Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm going to be buying my wife a frog. I don't know how to set up the aquarium. It's a 10 gallon. If anyone could tell me what to buy and how much I need etc, I give much thanks.

I need to know how much plants, gravel, etc I need.

Thanks in advance.
Shane

Well, I would suggest either a gravel bottom or false bottom setup. Gravel would be 3-4 inches deep, with a soil mixture on top and then moss or suitable ground cover. The false bottom is usually PVC pipe spacers/fittings with eggcrate lighting cover over them. Then a piece of fiberglas screen, soil mixture and moss. You can put a background on the tank of either cork, cork bark tiles, tree fern root or do one of the foam/weldbond/peat backgrounds that are being discussed a lot on this forum lately. Then get a brom or two, tropical plants and maybe some driftwood or something for decoration. Feel free to ask anymore questions you may have on here or you can e-mail me.

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Ken
Peace of the Tropics
www.PeaceOfTheTropics.com

Bastimentos pumilios
Blue jean pumilios
BriBri pumilios
Intermedius
Lamasi
Imitators
Ventrimaculatus
Fantasticus
Aurataenias
Vittatus
Tricolors
Auratus
Red trivitattus
Green trivitattus

Ken, Is that a 10 gallon tank?
If it is, thats the nicest 10 gallon I ever seen.
Nice tank n/p
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-_^

Can someone explain to me what its used for? The water is going to collect on the bottom. It isnt evaporating or going anywhere. Unless you drill a hole on the bottom, or siphon it out somehow, i dont see the point of it.

The point of gravel on the bottom is exactly like the eggcrate.
When you keep watering and misting the tank, water collects at the bottom. If there was no gravel for the water to collect in. The water will just stay in your soil, and if there are any plants on the bottom, it will create root rot, so the point is to try giving the tank a humid environment. Without having the soil submerged in water.

HTH
Daniel
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Yes, but what happens when the water fills the gravel? The water isnt evaporating or going anywhere, so it will build up and eventually take over the soil. Again, unless you drill a hole or siphon it out.

Im still not convinced of the point of a gravel bottom though.

The gravel and the egg crate are basically the same thing. In the long run, the water will have to be siphon out or a hole will be drilled. The water just helps increase the humidity. Both method the water will be removed and changed. Its just to create a more suitable environment for the frogs to help them be happy.

Daniel
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same point can be used for the soil. The water is going to collect in the soil and it will start to rott. At least with gravel you get no rotting going on unless the water level reaches the moss, soil, etc. Its not that hard to siphon or drill a hole in a tank. Most tanks setup include a river or some kind of pool so you are not going out of your way for anything. Also water features are 100x easier to setup and plan if you dont have to worry about soil.

If you use mainly soil, im my opinion, you have to have a false bottom or else it will start to rott really fast in the tank. Even if you do have a false bottom, you will still need to change the soil every so often. Wet soil is extremely hard to replace and messy without having to take the entire tank apart . Soil based tanks need to be rebuilt more often then gravel. If you setup a huge tank it is going to be a pain removing the soil or redoing the tank every few months.

Personally i setup a false bottom tank with gravel, moss, and plants only. This way i can keep the tank going for a few years before i have to even touch it. I went as far as removing my cork background and driftwood just so i dont have to worry about maintanance. I buy plastic driftwood from local petstores now and they have the same affect without the hassle. I select plants that do well with gravel only. For other plants i just put them in a pot and hide the pot in the gravel or cover the pot with java moss. This way if anything i can just remove the pot, change the orchid bark or whatever and stick it back in. You will be amazed by how many plants do better in gravel, orchid bark, coco husk when compare to soil.

Changing your tanks too often can cause major stress to certain species of darts (pumilios). It can even stop them from breeding. Also changes are you will get more darts and have more tanks and they hobby is going to turned into a sick job rather than something you can enjoy. There are breeders out there who will use gravel substrate just because it is easier to maintain. Patrick is one of those breeders.

Btw i started with using soil and i prefer gravel.
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Jason
0.0.3 azureus
1.0.1 leucs
pumilio bastimentos (soon!!!)

You can read a lot of information on my link site below. Please do some reading before just buying a frog, and make sure you create the correct environment and have enough food ready before you get the frog. Not that you may not have already, but just pointing you to some good information.
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Kyle
www.kylesphotos.com
Dart Links - still a work in progress
1.2.0 D. leucomelas
1.1.0 D. azureus
1.0.1 D. imitators

As Kyle mentioned - you need to get fruit fly cultures established BEFORE you purchase your PDF. Your frog won't die from lack of interior decor...but you can easily find yourself in mischief if you run out of flies.

Good luck,

Dartz