something like that as you cant beat the natural look.

brad that sounds like a nice setup. im experimenting with my first "naturalistic" tank, and would like to see some pics of yours for inspiration. in mine i just have the soil/coco fiber with the plants in the soil, and some in pots. today i got some pea gravel which i heard i should put underneath the soil for drainage, which il probly do when i get off work tonite. does that sound like a good idea or would you recomend something else? do you use any kind of fertilizer on your plants? i dont but while some of my plants thrive, some dont. iv got some kind of palm grass which only lasted like a week, its all drying up. i plan to swich out whats left to something a little stronger for my big fat frog friend to climb on without destroying. do you think earthworms would help keep the plants alive?
im thinking about adding a waterfall too, maybe just something kinda cheap like a few small waterbowls to make pools that drip into a bigger one, i think that the lizard would like to drink the droplets and it would give the frog more places to soak, maybe also help with humidity. any advice/ ideas on that?
do you still work at PSP? we just moved stores but the new reptile "habitat" is amazingly innapropriate so i put in my 2 weeks notice. its funny cause i wrote a letter to the president of the corporation requesting they send us a better habitat and apparantly he got all mad and yelled at our district manager, who in turn is going crazy on everyone else. glad im getting out of there, i really tire of the way corporate runs that place.
sorry to be off subject, send some pictures pleeeze

Looks spartan. I've tried to trail some of the pothos up the large branch, but it won't cooperate. In spite of the minimal decorations, Chopchop likes to stay out in the open almost all of the time.

Chopchop usually sits on top of the section of corkbark in the lower-left during the day, and soaks in the water bowl at night. In this photo I had just put him on the branch after feeding him and spraying the tank.

I have only used moss as a substrate for my frogs. I agree that it is a much nicer look for the aquarium, and it does assist in keeping the moisture levels in the tank. The only problem that i have encountered with moss is that the crickets tend to bury under it and dont come back out. The crickets are resourceful, so that part isnt so great, however, i still continue to use it. Because they are tree frogs and spend most of their time up in the leaves, on the glass, etc. they really do not care waht is on the bottom of the tank. Moss does certianly add a nice touch to the tank, there are no downfalls to it other then the crickets!