Tree Frog Vivarium Questions

[Riptide]

I am planning on building a new viv soon for some future Amazon Milk Frogs so I just wanted to start this thread now to get a jump on some questions/logistics/clarifications/etc. I will hopefully be picking up a 36x18x36 Exo-terra this weekend so I should have a decent amount of real estate to work with.

Well here goes my first list of questions!

1) just for my own clarity sake, tree frogs in general will not spend much time on the substrate overall correct? I know it probably seems like a basic thing to clarify but I'd rather get it straight in my head now.
2) my hope is to have plant growth throughout the entire tank in the new build (walls, substrate, branches). With that in mind I've amassed a fair amount of tree fern panels, ecoweb, and Hygrolon. Would these be acceptable mediums for the backgrounds for milk frogs?
3) I know milk frogs get rather large so are there any plants in particular that work well with them? I know big sturdy leaves but I'm not very familiar with plants so any specific guidance would be wonderful!
4) assuming the mediums from question 2 are acceptable I will need to keep them watered well so would I be best off with a misting system, drip wall, rain system, or is this just personal preference?
5) substrate: would aquarium gravel topped with sphagnum and leaf litter be acceptable or is coconut husk and peat still preferred?

sorry for the small novel but thank you greatly in advance!

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[DigitalPunk]

I'll answer what I can but will leave some to the professionals lol.

1. My RETF are never down on the substrate unless they jump down to grab a cricket and then they jump right back up into the canopy.
2. I have seen others use all of these, but I have no experience with them my self. Deranged Chipmunk could speak to some of these much better than I can.
3. I use Pothos, Snake Plant, and some Bromeliads for the big leaf stuff. Heather, Lynn, and Bill (Deranged Chipmunk) are much more knowledgable a plants than I.
4. I know Bill has used a drip wall with Tree Fern panels before. I don't use tree fern panels, but use a Mistking misting system. I have a 18x18x24 for my two RETF and use 2 misting nozzles.
5. Tree frogs do good with anything as substrate. Some common ones are Damp Paper towels or Leca drainable layer, Soils mid layer, Sphagnum moss top, and covered in leaf litter. I personally use the Leca with ABG Mix soil covered in Sphagnum Moss and leaf litter. It stays clean and the ABG mix is great for plants.

I tried cocoanut fiber but that **** got all over my frogs and they hated it.

[Riptide]

Thanks for the answers Paul! Hopefully some of the others will chime in as well about the plants and the background. I'm useing the Leca/peat/sphagnum combo in my dart tank right now but i've found that, at least the way I set up this tank, it is quite hard to do maintenance on cause I can't easily get to the water in the leca layer. Then again I don't have a water feature so that doesn't help.

How does Tightbond hold up submerged?

[DigitalPunk]

I have read several methods for getting at the water in the Drainage/Leca layer. You can either have a hose with a sponge or something on the end to fiter the water and then syphon it out. Leave the hose in there all the time. Bill has a post around here somewhere with a method for only having to syphon the water in your aquarium once for ever. It involves having a valve on the end of the hose. You start the syphon and then close the valve while there is still water in the line. Then next time gravity will pull the water out and restart the syphon.

You can also bury a small water pump in the substrate and use it to pump out the excess water.

I did the Leca/ABG/Moss/Leaf Litter on my last terrarium but swamped it out. This time I am doing the egg crate/Leca false bottom. I am putting a pump in the false bottom and using the Leca to filter the water to the pump. This way my ABG mix and all the rest is raised up off the bottom so I reduce the chance of swamping the substrate again... the smell was awful and cleanup was much much worse lol.

Keep us posted on your progress. Everyone loves a good Terrarium build journal!

[Riptide]

Since I don't think milk frogs will be spending a lot of time on the ground I'm leaning towards something super easy for the substrate like the aquarium gravel and sphagnum / leaf litter, we'll see though. When I start the build I'll actually start a dedicated build thread. :-)


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[deranged chipmunk]

Sorry, was down for a few days with the flu. I'll answer questions after work this evening.

[Riptide]

Sorry, was down for a few days with the flu. I'll answer questions after work this evening.

I appreciate it, thank you :-)


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[deranged chipmunk]

I am planning on building a new viv soon for some future Amazon Milk Frogs so I just wanted to start this thread now to get a jump on some questions/logistics/clarifications/etc. I will hopefully be picking up a 36x18x36 Exo-terra this weekend so I should have a decent amount of real estate to work with.

Well here goes my first list of questions!

1) just for my own clarity sake, tree frogs in general will not spend much time on the substrate overall correct? I know it probably seems like a basic thing to clarify but I'd rather get it straight in my head now.
2) my hope is to have plant growth throughout the entire tank in the new build (walls, substrate, branches). With that in mind I've amassed a fair amount of tree fern panels, ecoweb, and Hygrolon. Would these be acceptable mediums for the backgrounds for milk frogs?
3) I know milk frogs get rather large so are there any plants in particular that work well with them? I know big sturdy leaves but I'm not very familiar with plants so any specific guidance would be wonderful!
4) assuming the mediums from question 2 are acceptable I will need to keep them watered well so would I be best off with a misting system, drip wall, rain system, or is this just personal preference?
5) substrate: would aquarium gravel topped with sphagnum and leaf litter be acceptable or is coconut husk and peat still preferred?

sorry for the small novel but thank you greatly in advance!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Ok, so let me see if I can answer your questions.

1. Depends on the frog. But generally, tree frogs do spend more time off the substrate than on it. Some get in moods where they wanna be on the substrate. Go figure.

2. Hygrolon is safe for all animals.

3. Sturdy plants that are common and easily accessible would be pothos, philodendron, bromeliads, sansevieria, some ferns. There are others, but they should get you started.

4. Watering the tank is all personal preference. Drip walls are nice, but they only take care of that wall. Misters and fogger are both excellent choices. It mostly depends on your design and comfort level of building a Viv.

5. For a tree frog, you could probably get away with gravel and moss. I steer away from the moss because they do spend time on the substrate and things happen. I prefer not to risk them accidentally ingesting a small piece of sphagnum and getting impacted. There are better ways to build and keep humidity in a tank. The leaf litter is fine, obviously. Also, keep in mind that gravel/moss has no nutritional value for the plants.

Hope that helps

[Riptide]

That helps a ton, thank you! I picked up the exo-terra today so I will be posting a build thread for that soon.

Another question I had is about using great stuff in an aquatic portion. I believe that I've read that I just have to seal the GS with silicone and it should be fine submerged, do I have this correct or am I missing something?


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[DigitalPunk]

Yes, Great stuff is water resistant, but not water proof so sealing it with some sort of water proofing agent is best if it will be submerged. They also make Great stuff for ponds (its black) but it costs a decent amount more that the regular yellow GS.

[deranged chipmunk]

Keep in mind that great stuff is polyurethane foam. The same stuff that they make life preservers with. It is extremely buoyant!! If it is going to be submerged, make sure it has a good bite on whatever it is using to hold it under water. I had to tear down my 125 paludarium because I forgot to plan ahead for that.

And standard definitions of water resistant and water proof don't really apply to the poly foam. I carved, it is waterproof. The outer skin provides a water proof barrier. But if it is carved, water can seep through the air pockets. It won't absorb water, but it won't hold it if carved.