new WTF owner need help with humidity

[HerpDerp]

Hi Michelle! I already took out the moss, it made too much of a hiding place for the crickets anyway. I'll toss the mealworms too. And I moved the tank even further from the fireplace. I'll wrap the tank with a towel or something for now until I find a better option. Does the ceramic heat emitter sit on top of the tank too?

A Ceramic heat emitter is a ceramic "bulb" that only gives off heat instead of light. I use a flucker's clamp lamp with the dimmer and I hang it over the tank so it doesn't get too close (these things get HOT). But they do sell stands for them as well.

I'm currently using a regular spray bottle for them, I'd like to get a misting bottle but the reviews on amazon are pretty bad. What do you use? Hopefully the Mist King doesn't take too long to arrive. And I can use that in the temp tank until I set up the new larger one.

I just grabbed a 98 cent spray bottle from the cleaning section at walmart. That thing has some high output! Lol.

Regarding the new set up, I'm looking at either the 24x18x24 (will this be big enough for them?) or the 24x18x36 (which may be too big for our living room) Exo Terra. I haven't really seen other brands besides this and the Zoo Med, which is too small. What other options are out there? I'd really like to have the front opening doors, after just a few days of lifting that water dish out the top of our aquarium I can tell I need something more convenient, especially so my daughter can start caring for them (they are supposed to be hers ).

I would highly recommend the larger exo-terra. WTFs get pretty big and 4 of them are going to need as much space as possible. Exo-terra is your best quick and easy option IMO. I'm not sure what other options there are, besides making your own.

I'll do live plants when I do the larger set up. Maybe I'll stick a little potted plant in there now. Question about the live potted plant, I'm assuming the plant soil they come in will be a no no for the frogs, what can I use that would be ok?

Thank you! Michelle

I just take the plant out of the pot and thoroughly wash the whole plant including the roots and then plant it directly into the eco earth. This works best with a false bottom since it prevents standing water from accumulating bacteria in the substrate. But for now since you probably want to keep the plant potted in the current set up you can just make sure you cover the soil in the pot really well with eco earth and wash the plant off really well before putting it in. There are other things you can do with layering substrate and using special potting mix etc but I don't have much experience on that end.

[deranged chipmunk]

I just take the plant out of the pot and thoroughly wash the whole plant including the roots and then plant it directly into the eco earth. This works best with a false bottom since it prevents standing water from accumulating bacteria in the substrate. But for now since you probably want to keep the plant potted in the current set up you can just make sure you cover the soil in the pot really well with eco earth and wash the plant off really well before putting it in. There are other things you can do with layering substrate and using special potting mix etc but I don't have much experience on that end.

that's where i come in

[deeishealthy]

I'm incredibly pleased with my setup! You can see it in this pic. From the bottom: river rock, four layers of screen, potting soil, then topped with cocofibre. I have a piece of tubing running from the bottom of the tank up the back and out so I can drain it. It's simple an efficient, but very heavy, so make sure if you do something like this it's properly supported.

[shatrar]

Thanks everyone, I am still struggling to keep the humidity up but have ordered the 36" tall Exo tank, it will arrive on the 28th and the mist king will be here on the 25th. I started a new thread in the viv forum to get help with setting it up. Until then I will keep misting this tank often and we have also turned up the heater in the house to help keep the little guys warmer.

[Lija]

if i were you I'd get a hydrotherm, you can plug in your mistking system and all your heating devices. It will maintain temps and humidity for you and all you'll ever need to do is to feed/clean and enjoy!

[Louis Charles Bruckner]

Depending on what kind of heating system you have it might dry out the inside air more.
so be careful. just placing a desk lamp with a 60W incandescent bulb within a foot of the
enclosure can raise the heat in the tank. keeping in mind that if you increase the temp in the
tank you increase the rate the water evaporates out of it.