what should I do with my empty 40 g. tall tank?

[Harley]

Hi y'all
I have never kept frogs before (although we've had turtles and have snakes)...but I have an empty 40 gallon tank that I've been thinking about using as a frog set up. I have a 6 and a 7 year old and I want something that will be fun for them to watch, but not another animal that they will handle (we also have 3 cats). So I am a beginner with a tank that needs filled! what would you recommend doing with it? I want to make sure to do all my research before bringing any animals home...

[kueluck]

I guess more questions need to be asked like:
Are you willing to keep crickets, roaches, fruit flies and other such bugs as feeders?
Do you want something that is active during the day or evenings?
If you want tree frogs you will need a minium hight of 24 inch for happy healthy frogs, which the tank could be turned into a vertical one w/a conversion kit.

And I just want to say thank you for doing your research BEFORE you bring home a new friend. It saves lives.

[maxQ]

Just save it ! I have tanks stacked up in my basement for when I want to get something new,

[Mentat]

Is it a 40 gallon breeder (36x18x18) or a 40 gallon tall (36x12xtaller?)? If the former you can keep almost everything terrestrial you like. A 40 breeder is an overkill for a Pacman (a 10G works for adults); but could house a pair of Leopard Frogs, or few ground toads, or Tomato Frogs, or even an African Bullfrog. If interested in smaller frogs, you could keep a colony of Red Belly Toads or similar.

If tank is the taller type 40; you can have any of the above in maybe pairs and a male Giant African Bullfrog will eventually outgrow it. The Leopards will be cramped due to their active lifestyle. But you could add to list a couple of the smaller tree frogs. Good luck !

[Harley]

Is it a 40 gallon breeder (36x18x18) or a 40 gallon tall (36x12xtaller?)?
If tank is the taller type 40; you can have any of the above in maybe pairs and a male Giant African Bullfrog will eventually outgrow it. The Leopards will be cramped due to their active lifestyle. But you could add to list a couple of the smaller tree frogs. Good luck !

it's a 40 gallon tall tank.

And I am a total beginner so assume I know NOTHING about frogs and how to keep them healthy...although I'm willing to learn. So keeping that in mind, what would you say would be a good (somewhat) mistake resistant frog? I want to get the set up right first and then thing about getting frogs, but of course I assume that the tank set up will depend on what frog I get. I would like ones that are active in the day time...and I'm not opposed to learning how to keep crickets and fruit flies, although I have to say that I probably draw the line at bigger things like roaches. I already keep meal worms for the turtle, so worms don't gross me out. I already keep frozen mice for my snake so even mice are ok.

This brings up another question. What do you feed your plants? I know that with my house plants I repot them about once a year. But in a tank I would assume that I would have to feed/fertilize them in the tank. How does this work with frogs? (aquatic plants are so much easier!)

ps. I should add that things like isopods and roaches are ok if they stay IN the tank and I don't have to handle them.

and yes....any books or websites that you can point me to with info on set ups and frogs would be great. I joined here to hopefully get lots of good info so I hope you don't mind all my questions!

[Flying Dutchman]

About books and websites, you came to the right place. On this forum you can find caresheets and some great stories about setups. My advice: read as much about frogs as you can before buying any of them. Fire bellied toads are great beginner frogs but even they have "special" needs.

I found out that this forum is a great forum to start your new hobby!

[mapdoggis]

I'm partial to Fire Belly Toads myself.

[deranged chipmunk]

If you're looking for an easy to care for frog that will be diurnal (active in the day), dart frogs or mantellas are a good choice. They eat mainly fruit flies, which are easy to culture and are fun to watch. a species like dendrobates leucomelas are great starter darts and will climb in a taller tank. They will also be easy for the kids to spot since they are black and yellow, against the green plants.

As far as feeding the plants, they will get plenty of nutrients from the soil, if you use ABG (Atlanta botanical gardens) mix. There really won't be a need for repotting because it's an open ground environment and the roots can spread out instead of getting root bound like in a pot. And as a plant geek, I think terrestrials are much easier than aquatics. No fert dosing, no worries about light diffusing through the water, no worries about feeding them CO2. Easy peasy compared to aquatics. But there are some aquatics you can keep in a frog tank. I keep several different species of rare crypts in my enclosures and they flourish. I also keep anubias, bolbitis, Java fern, glosso, hc, hygrophilia polysperma 'sunset' and a few others. So you see, you don't have to lose you love for aquatics, you can just incorporate it into your new hobby.

[deranged chipmunk]

And don't discount roaches. The ones we use in the hobby are NOTHING like the German cockroaches that infest homes. Dubia. Cockroaches don't climb glass, don't smell like crickets, are better for frogs nutritionally and breed very well and easily. That's just one species, there are many others that work just as well.