Red Eyed Tree Frog Vivarium/Paludarium Built - EXO TERRA (Medium/Tall)

[Ferguscyc]

PHASE 1 - PLANNING (1)

Hello everyone,

At the moment right now, my two baby red eyed tree frogs are doing very well in quarantine. Though it will be quite some time before they reach an adult size, I couldn't help but start to plan for a terrarium when they grow bigger. So I am starting this new thread as a built journal where I will include all my planning, ideas and actual construction. Please feel free to give any comments and suggestions. Before I go on, here are some pictures of my tree frogs


Moving on to the future vivarium that I hope to build for these two little guys. I currently have an empty Medium/Tall 24"x18"x24" exo terra terrarium that was previously used to house my bearded dragon. This is a rough sketch of how I envision the tank to look like. This is however, just a sketch of how I want it to look and I still have not considered the technical problems of the construction of the tank


WITH COLOUR:

Here are a few concerns that I hope you guys can address and help me improve on (:

1) The pond: I have have hoped for a small pond in the front of the vivarium that would be home to some water plants and small fishes. However, having seen care sheets of red eyed tree frogs that suggests a shallow water dish, I am concerned about whether or not this is a good idea. As for the cleanliness of the water, I plan to have a water pump/filter as the waterfall at the back. Will that suffice for keeping the water clean enough for the frogs in case they want to take a dip?

2) The waterfall: I have seen some designs that have a custom homemade waterfall with the use of a pump and filter. However as I want to have a waterfall that has water coming out from a pile of stones, I am worried that the weight might be too much.

3) False bottom: For many of the other vivariums that I have seen, they often put in false bottom but I don't really understand the mechanism behind having a false bottom, can someone explain??

4) Moss: Is there any post that talks about growing moss on background and/or pieces of wood? Do I use place them onto the surface and wait for it to grow?

5) Misting: I was wondering how to set up a regular misting system?

6) Planting: What kinds of plants are best for Red Eyed tree frogs? Are their any plants that I should AVOID putting into the red eyed vivarium as they might be harmful to the frogs?

If you have any answers or comments, please feel free to tell me It will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[deranged chipmunk]

PHASE 1 - PLANNING (1)

Hello everyone,

At the moment right now, my two baby red eyed tree frogs are doing very well in quarantine. Though it will be quite some time before they reach an adult size, I couldn't help but start to plan for a terrarium when they grow bigger. So I am starting this new thread as a built journal where I will include all my planning, ideas and actual construction. Please feel free to give any comments and suggestions. Before I go on, here are some pictures of my tree frogs


Moving on to the future vivarium that I hope to build for these two little guys. I currently have an empty Medium/Tall 24"x18"x24" exo terra terrarium that was previously used to house my bearded dragon. This is a rough sketch of how I envision the tank to look like. This is however, just a sketch of how I want it to look and I still have not considered the technical problems of the construction of the tank


WITH COLOUR:

Here are a few concerns that I hope you guys can address and help me improve on (:

1) The pond: I have have hoped for a small pond in the front of the vivarium that would be home to some water plants and small fishes. However, having seen care sheets of red eyed tree frogs that suggests a shallow water dish, I am concerned about whether or not this is a good idea. As for the cleanliness of the water, I plan to have a water pump/filter as the waterfall at the back. Will that suffice for keeping the water clean enough for the frogs in case they want to take a dip?

2) The waterfall: I have seen some designs that have a custom homemade waterfall with the use of a pump and filter. However as I want to have a waterfall that has water coming out from a pile of stones, I am worried that the weight might be too much.

3) False bottom: For many of the other vivariums that I have seen, they often put in false bottom but I don't really understand the mechanism behind having a false bottom, can someone explain??

4) Moss: Is there any post that talks about growing moss on background and/or pieces of wood? Do I use place them onto the surface and wait for it to grow?

5) Misting: I was wondering how to set up a regular misting system?

6) Planting: What kinds of plants are best for Red Eyed tree frogs? Are their any plants that I should AVOID putting into the red eyed vivarium as they might be harmful to the frogs?

If you have any answers or comments, please feel free to tell me It will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Welcome to the forum! Let me see if I can answer some of your questions.

1. I, personally am a big fan of water features/pond in a Viv. I think it lends to realism and also gives the frogs the opportunity to behave a bit more like they would in the wild. A lot of people will disagree, citing that the frogs may drown. I believe that as long as there are plenty of places for your frogs to get back on to land, then water should not be an issue. They are amphibians, after all.

And yes, a decent filter should suffice as far as keeping the water clean.

2. Building a water feature from stone can add to the weight, but there are a few things you can do to prevent problems. Supporting the bottom glass panel with something like styrofoam or my fav, yoga mats, will help support the glass and keep it from flexing. Another thing you can do is make the waterfall using lightweight rocks, such as lava rock.

3. A false bottom is used to provide a suitable drainage layer, while keeping a decent reservoir of water on hand. It helps keep humidity up, while also making it easier to keep water quality parameters in check.

4. There are many options on growing moss in a Viv. You can always just place it where you like and let it grow. There are also nice alternatives out there, like hygrolon and Epi web, which are fabrics that allow drainage, yet give moss and epiphytes a place to grow. It's pretty versatile. You can see examples of what can be done with it here: www.folius.net

5. You need to define "regular misting system". I would recommend going with a mistking system. They are the kings of misters.

6. Your red eyes are going to like large leaved, strong stemmed plants, especially towards the too of the enclosure. There are tons to choose from. A lot will come down to budget, design, and what your comfort level of caring for plants is.

Hope that helps a little bit

[Heatheranne]

Hello Ferguscyc,

Welcome to the forum . You have beautiful frogs and what a nice sketch!

Bill has every so kindly answered your questions well . Thanks, Bill!

The water filter will help. You should still do water exchanges as you would with any fish tank to keep the waste in balance. Bill's idea of lava rock or another porous rock will allow beneficial bacteria to function through the waterfall as a biological filter . Be sure to leave an access area to be able to reach your filter in case you need to service it.

Fish are okay so long as you do not use goldfish or other fish that tend to carry goldfish. I once housed a make betta in my pond.

The false bottom is a layered bottom to keep land elevated away from water. This is to avoid a swamp-like bog in which most plants will die in. It's basically used to create elevated land. We can teach you how.

Plants:

Some great plants for red eyes tree frogs are any in these categories:

Chinese evergreens (Aglaonema)

Pothos (Epipremnum aureum)

Philodendrons

Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum)

Calathea