[QUOTE=Hoppity100;139980]I just got 2 FBT's yesterday, already had tank set up and mine is 60% water and 40% land but I also have a large piece of driftwood they can hop on to. All depends on what supplies/decorations you have. Sounds like 10 gal is right size for 2, that's what I have. I also have smooth oval rocks, live plants and a tree house. I bought crickets and meal worms for them. I read that some people put a pool inside their tank with a bowl of water and others have water in the tank. I have water in my tank with land to the side. They seem very content. Hope your tank set up works for you.[QUOTE]


I'd like to share how my FBT tank has evolved. I've had my 7 FBT's almost 2 years now. After I started to get the hang of caring for them & had a sense of what they liked best, I redid the whole 55G tank about a year & a half ago, with 60% water & 40% land, with quite a few plants, a ceramic hide & some gnarly wood for hiding, and small rounded stones around the edges of the water. They were always very active & looked to be having a great time exploring and climbing on &/or destroying the plants. I have fequently moved things around & added new plants, (removed tattered ones ) and they always seem to love it--they get right over there and explore anything new, but overall they always spent more time in the water side than on the land side. So, I had been thinking planning another major redo, with more water, less land, about 75%/25%.


But in the more recent months they have spent even less time in the land area, and, it took me a bit to realize what was going on. I live close to the ocean and at low tide I often find flat rocks & I pick up ones that are good for the tank, like 1/4" to 1/2" thick and 2" to 4" long/wide, some with a larger flat area. When I have a few I boil them to remove any bacteria and stack them in the water side for my little guys to climb on. As I have added stones, I found that they love it if I build in little spaces for them to squeeze into or especially if I make a little cave. It seems that they even compete for the 'good' spots'! The time spent on the land side has decreased as the stones & climbing area on the water side has increased. Clearly they prefer the stacked stones to the land area. I've also started rooting a few different varieties of philodendron and just putting them in the water with the roots under smaller, round stones to stabilize them (they grow well in just water) and now they even prefer to hide in the plants on the water side, than in the hiding places on the land side, which they used to like. They love it when I change the structure around and make different nooks and crannies for them.


They all do have different personalities, and I think I have figured out the environment that this group will enjoy the most, but I expect that other groups of FBT's would have different preferences. So, I am now planning the redo to be all water with two or three good sizes areas of stacked stone. I'm looking for ideas to integrate the stones with a carved fake stone background. (I'm a little bummed about the ending of the enclosure of the month pics) Instead of a land side, I'm going to put in a dish--8" to 10" in diameter and a little higher than water level--with land and plants. As I'm formulating my plan, I'm looking for & collecting more stones.


Just a note--I am extremely careful when I stack the stones that they are very stable and won't tip or fall or slide. I would be horrified if one of them were injured.