Plants for WTF Enclosure

[elly]

Also if your real plants start small you might need to include your fake ones at least until the real ones get big enough. I'm using fake vines to cover part of the sides

[Frogs1]

So with the drainage, it would go rocks on the bottom aND then the substrate on top? The 3ft tank is good, I just thought it would be hard to get plants to grow tall enough to look good in it. I would still keep the fake plants in there, not all though. The vines on the glass and one of the ground one. AlsI looking at your tank, I can't seem to see the bamboo, I'm not to sure what it looks like, what siDE of the tank is it on?

[Lija]

Hi!

are you doing anything for background? If so you can plant pothos in there, they are sturdy and will hang down nicely and take over the space very fast too this will eliminate a need of silk plants with suction cups. You may also look into something bigger for them to perch on. Alternatively you can get something like magnitural pots and suspend these high up with pothos hanging down.

snake plants are fine as well, anything that is cheap to replace will do, they will tramp most of the plants anyway.

bottom - false bottom or any other ways of drainage - leca, hydroballs, rocks, then a layer that will separate soil from that layer - most people use window screen mesh for that, they you put proper soil ( ABG mix or similar). ABG mix may not be available where you live just like here in Canada, so I mix stuff to get something similar.

you will need lots of isopods and springtails to deal with the amount of waste these guys make lol also you need to figure out how to take out excess water of drainage layer. And you will still need to spot clean as soon as you see it.

Check the the sticky thread about the viv construction..... Having said that do you really want a naturalistic viv for whites? Like full on one?

[elly]

Yeah, rocks/ hydroballs/ LECA on bottom, then garden mesh to keep dirt from falling down there, then substrate. Lucky bamboo and snake plant can grow pretty tall, it just takes time. I know some people grow ornamental fig too and that can get tall and it's sturdy. Here's a thread about a list of frog safe plants if it helps: http://www.frogforum.net/vivarium-te...exception.html In my tank photo, the bamboo shoot is hiding behind the snake plant (It's the tallest one with leaves behind the dark green spiky plant.)

[elly]

Check the the sticky thread about the viv construction..... Having said that do you really want a naturalistic viv for whites? Like full on one?

<- What Lija said. It cost me more to put together a naturalistic terrarium, but I didn't want to keep replacing the substrate so frequently so I did the drainage layer, springtails and isopods thing. If you want the look of live plants but not a planted vivarium, maybe you could use (very sturdy and secure) flowerpots to hold them. Just make sure that the dirt doesn't have chemical fertilizer or anything. (and maybe get someone else's opinion about the flowerpots idea because I'm not entirely sure about it.)

[Frogs1]

I'll look into the pothos idea, I've got some fish tank like background on the outside of the tank that you just spray water and stick on to make it look nicer. Is a naturalistic Viv for whites hard? Im happy to put the time into setting iT up and maintaing it, but is it harder then what I probably think?

[elly]

It's not too difficult to do. Drainage layer, garden mesh, springtail culture (optional), soil, plants and you're done. If you want to make cleanup easier you can cut a hole in the mesh and stick a pvc pipe down into the drainage layer so you can siphon some water off if the drainage layer gets full. Or you can experiment with false bottoms. That looks a bit complicated to me but the people who have done it say it's not that hard. Edit: Okay, getting ABG soil might be harder in Australia. You could try looking up how to mix it yourself, or try plantation soil with a little of the fertilizer they sell for aquatic plants in fish tanks. Something that is fish-safe.

[Frogs1]

Ok thanKS, how much would it ruffley cost to setup?