Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey everyone
I have a 50 gallon tank that ive had as a vivarium for about 2 years now. I set it up when i was just getting into herps but am now looking to update it. I just had a few questions that i would really apreciate any help in answering.

Firstoff, like my old one, i would like to have a deep-ish water area where i could keep fish and newts. Howevwer i also want to plant the land part to create a nice amount of foillage. The problem i had in my od one was that the soil tends to leech color into the water section, giving it a sort of reddish color thats not horribly ugly but id kinda wanna steer clear of. Are there any other kinds of growing medium i could use to support a diverse amount of plants but will not leech into my water area?

Second, i was thinking of using silicone (100% silicone, no anti-mold or baterial agents which i know are harmful to 'phibs) to attach wood to the back and possibly polyurethane foam to sculpt and fill the back (id apply coco park after for a natural effect). I read a tutorial on blackjungle that followed this. My primary concern is is this safe? I dont want to poison my animals or my plants. My next concern was if i could remove the silicone and polyurethane foam later on (if in five years i want to change it up again). Thanx a lot i know this has been a LONG post lol but any help is aprecaited.

oh and does anyone know any good reptile/amphibian stores in Toronto? Besides the basic big pet stores (who have no selection).

Thx a lot

--->T

Well ill answer the only question i can answer and thats that I believe removing silicone isnt that hard. If you use a blade like those used in box cutters then you should be able to scrape and cut it off. If I am wrong someone please correct me, I just know this because when I'm scraping off mineral deposites frm the glass I sometimes acidently get the silicone.
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www.mplionhearts.com

Hi, first off, I would highly suggest not puting any newts or fish together, that is just completly bad news, unless you don't care about your animals. http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/Mixing_disasters.shtml (towards bottom of page). Anyways, To not get any soil into the water, you need to create a false bottom, do you know what that is??? It is where you build up rocks, or gravel, or anytrhing that will hold your soil above the water, and then this way, you will not have soil seeping through to the water and making it all dirty. http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cachedhmNWWbVJQJ:www.amphibiancare.com/frogs/articles/falsebottom.html gravel false bottom&hl=en Using the silicone y o u want to use is fine and safe, I do it all the time, and it does come off easy with a razon blade. And the foam just strips off with a little muscle power. I have also seen this article on black jungle, and I have done this meathod before, and it looks really nice, and genally simple. Good luck
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Mark B.

Hi, first off, I would highly suggest not puting any newts or fish together, that is just completly bad news, unless you don't care about your animals.

http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/Mixing_disasters.shtml
(towards bottom of page)

Anyways, To not get any soil into the water, you need to create a false bottom, do you know what that is??? It is where you build up rocks, or gravel, or anytrhing that will hold your soil above the water, and then this way, you will not have soil seeping through to the water and making it all dirty.

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cachedhmNWWbVJQJ:www.amphibiancare.com/frogs/articles/falsebottom.html gravel false bottom&hl=en

Using the silicone you want to use is fine and safe, I do it all the time, and it does come off easy with a razon blade. And the foam just strips off with a little muscle power. I have also seen this article on black jungle, and I have done this meathod before, and it looks really nice, and genally simple. Good luck
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Mark B.

Yea, i obviously care about my animals, cept i set this up about 2 years ago and the petstore guy said it would be fine (althought ive learned now that there idiots). However, i did decide to split them and there now in a seperate tank. Yes i no what a false bottom is, and i know how to set one up ive done it before, what my problem was was that even if u add new water, color stil leeches from the soil, even if the false bottom stops the particles themselves I was wondering about a different substrate i cold use that wouldnt leach. Thx for the advice about the silicone and foam though its apreciated. The foam is safe right?
Anyways, thx a lot
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---> T

1 whites tree frog
2 firebellied newts
1 warty newt (or so i was told thats what it was called)
2 A. Dwarf frogs
1 Anole (green)

I know you care about your animals, obciously you wouldn't be here, right? Ha Ha. You can have a water portion with fish and then maybe some frogs and stuff, as long as it was set-up just right. I have never had soil leech through a falso bottom made of gravel, I have had soil sometimes roll into the water. Maybe your water level is too close to the soil, or maybe you should get a really goos gravel/soil divider. I use ground coconut husk stuff, often called Bead-a-Beast. You are welcome for the advice, and yes the silicone is completly safe (once it is 100% dried)
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Mark B.

Hi, I also have the background from the foam and silicone and its great. For the water bleaching mayb you could get like a custom cut glass and divide the tank then use silicone to put it in place. I was going to do this but my baby wtf's dont like water so i didn't do it. Anyways gl on ur new viv.
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3 Baby Whites Treefrog (Faygo, Fanta, Max)
1 Pacman (Big Mac)
3 Cats (Cindy, Rex, Tabby)
1 Mississippi Map Turtle (Lucky)