Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am planning my 30 gallon long and I need to start thinking about plants and I do not know very much about them-all the other tanks I have kept only had simple tropical house plants in them(pothos-ect)
so I am looking at blackjungle.com and PeaceoftheTropics
and am starting to pick some out but I need help badly
I need some suggestions-for what plants the lighting I am going to have is;36" 1x96W Coralife FRESHWATER Aqualight, 1x 6,700K
I am going to have bed a beast then screen then a layer of Terra-Lite...does that sound good? I am also going to use Dyna-Gro Fertilizer - Liquid Grow, and mix it with the bed-a-beast but I am not absolutely sure on how to use it...how much do I mix to what ratio of water? will too much kill the frogs? how do I fertilize the air plants I am going to mount on the cork bark and ghost wood if they are not planted in the substrate?
also I want the whole bottom of the tank covered in moss what moss do you suggest?I want to cover my ghost wood with moss...what moss do I use for that and how do I do it? I have heard of wood getting covered in "fern spores" and I saw a pic and it looked amazing...better then moss-but I dont know what fern spores are and what fern produces "spores" and how I would get them on the wood.
Thank you
-Matt

In response to your question below about whether you would have enough light for "high light" plants, I am certain that a 96 watt CF bulb will be more than enough for any tropicals you buy which are considered "high light."

In my opinion, java moss is much easier to grow than your tropical or pillow moss. I have found that you can keep tropical and pillow moss alive, but it really doesn't spread, and it tends to be a bit patchy. However, that's just my experience . . . others have had better luck with it. As for Java, it will spread wherever it is moist enough, just as long as you start it out in a water feature.

As for other tropicals, the sky is the limit. I personally like the miniature Neoregelia bromeliads you see at Custom Ecos, Peace of the Tropics, T&C Terrariums, etc. Other nice plants can be bought at your local Lowe's or Home Depot. Selaginella's are a nice texture and color variation for ground cover. Just look around and see what your tastes and pocket book permit.

As for fertilizer, I recommend against it. It could cause a toxic effect in your animals. Besides, if you get 2-3 full grown frogs in there, you will have plenty of fertilizer of your own, if you know what I mean.
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Homer W. Faucett III, esq.
Purveyor of Trivialities and Fine Nonsense

Hi, I do not know a lot of thing on tropical plant... But, I use T-Rex and zoo-med and they are really find to the plant... I do not use the fertilise and other stuff and my air plant, and bromiliad and tropical plant are find...

I always buy from reno depot ( they like home depot, but in Quebec) And the guy is always founding me the best plant fo my terrarium stuff... He prefert answer to me with my challenging question... that the old moneyyyyy ladies...

Firts tricks... plant learn... so when they are miserable,,,, wait... they will acclimate... or they seed will... I don't like using little plastic cup for my plant, they are planting in my aquarium... A little was dieying and I wait, I wait... Now, I have four of them.... Adaptation my friend... Plant are long,,,, and we are fast.... They died to, but when you buy at reno depot, is not to chocking.

If you have bromiliad, I have one very good tricks. When you buy them they are very bieutiful with a long flower, yes the red thing is they flower... But they will produce just one time after that they will died or do a baby or the two... You have to wait a least one, two or threeeeeeee yearssssss with the baby... and then...... You take the baby,,,, but it in a plastic bag with a apple cut in two for 24hour... The bromiliad is thinking of dieying and she will produce a flower... and perhaps a new baby.... The thing is that bromiliad will be very hardy in the terrarium...

Christian

PS: sorry for my english

sorry if this seems mean

but i thought that was soo funny to read becuase the words were mixed up but i could still understand yet im in high school and i still have to go through every little detail about the english language when this proves you dont even have to know every thing abou Gerunds,partiable,adverbs, and adjectives to even tpe or say something that makes since.....

I HATE ENGLISH CLASS!!!!!

sorry that was way off subject but i had to rant

Ok...

But high school is referring at what, in Quebec we have primary 6-12, secondary 13-17, cegep 17-19 and the university 19.........

I understand english very well but I don't pratice much so, it is not easy to writh and speak... Because my first language is french... and the school suck in english in Québec... English is a very easy language, the base off course... If you want a challenge go and try french. For each little grammar you have someting exceptional. In my contry, a lot of people are saying that english is the language of song, and music, because the word are easy to put together... and the french is poetry... beacause of is complexity...

And don't worry about school, if you are working hard it will pay, or be much more easy... in youre future work... English to is useful... only if you are not sleeping in it, like me...

oh there are plenty of exceptions in the english language and that is why i dont like learning all the technecalities(sp??) about it.

""But high school is referring at what, in Quebec we have primary 6-12, secondary 13-17, cegep 17-19 and the university 19.........""
what do the numbers mean are they ages or grades?
im in the tenth grade...called a sophemore for some reason.
im 16 years old.

we have elementary school grades *k*-5 then middle school 6-8 and high schol 9-12 then we have college.

** Kindergarten just to start little kids learning they are usually around 6 years old.

talk more??....e-mail ausharrypotter@aol.com

What about using fertilizers that are safe for aqauriums? If they are safe enough for aqaurium fish wouldn't they be safe for frogs? I haven't tried it or anything I was just wondering what people used. It takes more then just light to keep plants in their best colors. I know when I did planted aquariums, you had to use laterite and fertilizer as well as good lighting to make some of the more difficult plants grow. I know frog poop offers some fertilizer, but is it enough?

Aquarium fertilizers are primarly micro nutrient fertilizers, which for the most part don't contain the big three. I have used them diluted along with a 10-10-10 fertilizer diluted way down. I generaly water the tank directly after fertilizing to rinse anything off the plants and flush it into the substrate, away from the frogs but acsesible to the plants.

Most tropical plants don't require a great deal of nitrogen or other macronutrients to perform well, as rainforest floors are notably deprived of the rich humus we are blessed with in more temperate regions. Thus, most tropicals don't require fertilization in a terrarium setup. Of course, there are exceptions.

However, it is important to note that most bromeliads show their brightest colors (reds, etc) under extremely high intensity light and slightly starved of nutrients.
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Homer W. Faucett III, esq.
Purveyor of Trivialities and Fine Nonsense