New FBF owner

[FBTmom]

Hello. I just aquired two FBT's that have been living, for the last three years, in a 1 gal. "tank" that just had aquarium gravel and a little dish of water. I had to get them out of there, so I didn't have time to do everything right. I've put them in my 20gal. aquarium that I flooded with about 3" water and built up one half with (ugly!) aquarium gravel. On the land side I have fake plants, wood, and a clay pot. The water has fake wood, a large rock they can sit on, and some pebbles in the bottom. For a top I just have the aquarium lid, but I removed the back half behind the light and covered it with mesh so air can get in and they can't get out.
I got some crickets and I'm keeping them in a separate area and feeding them (piece of apple and carrot) before I give them to the frogs.
Yes, the water is treated so it's safe, and I've just done a partial water change. (They've been in there two days now)
I know gravel substrate isn't good, but in my small town I can't get anything except gravel and reptile type bedding (Jungle Bark and Eco Earth, etc, which I've read is messy and not too nice for the frogs). I'm going to look at mail-order to find things, but I'm wondering. Would it be safe to get small stones/pebbles, etc. from a local river if I boil them first? With the substrate in the tank being wet underneath, I'm not sure on using soil. I don't want to silicone a divider in since this tank may get used for fish again someday, so I'm trying to find a substrate that can handle the flooding underneath from the water. Moss would be nice on land, too.
I know, too, that a filter in the water would be ideal, but my fish filters are HOB and would not work. I'll just have to do with constant partial changes until I come up with something.
These little guys will eventually end up in my 33gal. aquarium and I'll have time to do that one right from the start with no time pressures. But it has fish in it right now so it's a waiting game and they'll be in this 20gal. until then. But even in the 33gal, I'd rather not have to glue in a divider.
I'm thrilled to have found this forum. I have belonged to fish forums and I found them to be an incredible help. Thank you for being here and sharing your expertise with us newbies!
Diane

[Ebony]

Hi there and welcome to the forum . Your frogs are beautiful.

[Jace]

Welcome to the Forum! On such short notice, you did very well with the setup. True, aquarium gravel is not the best. I would definitely grab some medium sized stones and use them, once boiled. The toads look to be in pretty good health despite their previous conditions. These toads can be quite addicting to have, and will provide many years of entertainment.

[Paul Rust]

Welcome to Frog Forum.

[Kurt]

Welcome aboard. I keep my fire-bellies real simple like. Just a few inches of water and a floating platform. For a platform I use an inverted styroform produce tray.

[1beataway]

Welcome.

[John]

Very nice - welcome to the forum.

[froghobbiest]

Welcome! Im new to Fire Bellied Toads also. I got mine tuesday and I have them in a 10 gal right now..I agree that eco can be a bit messy from my first attempt. You should check out my pics and setup..I used rocks from my creek as a divider and on land with frog moss on top of the eco earth.Like everybody else hase said they are addictive I cant wait to get two more and I plan on breeding them.

[FBTmom]

Thanks, everyone, for the great welcome.
I will get some river rocks for under the water and up the slope, then try putting a soil-type layer over the gravel, with moss on top.
Thanks for the suggestions!