Hello everyone,

This is my first attempt at a vivarium build. Please give any suggestions or comments. I have thick skin, so please don't hold back. I would rather be told that I am completely wrong than to have the toads live in less than ideal conditions.



I will start with the water fall feature. The filter is a Tetra ReptoFilter 10i. I chose this because it had high reviews, medium flow rate, low water level needed, cartridges replaceable through the top, and it seemed ideal to build a waterfall around. The picture doesn't 100% depict my plans. I plan on building the waterfall out of slate. I will stack small pieces on both sides of the intake making an archway. In the center of the arch, about 3/4" away from the intake, I will glue a small piece of eggcrate to prevent anything large (such as a toad) to get close to the intake. Then I will stack the rest of the slate on top to create a multi-tiered waterfall. I will use silicone to bind everything together.

For the main landmass, I will begin by making the ramp. Again I will use pieces of slate stacked, and bound with silicone. Water will be able to pass around this landmass, but I am going to try to make it a fairly tight fit so gravel and coco fiber will not shift into the water section. On the land side, I will use normal aquarium gravel for an aquatic substrate for the plant's roots. I will place a sheet of eggcrate or some type of screening on top to keep the layers separate, but allow the roots to go through. I will then use about a 1 1/2" layer of coconut fiber to plant the plants in. On top of that I will use a single layer of 1" - 1 1/2" flat round river rocks to hopefully keep the toads from burrowing and spreading coconut fiber everywhere. The stems for any plants will be placed between the natural spaces in between rocks.

To recap the land portion will have the following layers.

a single layer of 1" - 1 1/2" flat round river rocks
1 1/2" coconut fiber
eggcrate or some type of screening
4" of gravel

Here are my biggest concerns:
Will the water underneath the land portion be to stagnant and cause issues?
Will the water underneath the land mass cause the coconut fiber to become a wet mess? I plan on having a 1/2 inch of gravel above the waterline.
Can a FBT fit in between the holes on a piece of eggcrate? I'm worried one may get stuck in the piece I use over the filter's intake.
Will silicone bind the pieces of slate together well? I want it to be something I can pickup if I need to without it falling apart.
Anything I am missing, or planning poorly?
Will a FBT be able to move the flat stones I am using on top of the coconut fiber?
Will crickets be able to easily find refuge in between the stones?