Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

A few weeks back, I posted a thread about the small 10 gallon vivarium I was constructing. Well, it has been a little more than two weeks since planting, and everything is doing amazingly well. However, I have not completed the waterfall feature, which I plan to do as soon as my classes are over for the semester.

I realize I will need a plant to act as a barrier between the soil in one section, and the aquatic gravel region. This soil section slants down from deep soil left, to shallow soil right, where it meets the medium-sized aquatic gravel, and the water region. I am convinced, with trampeling toads (not delicate frogs), this soil will end up in the water. I will either need a moss, or a grass, on the shoreline, to keep the soil in place.

How do you guys attack this problem?

PS: I am taking pictures every 3-4 days, and hope to assemble a high-resolution time-lapse of the tank growth. We'll see what happens.

hey, i asked a similar question and heres the answer i got from patty...

Lots of them will do just fine, even in straight water--various species of Pilea, Peperomia, any of the hedera helix ivies, creeping ficus of various sorts, the club mosses like Selaginella sp., many of the small ferns, Pellionia, Fittonia, to name some that will perhaps stay small enough not to overwhelm without too much ripping up and trimming. Avoid putting any of the bromeliads or orchids "pond-side," or anything with a fuzzy leaf, such as any of the family of Gesneriads. They all need good drainage, losts of light, and will rot. My personal favorite is Ficus pumilia 'Quercifolia'--the so called "oak leaf" creeping ficus, which is a tiny, attractive ground hugger and doesn't get out of control, although it will gradually cover a lot of ground and climb water falls, etc., hugging them closely, rather than scraggling all over as its other brother Ficus pumilia varieties sometimes do.

In most cases, after a year or two, one is more concerned with controlling stuff that grows out of control than getting it to grow in the first place, especially around the wet ponds. Avoid all of the easy big stuff such as Pothos and the various Philodendrons and their kin. They are nice for cuttings in a temporary quarantine tank for providing cover, etc,. but tend to grow much too large for a permanent vivarium. Think "small" and to the scale of your set-up, as much as possible.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

For what you refer to as "trampling toads," I assume you don't plan to use this for dart frogs? In this case, I would recommend Java moss, which grows both under water and on relatively wet land, and is relatively tough. Let it establish a bit first, before you put in your "trampling toads." You may eventually have to trim it back occasionally, or rip some of it from the waterway, just for looks, as we have to do with a dart vivarium, or maybe not, but it really does a good job of recycling frog (and fish) wastes, filtering and clarifying waterways, and stabilizing banks. The excess Java is easy enough to trim off or remove if it gets too enthusiastic. Black Jungle usually carries a starter of Java moss. It needs a bit of light, like any other vivarium plant, but isn't as particular as the various pillow mosses about exactly where it grows, as long as it's fairly wet, not dry.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
6 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
7 D. imitator
6 D. leucomelas
6 D. pumilio Bastimentos
4 D. fantasticus
6 P. terribilis mint and organe
4 D. reticulatus
4 D. castaneoticus
2 D. azureus
4 P vittatus
2 P. lugubris

I forgot to say, please share your pictures with us.

I think we tend to get posters from the other frog and toad forums because dart frogs are usually kept in biologically recycling, relatively balanced environments that require a minimum of sanitary maintenance, with rare, if ever complete take-downs or complete exchange of substrate. They are rarely, if ever, kept with plastic plants and the requirement for substrate replacement on a regular basis. I really don't know from personal experience how this works with other captive frogs and toads, but am glad other people are trying it out with other genera of frogs and toads. I can see no reason why it wouldn't work just as well for other anurians, with some modifications for their individual habits, of course. The major maintenance is cleaning off the glass, and leaving everything else alone except for trimming off overgrowth of plants that virtually "scoop the poop" for you.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho

4 D. auratus blue
6 D. galactonotus pumpkin orange splash back
7 D. imitator
6 D. leucomelas
6 D. pumilio Bastimentos
4 D. fantasticus
6 P. terribilis mint and organe
4 D. reticulatus
4 D. castaneoticus
2 D. azureus
4 P vittatus
2 P. lugubris