What type of substrate?

[Jimbok3]

I was wondering what type of substrate I should use for fire belly toads (the land portion of the tank) that would also be good for live plants?

[bshmerlie]

The problem is these little guys are really messy. They go in and out of the water all the time so they are constantly dragging the substrate into the water. As a result the water is hard to keep clean. Its best to use some cover over the soil such as leaf litter or sheet moss. The problem is the sheetmoss tends to die off when it gets too wet. You can't use sphagnum moss because the crickets hide in it and the frogs will accidentally injest it while eating. You can use larger smooth riverbed stones around the waters edge to help keep some of the soil out of the water. Bottom line is the children go in and out of the pool all the time and its going to be hard to keep the water clean. Get a good filter. Also use plants such as Pothos that don't mind getting drenched and climbed on.

[ScubaTalonAWD]

There has to be a solid answer to this. I have been researching the same question and I am coming up with nothing. Cant use bark, husk, or moss because the crickets hide. Cant use gravel because they could eat it and die. Can use dirt or sand because they make to much of a mess. Also they like to burrow which makes this even more challenging. So what does everyone use that actually works?

Right now I am thinking coconut husk and moss mixture or maybe just dirt. Either would be covered in a single layer of small river rocks (3/4" flat circular rocks). When I plant something, I just need to remove 1 rock where the stem is, or place the stem in between a set of rocks. This should block most things from hiding, and prevent the frogs from kicking up substrate. I assume they will be to big for the frogs to effectively move, and way to big to accidentally eat.

[Firebelly love]

There has to be a solid answer to this. I have been researching the same question and I am coming up with nothing. Cant use bark, husk, or moss because the crickets hide. Cant use gravel because they could eat it and die. Can use dirt or sand because they make to much of a mess. Also they like to burrow which makes this even more challenging. So what does everyone use that actually works?

Right now I am thinking coconut husk and moss mixture or maybe just dirt. Either would be covered in a single layer of small river rocks (3/4" flat circular rocks). When I plant something, I just need to remove 1 rock where the stem is, or place the stem in between a set of rocks. This should block most things from hiding, and prevent the frogs from kicking up substrate. I assume they will be to big for the frogs to effectively move, and way to big to accidentally eat.

Thats a good idea, when I hopefully change to my 55 g setup thats my plan.