First timer...Paludarium Build in progress, need help and tips!

[Kelsio Daddy]

Chipmunk: A doodle bug is what us southerners call a pill bug aka rolly polly aka...w hre yag:

the pill bug (a crustacean, not an insect- Order: Isopoda). Its various species are found all over the world. English slang names include: roly poly (spelled many ways), doodlebug, woodlouse, woodbug, armadillo bug, ball bug, bowling ball bug, hardy back, potato bug, slater, chuggy pig, butcher boy, carpenter, cheesybug, cheeselog, daddy gamfer (also spelled daddy gampfer), beetle bug, and Granny Grey. The most common slang names in America are roly poly and doodlebug.

Blue water....I do not have blue water...lol! I use tap water. and add zoo med repti safe. its blue...sorry bout that!

[Kelsio Daddy]

1. Drift wood - Where did you get it, what type of wood is it?
   
   My aunt gave it to me…no clue. I cantake a pic or video tonight and post it.
   
   2. Soaking in bleach is not needed when treating wood. You just bake it in theoven at 250 for an hour or so. You may want to soak in fresh water, bake it dryand then soak again to make sure you get all the bleach out of the wood..repeat as many times as you think you need
   
   Will do! Thanks!
   
   3. LED lights inside the tank could be bad. You are introducing something thatis not 100% waterproof into an environment you will be spraying water in.Better to keep the lights outside the tank
   
   They are rated Waterproof IP67…
   https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/led-strips-and-bars/high-power-rgb-led-sign-module--lsm-rgb3x3/1779/4253/
   
   
   4. Sheet Metal in the tank - Sheet metal is super sharp. Plans on keeping yourfrog from getting hurt on it?
   
   Well I was actually thinking sheet metal for its reflectance properties…but I was also thinking of cardboard with foil on the bottom. Etiher way I would dull edge, cause I don’t tocut the frog or me for that matter. And alsocoat it in silicone and eco earth on the top and edge.
   
   5. Building the background outside the tank - This is tricky, you will want tocontinuously test fit your background back in the tank to make sure it isfitting right and looking the way you want it to.
   
   Well it came with the terrarium and fits like a glove…so should be goodthere.
   
   6. Blue water - The water need to be treated to remove Chlorine andChloramines. Fish will be fine in treated tap water. In fact the stuff we useto treat tap water for frogs is the same thing used to treat aquarium water.
   
   Awesome news! Thanks! And the “blue” stuff is repti safe by zoomed.
   
   7. Leafs from yard - Unless you are 100% certain your area is pesticide free Iwould steer clear of using field collected leaf liter. It is super cheap to buyonline from NeHerp, Josh's Frogs, Black Jungle, or Genesis Exotics that riskingcollecting your own leafs just doesn't make sense.
   
   Well I have a ton of them and I was going to do the rinse and bake thing…thatnot good enough? I might have “pests” but I cant even remember the last time I sprayedanything out there in my front yard.
   
   8. Isopods from the yard - I would not add any insects to my tanks that werecollected from outside. You have no idea what they were exposed to or haveeatin. Best to buy from a hobby supplier.
   10-4!
   
   9. Water level - Siphon out excess water as needed (with a fish in the wateryou should probaly do 50% water changes every week anyways)
   Cool!
   
   10. Water section. I am not understanding how you will have a shallow waterpool on one side of the tank and a deep one on the other.... unless I am missingsomething. The water line in your tank will be constant on all areas of thetank...
   
   So, on the left side I will build, out of egg grate, to create a falsebottom there. Lets just say the frontleft quadrant for now. So there will beno leca balls there. Then on top of thatquadrant, I will put the substrate mix etc. The sides of the quadrant will also be “blocked off” as I will use thecrate around the sides too. All crateswill be covered with mesh fabric. On theoutside of the walls, then there will be the lace. In the front right, the pond side, the lecaballs will be filled in as needed to get a shallow pond. I will also have a hatch in the top of theleft front quadrant so I can get fish in and dead ones out. Make sense?
   
   11. Misting - Start out hand misting until you get a feel for how often youneed to mist to keep the humidity up. Then invest in an auto mister (mistkingis the best). Don't over water. There is a difference between watering plantsand misting a tank to boost humidity.
   
   Ok, I think by hand will be easiest fornow!
   
   
   Thats all for now Hope it helps you some.
   
   Yes! Thanks for reading and thankshelping!

[Kelsio Daddy]

Well I have been trying to upload images for the past 30 minutes. iphone...failed. now on my PC, failed. either its too big, or when I reduce it its invalid. saved as all types of image files, no luck. any advice?