Please help with FBT vivarium planning

[ScubaTalonAWD]

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?

[bshmerlie]

1. Yes water will become stagnant under the land portion. You could make a glass divider so the water couldn't go over to the land side
2. If your coco fiber is slightly above the drainage layer this won't be a problem.
3. The FBT will not be able to fit through the holes of the eggcrate but they may be able to go around the sides. That would be my big concern.
4. If the slate is dry when you apply the silicone it will hold the pieces together pretty well.
5. The FBT wont try to move the flat stones around...as they don't really dig.
6. The crickets shouldn't be able to hide between the stones. As long as you don't leave deep crevices.

The biggest thing with FBTs is that they foul the water pretty easily with soil as the go in and out of the water. If you can limit that it will help you out on cleaning. They also poop alot so make sure you change the filter a lot as well. I like your set up design. I was looking at doing something similar with the Tetra Fauna Viquarium.

[DiggenEm]

You could build the land area using a false bottom like dart keepers that way the water will be able to move freely. I used to keep FBT and to keep the water area clean I used live floating plants to clear up nitrates. I also use MTS (malsysian trumpet snails) but most aquarium keepers consider them pest because they reproduce very rapidly.

[bobrez]

Sounds like the fbt will like it, im doing something similar and will post some progress soon. I thought that i could add
on the land area, could try also some spagnum moss and leaflitter along with the rocks for the top layer.

Also that filter looks similar to Tetra Whisper In-Tank Filter 10I that i have used for 2 years w/no problems with a fbt,
i just use a timer hooked to that an the lights cycled 12on 12off

Diggenem did those MTS help i tried some snail from petco and it died rather quickly. It sounds like these pest type
might survive better tyvm.

[DiggenEm]

Oh yea. The snail you got from petco was probably an Apple snail, especially if you paid for it. MTS borrow in aquatic substrate during the day and come out at night. They consume detrius and other organic waste matter and I extremely helpful in aerating the substrate. Be advise that they are extremely prolific and bear live young so a dozen will turn into a hundred real quick. I used to keep the population under control with dwarf puffed fish. Also they consume algae.

[s6t6nic6l]

hi. good work on the planning/research your are contemplating. nice to see

Here are my biggest concerns:
Will the water underneath the land portion be to stagnant and cause issues? as stated, this is easily resolved by implementing the divider. it also leaves you with the option of removal of your ramp/decor as needed.
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. you can easily adopt a siphoning port to release any excess water on the land due to misting (plants), the toads dragging water onto, etc
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. easily, but remember to seal all gaps for when the need to wipe excess residue is due so as to have just the one surface area, if that makes sense.
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? BTW fbt do and will burrow when the need arises, so i would not let that option be ruled out in the setup.
Will crickets be able to easily find refuge in between the stones? not a concern. having a (decent) land area means food can be left anyhow and be taken as they re-appear.

good luck with the project

nic

[ScubaTalonAWD]

Thanks for the advise. The reason I wanted to not have a separate land/water section is I ideally want this to be self watering. Having this setup this way should allow the roots to find the water column fairly quickly. Is this not a good idea? I am edging towards the false bottom btw to solve the stagnant water.

[DiggenEm]

I think the false bottom would be the best bet. The glass partitioning works but is not self-sufficient in watering its self, and imo doesn't look very natural, but some do look very nice. Also just my 2cents, I kept FBT's in an 18x18x24 zoomed. Now of course they can't climb glass but I had a couple of them who liked to climb to the top of background I guess to "dry off". I don't know if you are building a background or not but its ok to have vertical space that they can navigate.