Plant choices... and then some

[sketchin]

Hi guys haven't officially introduced myself yet i'll do that later (just found this site while looking for info).

So i plan on making a fire bellied toad vivarium, i'm having land in my vivarium and i want it to look very natural. Now being a complete novice when it comes to amphibians i thought i'd ask for a little bit of incite and help from you guys

So firstly plants, i'd prefer to not use lighting. I'm looking for plants which aren't to hard to look after but get the job done, i'm looking for both land and water plants, both should give some cover.

Now i'm going to be aiming for a 70-80% water but i'd still like natural substrate which could contain a 'clean up crew' as i'm trying to keep things as natural and self coefficient. i was thinking some worms and woodlice though if someone thinks differently please say.

I ve a few things i plan on adding for looks, one of them is a waterfall, now i know Fire bellied toads do not like a lot of movement the water so if someone could point me to a slow flow pump that'd be appreciated.

Sorry for my first post being a "what do" type thread but it needs to be, and the only place i'v found specializing in things for amphibians seems to be dartfrog is there any other places, UK sites only.

Thanks all whether your helping or just read my wall of text!

Much love!

[deranged chipmunk]

First off, let me say welcome to the forum

Without the use of supplemental lighting, your plant choices are easy. Silk or plastic. Unfortunately, most plants that will not only grow, but thrive in a vivarium need supplemental lighting. Unless the tank is getting direct sunlight and has no background, then you may be able to grow some mosses and algae, especially in the water section, but the light won't be bright enough to grow plants to their fullest. You may get some "full shade" or "low light" plants to grow, but growth will be extremely slow and won't be as lush as if using lighting.

Put simply, plants need light. And they won't thrive without it.


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[sketchin]

Right so lets say i get a canopy UV light, what are some nice plants, if you dont mind suggesting some?

[deranged chipmunk]

Well, you're going to want some sort of lighting in the 6500k color temp range. Then you'll have no problems growing anything you like.

For easy, no brainer plants, I would go with the basics as far as terrestrials go. Pothos, philodendrons, some smaller ferns, peperomias are all good plants for a Viv. I would offer up some specific names, but I have no idea what is and isn't available in the uk.

Bromeliads (neos and tillandsias) are also good, easy plants to grow.

As far as aquatics and marginals, a lot depends on how deep your water is going to be, flow characteristics and most importantly, what visual impact you want to make. Cryptocoryne species are excellent, slow growing, low light loving plants that can grow marginally as well as submerged. But most can get rather large. Same with anubias and the java ferns. Sword plants are out, they grow way too large for most aquariums, let alone a Viv.

Hopefully, one of our UK membership can pop in here and suggest places where to get plants. Although, I can't help but think there is a thread somewhere discussing that very thing


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[sketchin]

I do know a place to get most plants (i'd imagine so its got a lot of plants listed) though i have no idea which i find, its a bit over whelming. I'm basically looking for things which can be used for cover, to interact with like climbing. If i could get this in both the land and water plants that'd be good, also a few colorful ones would be nice, i'm not really after anything which will grow to large, at least if it can't be pruned easily. Please help guys, i really am terrible when it comes to things like this. Feel free to suggest any plant.

Much love to all who help, or spent their time reading this

[deranged chipmunk]

For climbing plants that stay small or "smallish": Peperomia prostrata, ficus pumilia (creeping fig), ficus pumilia var. quercifolia (looks like mini ivy), most hedera species ivy, ficus 'lance leaf' sometimes known 7as 'panama', dischidia sp.
Vining philodendrons and pothos will actually grow submerged under the water and grow out and up from the water. Syngoniums will do the same. The only aquatic I can think of that would grow from submerged to marginal would be the hydrocotyle species. I keep h. 'Japan' and if I don't trim it regularly, it would take over the tank.
I'm sure a few other will chime in with ones I forgot.


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[sketchin]

Thanks for the extra advice, please contribute if you can folks. I'v also made another thread about how i'm setting up my vivarium and could use some feedback and suggests the link is here: http://www.frogforum.net/vivarium-te...tml#post222315

Thansk again,