I have a 35 or 40 (can't remember which, and don't really care that much LOL) gallon hex aquarium I previously used for a nano-reef. What I was wanting to do was have a false bottom in the middle rectangle. The front hex area and the back hex area would both be the real bottom. The front would house a water reservoir which could be removed and dumped/changed daily. The rear area would house live plants, which would be in pots, thereby not limiting my plant choices to those which only grow in sphagnum. The middle rectangle/false bottom and the rear section would be covered with sphagnum. Into this set-up I will put either green or golden tree frogs.

If I were to be sure to do daily water changes, would this negate the need for a filter? I have a filter, I just don't want to deal with the worry of a bacteria colony. UGH! It just makes me tired contemplating water quality and testing and sheesh...I want a frog, not a fish tank.

On to the live plants. Are there houseplants readily available that are bad and should be avoided? I am thinking I will do a plastic canvas backdrop to train some type of ivy up, and perhaps antherium or philodendron...one of the smaller variety.

Under the reservoir I will be wanting to put some sort of sand to hold it up, as it won't be nearly as deep as the false bottom because of the live plants. As long as the sand is nowhere accessible to the frogs is it OK to use?

I will once again utilize plastic canvas as the top for the entire thing. It's cheap, light and I have lost the glass for the aquarium...reefs go topless (whoot-whoot)

Any critique would be helpful. Also, I am completely CLUELESS about crickets so any help there would be awesome.