Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi everyone,
i been keeping herps since i can remember. i love them all and finally have the space and money to pursue a passion. my question to you is what would you put in a 90gal aqarium other than fish. i have to rule out monitors as well. i have this 90G that was given to me for free and i can not decide what to use it for. this would be for display purposes only, not into breeding, at least not yet. snakes? lizards? turtles? i hope someone out there can inspire me. thanks!

Honestly, I think that aquaria are good for fish and that reptiles require a different setup. Not that you can't make an aquarium work, I have in the past, its just there are better alternatives.

I would also not base my jundgement of what is best for me on what I can keep in the cage I have available. Sure that empty cage syndrome has grabbed all of us, but I think you will be better off choosing what you want, and building or madifing a cage around that species.

Look through some book, do some googling, go to the library, anything to expose yourself to the variety of herps available. I would than catorgize what you desire out of a herp into the animals you find of interest, things like, ease of care, the ability to achieve the proper enviroment, size, food requirements.

By analyzing all the factors you will come up with the animal that suits you. Or maybe there is a particualr species that you are just fasinated with. I myself am infactuated with Red Tail boas and Green Tree Monitors. I don't have the experience to keep the latter but am gaining that experiance by keeping bearded dragons and hopefully in the near future Ackies.

If I had a 90 gal tank I would turn it on end, top out, and build a dart frog terrerium. Again thats me.

Best of Luck

-----
Jeremy

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow RTB's
1.1 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.0.16 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.2 Pastel Hypo RTB's
1.0 Double Het Stripe Albino RTB's
0.1 Suriname RTB
0.0.15 Normal Suriname Hybrid's
0.1 Anerthrystic RTB
3.6.17 Red Bearded Dragons
1.1 Rhinoceros Iguana's
1.0 Green Iguana
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
1.0 Pomeriaian
0.3 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse
1.0 Child

I agree with Jeremy, best way to go about it.

For all the information we can throw at you, we won't know what you will enjoy the most. Good luck finding the perfect inhabitants for the big tank.
-----
Randall L Turner Jr.
Boas make the world go round.

I'd do something like make a terrarium style tank with a Knight Anole or two or you could have a colony of anoles. Not the most original ideas, but it would make a really nice piece if it was all planted with lizards scurrying around. But I do agree with the other posters as well, find what you really like and roll with it.

Without a doubt I would use it as a base for a paludarium. This would be easiest if you could put some sort of floor drain into the tank, but I would assume any tank this size is made from tempered glass which makes this nearly impossible, or so I've been told.
-----
Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

0.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Malaysian locale (green)

1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java local (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

1.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Celebes locale (Black & Tan)

thanks for all the replies. there are so many choices out there i want everything! i guess i will keep reading, looking and researching before i come to a final decision. thanks again.