Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello, I just adopted 4 more whites tree frogs..ONE is a huge blue female... Anyhoo.. I need to give them a much bigger tank and I was thinking of a 55 gal.. Now I need setup Ideas.. I like to have it natural looking but still simple.. I love live plants and maybe even a waterfall...but I can never think of how I want it to look...Takes me several tries to get it just right..

So, I need Ideas.. and good sites to get materials.. I only know of Blackjungle.com.

Any thoughts??

Thanks in advance,

Billie
ps. Sorry for cross post..
-----
Have You Hugged Your Herp Today?

ok, setup is a most of the time a fun job. It is when you can get ur creativity going. You can section off a part of the tank with plexy glass siliconed to make a shallow swimming area with a small filter and the rest land to give them a really natural setting. I like natural but i also like simple b/c the more simple you go the easier it is to clean. I used a mixture of like 3/4 organice top soil, and 1/4 organic peat moss. The peat moss prevents the soil from getting hard and keeps a nice soft substrate. I then use live plants such as pothos, philodendrins and ferns by keeping them in a plant pot and burrying the pots half way in the substrate. But i make sure to take the soild that was originally in the pot when i bought it out b/c it could have chemicals in there as well as vermiculite which isn't recommended. So i resoil the plants pot with the same mixture i use for the substrate. I then use branches you can buy in the petstore and i like to use the benda-branches as well b/c you can bend them to fit your tank and they give a natural look to it as well. You can also use the think bend-a-vine as they will enjoy that too. I then use a decent size plastic dish (like the tins you get with take out but plastic) and i put the water in there for them to soak. For heat you use an under tank heater and a UVB bulb for light cycle and to help digest calcium(which they are nocturnal so some say it isn't needed but u can never be too safe). This i find works very well and it also looks good and is easy to clean. The reason i keep the plants in the pot was i used to plant them in the soil but when u change the soil u have to take them out and restart digging and planting all over again....hope this helped and good luck with the setup!!

harvey

For a fully planted vivarium, first put an 1-2 inches of gravel under the soil. This is because you will be misting and watering the plants alot and the excess water will drain into the gravel, and your soil will not get all soggy. The plant's roots will use the water stored in the gravel. This will also keep the humidity up. To keep the soil out of the gravel, seperate it with a cut to sized section of window screening, or something like that. Then put a layer of soil on top of the screen. I read alot of different things about the proper soil to use, but I think it generally consists of some organic gardening soil and coco bedding. Dont quote me on that, though. From there, you can plant strong plants into the soil. I use snake plants, pothos, and bromeliads. The snake plants generally are strong enough to support a fat ol' white's. I'm sure i forgot something, but that's a start. Good Luck