Plant food?

[Silkmoth]

I read you cant have any fertilizer around your frogs, so how do you feed your plants? I would think they would require food at some point.
Thanks.

[deranged chipmunk]

There are many ways to fertilize. First is all natural, the frog's waste breaks down via bacteria to be converted into nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium.

Another way is to have natural fertilizers in the soil, as in peat moss, worm castings, bat guano, ect.

Yet another way is to water with waste aquarium water, which just made a whole bunch of people in here gasp in horror lol the fish waste in the water of a properly cycled tank will be super rich in n-p-k.

There is one last option that I won't mention here because I don't need anyone's head exploding lol

The basics I mentioned though, should have your plants not just surviving, but thriving in your Viv

[Mentat]

Yet another way is to water with waste aquarium water, which just made a whole bunch of people in here gasp in horror lol the fish waste in the water of a properly cycled tank will be super rich in n-p-k.

There is one last option that I won't mention here because I don't need anyone's head exploding lol...

The aquarium water removed from a healthy tank will work fine as long as there is no salt added to it. Many an aquarist will add salt to tank (around 2 TBS per 5 gal.) and that salt will create a progressive buildup in substrate until it affects plants.

OK Bill, promise my head won't explode, what is the secret method ?

[deranged chipmunk]

Some people do add salt, like those cichlid freaks lol

The secret method? Aquatic plant fertilizers. I have been using them for a while in my Viv. I use seachem's flourish in a very diluted amount. Absolutely no problems whatsoever.

[Mentat]

Thanks Bill; I do add salt in my hybrid cichlids tanks . Was planning to experiment with Flourish thinking that, if it was safe for delicate fish, it would be OK with frogs. Guess you answered my question .

[deranged chipmunk]

Yup, I have used it in tanks with very delicate shrimp and that pretty much convinced me. I was concerned about copper with the shrimp and they are much more sensitive to it than frogs, but no I'll effects. There is such a minuscule concentration that it is safe for shrimp.

[fish4all]

Planted Aquarium Fertilizer - Main, Main, Dry Fertilizers, Dry Fertilizers,

That is what I used for my aquarium plants. It is also what I plan to use for my terrarium plants but I will likely limit dosing of everything or maybe just use the Planted CSM+B and nothing else. Trace elements are available in natural water sources as well as many others. I have run across many articles that even recommend using a trace fertilizer for tadpoles and aquatic species. I do admit I have a lot of research to do before I do anything but maybe 25% dosing once a month. My next adventure will be fire belly toads and adding trace will be part of the tanks care.

[deranged chipmunk]

Chris, i assume you are EI dosing. if you are, don't even bother with trying to figure out a dosing schedule for your terrarium plants. just water with tank water from your planted tank. the whole point of ei dosing is to over saturate the water column with more nutrients than the plants could possibly use, which you dilute weekly with water changes. at the end of a dosing week, just fill your spray bottle up with all the nutrient rich water. that's what i did when i had my planted tanks ruinning and was ei dosing. the plants love it, especially marginals.

[fish4all]

I think EI might be too much, just small amounts of trace and very small amounts of anything else if I use anything else.

I really don't think that even if I EI dosed it would hurt the Fire Belly toads but there is no need since I want algae for tadpoles.

I think that it may be more a need to find the nutrient levels naturally occurring in a frogs native habitat. Only then can someone know for sure if there may be an adverse effect to their frog friends.

[deranged chipmunk]

Problem is measuring the n-p-k content in a natural environment. I doubt that you could over dose the frogs, but as you know, too much of certain nutrients invites algae and mold. Balance is key, that's why I used tank water.

[Heatheranne]

I also dump my frog water bowl water into the plants . And I push the poo into the plant substrate. Works like a charm.

Apparently day gecko pee/poo makes for great fertilizer also because her Chinese evergreen is out of control .