Thank you for your reply. The tank is 30x19x12, so yes it is longer than it is tall, I know they prefer high tanks but for now its what I have for them I can replace it at a later date if need be I just have to find a good deal on one. ;-) Should I replace the aquarium hood with a screen hood? It seems thats what most of the setups have on here. I will look into how to build the false bottom that you are talking about as well as the plants. During the day the tank was at around 75 with the UTH and the bulb in the fixture right now is a bulb for plant growth that I used when the tank was used for fish as I have real plants in all my aquariums and I am hoping it will be a good plant light for the plants you mention. I also have a 20 gallon long tank that housed corn snakes before that I am wondering if it would be ok to use for some type of frog that likes longer tanks anyideas on that?