I've discovered something to share, although with my recent computer crash and still installing the photo shop I lost, I have no photos of it.
I've recently had a bloom of too many azureus froglets and no place to put them and only one local person willing to try one for herself.
I originally thought it would be a nice idea to set up a tank with frogs for the biology department at the high school. The biology teacher told me however, that there were always some students of biology who didn't appreciate life. They put soap in a fish tank, and did unmentionable things to a lizard she introduced. She said that while it would be a great idea perhaps elsewhere, the mentality of some of her students was not up to respecting any form of life, so she couldn't accept the donation. That's a shame. She started out with such great enthusiasm and ideas. I have given the tank to a long time friend who will appreciate it and probably be among us soon.
In any event, I did this with a 10 gallon tank.
1: A layer of drainage gravel over 3/4 of the tank. 1/4 of the tank was left free for the time, and the layer was divided by some upright broken tiles. These were secured upright by a layer of pea gravel in the remaining 1/4 of the tank. The drainage gravel was topped with a layer of polyester batting. This is the stuff you can get in the quilting department of any crafts store. On top of the batting goes the substrate for the plants. This can be a number of things such as organic compost, long brown sphagnum, coconut fiber, or all of them mixed, which is what I do. I put in a small drift wood feature, no back ground, and planted just a few plants and mosses. In the 1/4 of the tank with pea gravel, I buried a bubbler wand such as one finds in fish tanks, and connected this to an airline tube up the back corner to an air pump. The top is one of the fitted glass hinged tops with the plastic back flap, so just a small section is cut from the plastic to admit the air tube. I now silicon the back flap in place. Frogs can lift it and escape. It can still be lifted in it's entirety for cleaning without disturbing the seal. Then I filled the drainage layer and pea gravel with just enough water to cover the bubbler under the pea gravel. When operating, you can just see the water bubbles popping over the surface of the pea gravel. This is a great humidifying device, which also forces some ventilation. One can remove any excess drainage water from misting from the front corner of the pea gravel with a turkey baster, or if a larger tank, it can be siphoned off with a length of airline tubing. One could also allow the pea gravel area to over grow with something like Java moss an still have the other advantages.
It's simple, quick to set up, and can be adapted to even a smaller nursery tank set up, or something larger.
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Patty
Pahsimeroi, Idaho
D. auratus blue, auratus Ancon Hill, galactonotus orange, galactonotus yellow, fantasticus, reticulatus, imitator, castaneoticus, azureus, pumilio Bastimentos. P. lugubris, vittatus, terribilis mint green, terribilis orange.
