hi there kinda new but not

[j3000]

Hi there I signed up about a year or two ago, I was planing on building me a vivarium but because of life I couldn't but I'm back. I had to remodel my house we are almost done now and I want to turn my 55 gallon aquarium in to a vivarium. To be the vocal point of my living room. It use to be my bearded dragon's home of 10+ years but he passed away 2 months ago. So I have the lighting system already. My question is this my aquarium is 4ft long 22 inches tall and a foot wide. Is this tall enough for white tree frogs or do I need to refigure my starting set up..

[j3000]

Or will fire belly toads be better.

[jasonm96]

Hi sorry about your beardie. For 22" tall it would be fine for whites, but for arboreal herps I personally prefer at least 24 inches height or more. Fire-bellies would make a better display, since whites are nocturnal but fire-bellies are active both day and night. You could put so many in there that you'd always see some but they'd probably breed, so you'd have to be up for raising tadpoles. Dart frogs also would be good and they're pretty low maintenance, just design a nice planted set up and you'll never need to clean for years, just need to set up a few fruit flies cultures, but with any amphibian you'll need to keep and gutload insects anyway. I'd suggest getting a few books to look at different species and see what might appeal to you best, there's so many frogs to choose from

[j3000]

I know about gut loading crickets i have a 10 galloon cricket tank and a 10 galloon hissing cockroach breading tank also I have a 10 galloon oh **** we lost power emergency tank that I can get to 95 degrees in the middle of winter when we lose power and we will.

I thought dart frogs were a unforgiven animal. I really love there color. And a little on the expensive side but I guess if you spend 35-40$ on a white tree frog what's the difference..

[jasonm96]

Whites and fire bellied toads are more forgiving for those people that go into a pet store with no research or tanks set up prior to getting them but with any animal it's ofcourse best not to do that. So as long as you get a few books and make sure everything's ready for them there shouldn't be issues, although some are said to be difficult to maintain, go for a beginner type like the yellow-banded dart frog to be safe. You can't beat a large planted tank with bromeliads, moss, wood structures and colourful frogs. If you lose power and gets that hot though, pretty much all frogs will die. Maybe an African bullfrog would be an exception if you give it a deep substrate to burrow to keep cool in. I have one of these and I must say they're great but only come alive at feeding

[j3000]

I can modify my emergency tank, I like the idea of a tropical theme tank but I'm going to do some more research. I'll order a few books of from Amazon any ones you recommend. I'm in no hurry. I like to plan first.. and I also decided what ever I do I wanted to wait 2 months to see if I can at least keep the plants alive before I add any animals.
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[jasonm96]

Elke zimmerman breeding terrerarium animals, a complete guide to dendrobatidae by amanda and greg sihler, practical pet keeping: amphibians, amphibians in captivity by Marc Staniszewski are some good books I would recommend

[j3000]

Thank you so much for your reply I will keep you posted on what I decide to do..

[jasonm96]

no problem. definitely show us what you do with your tank when you decide, should be interesting since it's so large