My "build"

[DigitalPunk]

I did say Siphon it In a bigger tank you can permanently install the syphon access in the back ground so you don't have to dig out the soil to do it, or you can drill the tank at the max waterline and install a bulkhead so the water drains out as needed.

You frog is likely stressed out. Let him/her be for a bit and get use to the changes. By a bit I mean a day or more. Your cobalt will calm down and start to explore.

[awelcome]

I'll try... it's just not in my nature lol. Humidity is still rising though so that's good. I just wish she wasn't exposed to the light so closely (there is glass between the light and the tank too) while she hangs out up there. Should I turn it off or will that mess with her day/night schedule too much?

[DigitalPunk]

She will move if she gets to warm. They are very good at doing what they need to. Best thing you can do right now is to take a breath and leave her to her own devices for a while. Maybe go check on her in a few hours

[deranged chipmunk]

Alicia, you did an excellent job on the tank! This is what the forum is all about, like Lija said (and it pains me to a great extent to agree with her ) taking poor info from the pet store and creating a wonderful home for that pretty frog. Kudos to you!!!! Nice job guys!!


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

[awelcome]

For now I had been setting the thermo/hygro on the log where it's a little more dry (though I did move it to spray in there, and then put it back on the wet log). I still worry this isn't giving me accurate readings for Humidity (I know the temp is pretty good since I also have the glass thermo in there and they read the same). I want to mount it perhaps, but I just don't know where to mount it so it's not in the way, not ugly and ruining the look of the tank, but also so it's relevant (like I don't know if the humidity at the very top of the tank is the same as the areas she will actually be hanging out). I would like to feel secure enough that I don't need it, but I don't think I am there since over night it did drop down to 80% according to the hygro. If I do attach it to the tank (it's the sticky kind with velcro) is it going to come off if I choose to later? Or will it leave a horrible sticky mess on the glass? Is there a better option out there? Should I just look into a digital one, and if so, which one?

[deranged chipmunk]

Well, first and foremost, do NOT trust the readings of those analog hygrometers, they are notoriously made poorly and ridiculously inaccurate. Invest in a decent digital one. There are some very good analog hygrometers out there used for cigar humidors, however, a good, precision one can cost well over $100, but a decent digital is about $30. Seems like a no brainer

Don't worry about moving stuff around for the frog. She will make the home hers. Think about what her behavior in the wild, she will forage for food when she is hungry. There are no flat leaves where somebody deposits fruit flies in the rainforest the more you leave her be, the more natural behavior you will be able to observe. just sit back and be amazed at what 400 million years of evolution looks like


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

[awelcome]

I have looked through reviews for various digital hygros and thermo/hygro combos and all seem to have some pretty bad reviews. Would you mind linking me to one or two good ones to consider? I also wondered how they would be set up.... does the read-out portion sit outside the tank? If so, how do you get it in without leaving an opening somehow? Thanks again.

[DigitalPunk]

I don't know that there is such a think as a good accurate digital hydrometer. I have yet to find one. The ones i settled on and use in some of my tanks still is the exo terra digital thermometer and Hydrometer . There are little holes along the back of the lid and tank where the cord can be routed. You can hang the probe in the tank and the screen outside the tank.

Any "affordable" digital hydrometer has at a minimum of 10% + or - error rate. I also have to remove the probe every so often for a week or so to let it dry out and then put it back in. That is why I now don't rely on them.

[deranged chipmunk]

i just don't use them. i use glass thermometers and i can normally tell what my humidity levels are by my plants. but remember, i know all my plants so well, that i can tell if there is a problem long before it will affect my inhabitants. i don't recommend that for anyone lol

[awelcome]

Since I have a glass thermo, I was looking at the exo terra JUST hygro. I might get it.... I just hate to spend another 17 bucks or whatever on something that is unreliable at best.... but as you said Bill I am by no means an expert with plants so I can't just tell by looking yet. I hope that if I just try my best to keep it misted and properly set up it will be properly humid and I can more utilize the hygro to see fluctuations (whether at the correct % or not) so I can tell if something is changing. I would use the one I have in the same way, but unless I want to mount that ugly thing to my beautiful vivarium it's not even reliable for that sitting on a wet log.

[DigitalPunk]

Technically you can collect some wild insects and then breed them. After a couple generation have come and gone in your culture it should be safe to add to a tank

[awelcome]

thanks, I will keep that in mind for future. We have SO many of those things in our yard. We actually had a pet one for a while because my son's school helped them make habitats for them and homework was to catch one and keep it lol.

[deranged chipmunk]

Wait, am I reading this correctly? You had a pet pillbug?


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

[awelcome]

lol yep... not my choice. Boys thought it was great though. Kept it in a tupperware, and he even decorated it's wall with a picture of a rolly polly lol. Once they forgot about it I threw it out.

[deranged chipmunk]

Lol


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

[awelcome]

Ok, so ordered the springtail kit, some more containers, medium, and excelsior for FF culturing, mite paper, and a digital hygrometer from NEHERP.... and still I think it was less than getting the springtail kit with shipping from Josh's Frogs... and actually MUCH less if I had to choose 2 day shipping from them lol. It's a great site and all, but yikes that shipping! Anyway, I emailed NEHERP and they said I should for sure do the express, and they'd guarantee live arrival that way. So in a couple days I should have my stuff.

Once I get the springtails I will put some in the tank, and start the culture with the rest. How many should I put in the tank, and what is the best way since it's already set up and it's kind of hard to dig around in there much with tight space. Can I put them right on top and let them work their way down, or should I at least try to lift the leaf litter so she doesn't immediately eat them?

[DigitalPunk]

Putting them on top is all you need to do

Love me some NeHerp!

[awelcome]

I gotta say.... the stress of worrying about whether or not I am killing the plants is not my fave..... I know basically nothing about plants and wouldn't know if they were looking healthy or not. There is a reason my house has a couple of fake plants and that's it. I am misting usually once or twice a day (I use a spray bottle and spray each plant, the wood, the ground, and the background to get the humidity up to what I have been able to max out so far which according to my hygro is only around 88%). The plants all have some water drops on them, and sometimes I also make a point to spray the base a bit more to wet the dirt more around them..... I just don't know how much is too much or too little. Also, because of crowding issues in my smaller tank I wonder if they are all going to have enough space/light to grow or if they will die from that......

I am probably paranoid at this point, but I hate to think of what a hassle it will be to have to get new plants and move the frog yet again to plant them (it's hard to do even minor changes with her in there because I have to wait for her to be hiding in corner or she'll have a good chance of getting out.)

[DigitalPunk]

nature always finds a way

With the drainage layer you have it removes the worry of over watering your plants. As long as you keep an eye on the water level in the drainage layer and keep it from touching the substrate layer you will be fine

When I mist I don't sock the ground so much as I drench the leaves in water. The leaves are designed to allow water to funnel off and get the soil wet for the roots. I also spray the glass of the tank just to get some more water in the air.

[awelcome]

My drainage layer is still pretty low.... like only a little from the bottom because I wanted to see how things went for a bit and see how fast it might rise with whatever I do daily. I REALLY didn't want to have things swamp out and have to redo for both the hassle and cost factors so soon after doing it. I will gradually get more comfortable and raise it I am sure. I spray some of the back glass, but I like to leave the front a little less covered so I can see in there.... not much point in having a cool viv and pet if you can't ever see them lol. When I have to turn a/c on the whole thing fogs way up and I can't see in there much at all lol.