my set up and frogs

[daydreaming]

this is a couple of pictures of my set up and also my little froggies.

[daydreaming]

today i have ordered a large piece of grape vine and a habitate branch which is basically a fake branch you can bend and mould into the positions you like i also got them a larger but still shallow water bowl and a nice fake orchid.

i was also wondering i picked up a really nice tall and wide bromeliad plant from my local supermarket. which i have found can go in as part of the decor of frog tanks what do i need to do to make this plant safe for them i dont know if they use pesticides or fertilisers being a supermarket im sure they do.

i also found a list of plants

few plants that are good for tropical terrariums and safe for frogs. These plants will need to be able to tolerate high light and humidity. A few good choices include African Violets, Bromeliad, Cobra Fern, Resurrection Fern, Chinese Evergreen, Elephant Ear, Earth Stars, Dumbcane, Creeping Fig, Poke-a-dot Plant, Bromeliad, Rabbit's Foot Fern, Prayer Plant, Button Fern, Baby rubber plant, Aluminum plants, Philodendron, Pothos, Silver Vine, Club Moss, Arrowhead Vine, Wandering Jew, Java Moss and Bromeliad.

would any one disagree with any of these plants

[Kurt]

I am not a botanist, so I can't argue it one way or the other. I keep bromeliads, but I don't know what kind they are. I have kept Java moss in my fish tank. It totally took over the tank. I didn't know it can be raised on land.

[daydreaming]

i may just play the safe option and go with the plastic plants only problem is they are not that many nice plants that i have found on uk web sites they are all many vines and i already has 3

[Jumpshot724]

Yes Java moss can be kept on land, and it will totally take over there too lol. If you want moss, I suggest Riccia as it doesn't grow as tall as Java, and looks a lot nicer. Brian's Tropicals sells it:

http://www.brianstropicals.com/

I've NEVER heard of anything bad from them.



As far as other plants, I too am no botanist so I couldn't tell you one species over another. My FBTs are in a tank with 2 plants from Home Depot that I have NO idea what they are or where they're from lol.

I will say however that real beats plastic anyday in so many ways. The biggest is that they will soak up any feces (fertilizer!), or other "junk" from your tank. To put it this way, I only have to clean my FBT tank once a YEAR....and even this is probably a lot more than necessary lol.

[tattooed81]

kick a** setup are you ever going to get that tiger leg it own home.

[John]

I'm familiar with some of the plants on that list and none jump out at me as being toxic. I like Pothos a lot - it's cheap and tough. Wandering Jew is great too. Of the rest, not all of them are easy to take care of - I think a couple of those ferns are delicate.

Regarding pesticides and fertilisers, you don't really need to worry about fertilisers - most are harmless unless you "bathe" the frog in them. You will also find that it's a good idea to keep plants in a container when you put them in the vivarium - it makes cleaning the vivarium much easier if you can just dig the pot out and take it straight out. Pesticides are a more difficult problem. I rinse the leaves of every new plant I get in water as best I can in case there is residue. That should be enough unless the plants have been treated recently. If you're really worried, keeping the plants on their own for a month or so should be enough time for most pesticides to be rendered relatively harmless or at least in much lower concentrations.

[Billy]

Bromeliads are good plants in general, but personally, I'd avoid using Cryptanthus(Earth Stars) or any Bromeliads with serrated edges. These could cause harm if an amphibian gets spooked, and blunders into it accidentally. Broms also dislike too much fertilizers in their diet, and will do well in a terrarium. They are epiphytes, and any organic substances that accumulate in the cup at the center will be absorbed with the water in the cup, in this case frog poo in the terrarium.
Keep in mind that a lot of popular house plants belong to the Aracea family, and these include scindapsus(pothos), aglaonema (chinese evergreens), dieffenbachias (dumbcanes), dracaenas, philodendrons, and syngoniums(arrowhead Vines), just to name a few. These plants contain toxins in their sap, and might hurt amphibians( there was mention of this a while back). I don't think harm is likely to happen, because so many use this family of plants in reptile and amphibian terrariums, and have never heard of poisonings. But when you trim these plants, wash the sap off of your hands. If gotten into the mouth and swallowed(unlikely), the sap of the dumbcane can cause your throught to swell, and your vocal chords to be irritated and not be able to speak for a few days.
I'm not even suggesting that anyone stop using these plants, just letting you know the nature of the Aroid family.
Even though some ferns are delicate, they can tolerate higher heat and light levels when there is enough humidity in the terrarium. Rabbit's foot ferns are able to be used as a good ground cover plant in a terrarium, and can withstand lower humidity.
Miniature orchids are a very good choice in a terrarium, and to bloom, most need high light. If you have a suitable background like cocco mats or cork bark, they will make a living background when attatched to it. Some are even highly scented in the evening. If you want them to spread on the background and multiply thoroughly, use some sypodial types like the miniature Oncidiums, mini Cattleyas, Hartwegias, Aerangis, Gongoras, Neofineta, or if you like it, Vanillas! Hardly any orchids are toxic, and you have the bonus of gorgeous flowers that can stay open for a day, to 9 months each!
Ok, I'm making this too long! There are so many options available to those of us that want to make a statement!

[daydreaming]

he will be going into his own tank soon im just waiting for pay day so i can get him his own tank

[pillipala]

cool frogs and awesome set up!
how big is it and do you keep all those frogs in it???

[daydreaming]

its 45x45x60 cm its roughly 33 us gallons or 28 uk gallons i think lol

yeah (but i only have 4 frogs they were just the best pictures i managed) i was told by the place i got them from that it was fine to have 4 frogs in the set up and they could all live together.

but since doing the research i have found that the tiger legged cant live with them and so many people on this forum have given me some great advice and helped loads so im just waiting for pay day and then getting a new tank so far they have lived together for about 4 months and so far (touch wood) nothing bad has happened. but i have also found out loads of information on the maculata and have now found out its needs and for a while i thought he was stressed but turns out they are really really shy and just like hiding and being left alone lol