Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well, after a greater interest in freshwater fish and a few years of nothing but fish, I am ready to get jump back in and hopefully, be able to participate a bit more in the forum.

I am looking into setting up a vivarium for a breeding group of 5-6 red-eyes in a 47 gallon. (By breeding I mean for future profit)For a bit I was considering darts, but on second thought, the fruit fly cultureing isn't so appealing. The tank for the red-eyes would be a planted tank, with larger pea gravel for drainage and variety of really nice plants that would thrive. I just have a few questions and would really like your opinions of them, if you would please....

1. Substrate
-- Is a coconut brick bedding fine for plant growth, or would a
mixture of something else be better?
-- Are they're any plant fertilizers that are safe for the
frogs, other than the slightly more nutrious water from the
water bowl?

2. Plants
-- So far, plants that would be suitable are peace lily,
pothos, creeping fig, birds nest fern, philodendron and????
-- Any other durable, higher humidity loving plants?

3. Lighting
-- I am planning on just a screen top, with a double flo. bulb
strip light w/ a peice of plexi glass to regulate humidity.
Any other suggestions? More light?

4. Heating
-- Needs to be heated, my room is too cool. What do you
suggest?

5. Misc.
-- Any electronic temp. and humidity monitering devices that
are nice?
-- Where to purchase the frogs? Should I buy two and get three
more? Order them online?

Thanks for any suggestions!
-----
¤§ RyanD §¤
Age:17
ezekiel37_14@hotmail.com

For substrate I would suggest dirt and moss, the chips tend to mold and I've found that plants don't grow too well in them. A good way to do it is to have a gravel bottom and moss on the top.

Where you are putting the plants just leave them in the pot thing they came in (you may need to cut to make smalller) so that way they can be potted in dirt without it being too messy. Bromeliads are very good for tanks like that, and also frogs LVOE to climb on them and get in the big leaves. There is a lot of differnnt kinds, some are green, purple, pink... Other good plants are: spider plants- good accent plants and grow fast, snake plants : extremely hardy-they never die. I don't know of any fertilizers that are safe.

For the plants with dirt, just put moss over the fertilizer and that will be safe. If you are worried about heat just get a basking bulb like you would have for any reptile. I've found that the blue ones don't burn the plants as much/at all as the reg. ones. I don't think a under tank heater would work cause there is just gravel there and it doesn't heat well through water. Just get a thermometer and humidity gauge, I think the monitoring stuff is a waste of money. I would suggest getting them at a herp show, the shipping proces isn't good for the frogs. Good luck and feel free to ask more questions!

I am getting mine soon, so I don't have first hand knowledge, just what I've read. (I just have a little gecko now).

Pothos, I love, even I can kill it, Spiders too. I have an African Violet in mine, don't know if they are ok'd or not; but it's doing well.

I have a waterfall in mine and about 2-3 inches of water on the bottom so with just a regular aquarium heater (mounted very low, horizontally) and the regular tank light, my temps are good. If I needed more I think I would add an undertank heater (pad)or place it on the wall, it gives a low, even heat. That way it doesn't dry out the tank like a lamp can. Humidity is controlled by the waterfall (70%) and we do mist usually 2x a day bringing it up to 90 for a bit.

I have just started using a timer for the lights, makes my life easier.

I'm going to start off with 3 babies, then next year add 2 more older ones. Then they'll get a larger tank.

I'm definitely going to do the false bottom (will help with less cleaning) and also think I want to get creative with the foam. We'll see. Like you I'd like to see if I could get them to breed in a couple years, would be a neat experience.

You may want to check on the dendroboard site as they have lots of info on setups with the types of plants and all. They're mainly darts, but alot of the stuff applies.