galahad's (my white's tree frog) tank needed an overhaul! nothing is new, but almost everything has been moved. here's his "new" tank: here's the man himself after i disturbed him to clean his cage :
hey thanks, axe! yeah i love frogs! frogs and turtles are my favorites! and white's have such *great* facial expressions! their chubbiness adds to their charm as well! :wink:
Wow! Looks like frog heaven to me. Are those live plants ? Did you keep them in pots or did you plant them into the substrate ? I hope to get a similar set up going for some Dendrobatids (poison arrow frogs) this spring. George
thanks, george! one of them is alive - the big plant on the right is a small type of palm. very good for frog tanks. bromeliads are great, too, and i love how tropical they make the tank look! i used to have a bromeliad in galahad's tank, but it died. anyway, plant the plant's roots in some plain potting soil in a fairly shallow food saver or small plastic tray which sits on the very bottom of the tank along with about an inch layer of river rock. the reason i use a shallow food saver is because i don't want a pot to show above the ground, yet i want the plant potted so that i can keep the river rock separate from the coconut fiber and any potting soil. so anyway, the plant is planted in potting soil in a flat plastic food saver (like 1 in high x 4 in x 4 in), around the food saver is river rock and on top of the river rock *and* the potting soil in the food saver is about an inch of coconut fiber bedding. am i making myself clear? cuz i have no description skills . . . i'm much better drawing pictures . . . lol! and i would love to get some darts myself! i've been looking into getting a pair of green/black auratus! i'll either get those or a small gecko.
Cynthia, Thanks for the info. I have done similar set ups (desert) and have always had the best luck with keeping the plants potted. The shallow food saver sounds like a great idea! I have been toying with the idea of doing a false bottom vivarium so I can have a shallow pool at one end. You got any experience with false bottom setups?? Got a 90 gal "Lizard Lounge" from Oceanic Systems, and also twin 98w compact flourescents (10000K). I was inspired by the vivarium featured on Oceanic Systems web site and the Vanishing Jewels website (I think it is www.vanishingjewels.com). Also a great article on vivariums in last issue of Reptile magazine. I got the eggcrate, PVC tubing, tree fern panels for background, 20 lbs of Aliflor (lightweight expanded clay medium used for hydroponics), about 20 lbs of Atlanta Botanical Garden mix, small submersible pump for water circulation. Now I need a free weekend to get it set up! Got some Alocasia, and ferns to get me started but want to go heavy with the bromeliads, both the tank type and the epiphytic ones. I am looking for the perfect marriage of science and art in a semi-closed system . I'll post some pictures when I start putting it together. Thanks for sharing your setup. George
wow george! you're all set! 'im also interested in the false-bottom tanks, but i've never done one so i can't help ya'. which month's 'reptile' mag are you referring to? i might have it . . .
That would be the March 2004 issue (which surprisingly I received about a month ago!). It has a Uroplatus gecko on the front cover. The article is titled "Creating a Living Showcase Vivarium". It describes setting up a habitat for dart frogs with live plants, water, humidity control, etc. It's a pretty good article with some innovative ideas that I have not heard of before. Specifically, the use of syrofoam peanut substrate as a filler material instead of conventional raised eggcrate bottom. Also using an inexpensive room humidifier on a timer to maintain high humidity and using Aliflor against the front and side glass to hide the lower substrate. Seeing the unsightly edge of the eggcrate has always been a drawback for me, but the method described in the article provides a simple and elegant solution. The guy who wrote the article has won numerous vivarium design awards at the larger reptile shows. Apparently the big shows like Dayton and IRBA in San Diego sponsor juried competitions for dart frog vivariums. Look at that vanishingjewels.com website and check out some of their set ups. It blew me away when I first saw it. George
I posted this in the amphibian forums that i wanted a tree frog i look at your set up and thats why i want a tree frog
thx, cristine! most white's *are* very photogenic! chubby wittle cuties! chris - the tank i used is a 20 gal extra high (not just high, *extra* high - *excellent* for tree frogs). you may have to ask your local petstore to special order one - they should be able to do it for free. many fish pet stores will normally carry the extra highs, though. i totally forget what it cost - something between $40 and $60.
Ya know...looking at that pic compared to the one in the other post after he was sick...he has lost weight! The folds over his ears are almost gone compared to the other pic. Poor little thing. He should be enjoying getting all fat and sassy again!
yes he has. he never lost his apetite, though! he was always active and loved hunting - even when he was so sick. so it's not that he wasn't eating, he was just losing weight because of those d*@# parasties.
ok i have stupid question, how do you get all those plants in there? i am having a bit of trouble trying to set my tank up with lots of hiding places like yours. i have suction cups with some but not all. how do i secure them so they are sturdy to climb on?
not a stupid question at all! actually most of the plants are fake. they are vine-type plastic plants and they have suction cups on them so they stick to the glass. i usually re-arrange them every couple weeks to give my froggie some variety. the suction cups are pretty strong, although they do come off sometimes. i just wet them a little and re-stick them to the glass. of you have a thick log in there (which white's LOVE to death!) just prop it in the corner with the base in another corner or against a heavy water dish or something. white's are pretty big frogs, but they don't move stuff around that much. the main plant is real, though. it is a small palm plant (it won't grow to a ful-size palm tree or anything). i just planted it in some plain topsoil in a wide, flat food saver and buried it under the coconut fiber bedding (which you should use as the substrate to avoid impactions - you can also use plain topsoil or river rocks but never gravel). the food saver the plant's roots are in is about 7" in diameter and maybe 2 or 3" deep. the food saver and the coconut fiber bedding (like Bed-A-Beast brand) are both very cheap.
yeah any suction cups will work if you can get the plants to stay on them. suction cups are suction cups. you could wrap a vine loosely around the log, too. that's look great! very realistic.
