Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello... I think I need some help! : ) I have a beautiful terrarium all set up but am now thinking about putting some frogs in it. All the plants and materials should be ok with this. It has a false bottom, coconut fiber, those clay ball things etc. I have two questions I guess... I'm too lazy to build one of the water features that requires tearing my current set up apart... Would one of those ready made waterfall systems work ok? The ones that just have an internal pump etc and are marketed for herps? My other concern is heating. I've used undertank heating before, but have never kept such a humid set up. I don't have enough water underneath to use an aquarium heater. If I enclosed an aquarium heater in an isolated pocket of water... like a clearish water bottle or something... would that heat ok? Or should I rip apart my current set up or give up? I've kept lots of frogs successfully... just never tried anything so moist or tropical. Any suggestions are very much appreciated!!! Thanks a BUNCH!

How hot do you keep your house? The lights will heat up the tank a bit, and as long as your house doesn't drop below 70 or so you should be fine, but i'm no expert. My frogs are doing fine and my house stays about 72-74 all year long. My tanks run from 72-78.
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Kyle
www.kylesphotos.com
1.2.0 D. leucomelas
0.0.2 D. azureus

If your house tends to get cold, you could try a heat mat on the back if you can't get it underneath at this point. The one that works best for me is an undertank mat because it warms both the soil and water feature to about 72 degrees, which tends to stabilize the overall temperatures against extreme fluctuations.

The only think I don't like about the pre-built waterfall units is I've never found one that didn't look pretty phoney--like putting a plastic flamingo in an otherwise natural garden. But maybe these are improving. A water feature does help keep up the humidity as well as assisting a bit with stabilizing temperature.
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Patty
Lost River, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
3 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
5 D. imitator
4 D. leukomelas
4 D. pumilio Bastimentos

I could totally put an undertank heater under my tank. My house does tend to get a little on the cool side sometimes in the winter. My only concern about putting an undertank heater under my tank is that there might be a small amount of just water over the heater. Should that be ok? Some of the waterfalls look a little cheesey... but I was hoping maybe I could get some java moss to grow over parts... Also my signifigant other thinks they look really cool... so I should do something to placate him. Thanks a bunch!!!

Part of my undertank heater has just water over it, and there's no problem with this. They come with spacers so the pad isn't directly against the stand. It should also be possible to use some Java moss on branches that stay wet, but I don't think it would grow directly on the plastic falls. I'm sure there would be many ways to hide or disguise part of the inset falls with your existing plants to make it look more natural, or use a non-toxic marine epoxy to amend it with small rocks, or even cork bark. Superglue or surgical glue might work better for this. Both are used on living tissue in dental and surgical procedures and once the acetone has evaporated (which it does rapidly), it should be safe enough long term. In other words, you could just use the basic water fall unit as a kind of mold that contains the water and make your own design from that.
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Patty
Lost River, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
3 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
5 D. imitator
4 D. leukomelas
4 D. pumilio Bastimentos