New plants today

[reptileszz]

I got some new plants today to join the wisteria. I got 2 banana plants, at least I think thats what they were called, one more moss ball since I like them a lot and 2 bunches of moneywort. The tank is starting to look a bit better now. No substrate looks weird and I dont like it but oh well.



Thanks for all the help guys!
Carole

[Felis]

Hi,

nice plants. But why don´t you use a substrate? Especially sand works well with clawed frogs, is easy to keep clean and makes the tank look more natural.

[mpmistr]

Looks good. I would add sand but that's just personal preference. Keeping a bar bottom thank is perfectly acceptable and easy to clean. I hope you and your frog do well.

[reptileszz]

Everybody said no substrate best. I HATE it. It looks terrible. Everything i hear about putting sand in makes it sound like a huge pain in the butt. Dusty no matter what you do. Is there a recommendation for less dusty sand?

thanks,
carole

[mpmistr]

Everybody said no substrate best. I HATE it. It looks terrible. Everything i hear about putting sand in makes it sound like a huge pain in the butt. Dusty no matter what you do. Is there a recommendation for less dusty sand?

thanks,
carole

There are a lot of options. I've used pool filter sand but it didn't look very natural. I really like Caribsea sand substrates. Moonlight sand is white and looks pretty good, it's a very fine substrate. I also use Caribsea Sunset Gold, it's a little big bigger as far as grain size but the color is a more tan color and a little more natural looking. Avoid Caribsea Tahitian Moon, it's black, but sharp.

You could get a bag of one of these sands and use a measuring cup to sprinkle it on the bottom of your tank and get some good cover. It will cloud the water up for a few hours but the filter will take care of that in a few hours.

Oh and it's a bit pricey at PetSmart (like 25 bucks), I would buy it online if you can. I found a LFS that sold it for $16 for 20lbs, that should be enough.

[reptileszz]

There are a lot of options. I've used pool filter sand but it didn't look very natural. I really like Caribsea sand substrates. Moonlight sand is white and looks pretty good, it's a very fine substrate. I also use Caribsea Sunset Gold, it's a little big bigger as far as grain size but the color is a more tan color and a little more natural looking. Avoid Caribsea Tahitian Moon, it's black, but sharp.

You could get a bag of one of these sands and use a measuring cup to sprinkle it on the bottom of your tank and get some good cover. It will cloud the water up for a few hours but the filter will take care of that in a few hours.

Oh and it's a bit pricey at PetSmart (like 25 bucks), I would buy it online if you can. I found a LFS that sold it for $16 for 20lbs, that should be enough.

Thank you. Another question. What about vacuuming? Does the sand come up? I like to siphon off the debris every other day and am concerned about sucking up sand. Something tells me it is too heavy to get sucked up but wanted to check.

thanks!

[Felis]

Hi,

you can stir the sand before siphoning out the water. If the tube gets too close to the sand, it will come up, but with a little bit of routine it´s quite easy to remove dirt without ending up with a sand-free bottom

[deranged chipmunk]

i've been using play sand (about $4/50 @home depot) in planted tanks for a very long time. it works wonderfully when capping a dirt substrate, but i know many people who use it as a primary substrate. bare bottom tanks are great for breeding. i had 10 bare bottom tanks for shrimp breeding, but for a show tank, very unattractive.

[rodsboys]

Playsand all the way. Cheap and fairly clean. All sand is usually cloudy for a day or 2, but after that it is good to go. Even if you stir it up. You can siphon it just like a bare bottom because all the junk stays on top of it.

[mpmistr]

I think I may use playsand in my new tank since it is of such large volume. I heard you can place the sand in a pillow case and run a hose through it to clean it. I have not tried this method personally though.

I always found Caribsea's products to be very clean and high quality, but really expensive compared to playsand or silica sand which is very inexpensive.

[reptileszz]

Hi guys, I am getting seriously conflicting info. I am on a yahoo groups forum too and they are dead set against any substrate including sand. And sources online (just googling around) say the sand can be ingested. Which I'm sure it CAN but how much of a risk is this? I keep my bearded dragons on sand and it is controversial in the dragon communities. I have never had a problem with it but I feed in a dish so they are not eating on the sand. I hear that these frogs are such pigs they will suck up anything in their path that they even think is food. Sooo, here I sit, wanting sand but afraid to put it in ...


Carole

[Jenste]

Grains of sand can be ingested, which is why you seek a soft/smooth/small grain so that it passes easily and with out pain.

Feeding floating reptomin sticks greatly reduces any sand being ingested. I have used sand with ACF, ADF, and axolotls in addition to being in every one of my fish tanks. Even with my newly morphed froglets I have used thin layers of sand. I have never had one suffer ill effects.

Not to talk badly about that group, it may not even be the same one I had previously visited, but I had noticed a great amount of inaccuracies being pushed forward as fact and despite the fact that I stated how many years or species I kept or bred, I was talked down to, contradicted, and treated as a "newbie"....

You can also try a different type of look by doing a semi-substrate. Use plastic to make a barrier or even use a container to hold the sand and plant in an island/ledge. You can see how you like the sand and reduce your worry.

edit: now I am tempting myself to make islands in a spare tank I am setting up for my sparkling gouramis.....hmm....

[rodsboys]

Not to talk badly about that group, it may not even be the same one I had previously visited, but I had noticed a great amount of inaccuracies being pushed forward as fact and despite the fact that I stated how many years or species I kept or bred, I was talked down to, contradicted, and treated as a "newbie"....

I 100% agree. A little over the top and lots of holier than thou mentality. There is a slight taste of it on the Facebook group too.
Sand is the way to go as long as it is smooth and small. I have yet to hear about an anphibian becoming impacted from ingesting sand. Hell some animals eat "grit" to help with digestion.

[deranged chipmunk]

i was waiting for Jen to chime in glad you did jen! carole, as you noticed, there are many groups and forums out there that are like that. i could namd several, but i'm not a fan of bad mouthing other forums in public forums unfortunately, there is so much "i read on another forum" info that is incorrect, and people take it as gospel, for lack of a better term. you are in the right place to get info from people with EXPERIENCE, and not just the ability to read and type

[mpmistr]

Hi guys, I am getting seriously conflicting info. I am on a yahoo groups forum too and they are dead set against any substrate including sand. And sources online (just googling around) say the sand can be ingested. Which I'm sure it CAN but how much of a risk is this? I keep my bearded dragons on sand and it is controversial in the dragon communities. I have never had a problem with it but I feed in a dish so they are not eating on the sand. I hear that these frogs are such pigs they will suck up anything in their path that they even think is food. Sooo, here I sit, wanting sand but afraid to put it in ...


Carole

Sand is fine. Not all sands are created equal. I love the look of black sand but it's all sharp, so I've never used it. You want the sand with the smallest granule size you can find and is smooth. It will be kicked up, some will be ingested but it will pass right through their digestive system.

Think about it this way, I feed my frogs earthworms.. what are earthworms filed with? Dirt. Never had a problem, it passes right through them in their stool.

You do not want them to eat a TON of sand obviously, so that is why I always hand feed at the surface of the water and feed floating pellets. There are several advantages to this method of feeding besides accidental ingestion of substrate, the other big one is food won't become leftover in the tank and cause water quality issues. Hand feeding also makes your frogs very tame after time.

[reptileszz]

Thanks guys. I have used a variety of forums over the years and this one is certainly one of the better ones. I thought this group seemed more reasonable in all of their approaches. I wanted to toss out what I was seeing on the other forum to see what you all said. I tossed something about sand up there as well. They do seem very holier than thou which is what I have hated about a lot of the reptile forums I visited in the past.

Thank you for being a very nice, reasonable bunch.

Carole and Alvin

PS for now, until I return from vacation I am going to leave it bare so that I dont have to train this frog to eat floating pellets (which he does not seem to be doing). At least he is foraging on the floor now so I think sinking pellets for my caretaker will be better so no sand for now. But I think I will get some on my return!

[Gemma]

Carole, you pick the cutest names for your frogs!

I use sand in all of my tanks as well and I've never had any problems with it, apart from cloudy water for the first day or two. It's easy to clean. You just hover the siphon over the top of it and the dirt is sucked up while the sand stays on the bottom.

[reptileszz]

Carole, you pick the cutest names for your frogs!

I use sand in all of my tanks as well and I've never had any problems with it, apart from cloudy water for the first day or two. It's easy to clean. You just hover the siphon over the top of it and the dirt is sucked up while the sand stays on the bottom.

Thank you Gemma! I wanted to go with the "Al" theme but since I already had an Al that was out.

I bought the sand today. The Carib Sea "Gold" that mpmistr recommended. It was on sale at Petsmart for 19.99 so I grabbed it. I dont think I am going to put it in there til we return from a week off but I WANT to put it in right now!

Thanks!
Carole

[mpmistr]

Oh you got Sunset Gold? It's a good buy, it does hold plants a LOT better than Moonlight. If I could go back and use it in my frog tank I think I would.

Here is a shot of my 20 gallon with cardinal tetra + green emerald corydoras. I use Sunset Gold in this tank.



An easy way to add it to your tank without too much mess is to use a small cup and just sprinkle it on the bottom one scoop at a time. It's a lot easier than just dumping the whole thing in. I would also turn off your filter while you do it so you don't get sand in your impeller.

[Jenste]

Lowering the water level also helps. Can't wait for pictures!