Leaves?

[Chopper Greg]

Ok, I'm in the planning stage for my next set-up, and I debating the virtues of the various types of substrate.

Normally ( it's been a few years ) I just blend a mix of coir and/or sphagnum, sand, and aspen wood chips, until I have something that drains, yet holds moisture reasonably well, and it's worked ok, but now I think it's time to move on to something a little less generic.


One of the things I would like to do this time is to serve as a better host for spring-tails and the like, but do so with an eye for being compatible with an Appalachian and/or Willamette Valley ecology and one thing I keep hearing about on a number of forums is the use of leaves, yet in my searching I have yet to find any hard core information about actually using leaves in a Viv.

So what is the truth about using them?
Why would I want them and why would I want to avoid them?

I'm just trying to keep from being to ignorant, as to my substrate options.

[hyla]

Alot of people use leaf litter over soil or coconut fiber. It helps to keep the substrate off the frogs as well as other benefits. I dont think any kind of wood chips are recommended due to the fact they could be accidentally swallowed.

[ninnato]

Alot of people use leaf litter over soil or coconut fiber. It helps to keep the substrate off the frogs as well as other benefits....

Hi Kristy, it’s not my thread but I would like to thank you anyway for the “coconut fiber”.
I didn’t know that but I’ll probably try that next time – sounds like a good idea!

[hyla]

Your welcome

[John]

I culture springtails on wet coconut husk (the big chunks). For grow out containers for little dart frogs, I've taken to using just that and then a layer of leaves from "Live Oak" (a species of tree). It works superbly, particularly if I add a few white worms from an old grow out container.

For long term terrariums for frogs that aren't at risk of ingesting chunks of substrate, I use a thin layer of coconut husk above the drainage layer. This is covered in a layer of ABG soil mix (search the forum for Atlanta Botanical Gardens). Not all of the exact components are natural to the Appalachians, but they have very close counterparts there.

[Chopper Greg]

I culture springtails on wet coconut husk (the big chunks). For grow out containers for little dart frogs, I've taken to using just that and then a layer of leaves from "Live Oak" (a species of tree). It works superbly, particularly if I add a few white worms from an old grow out container.

Where do you find the chunks ( I must admit that my Google-fu is not strong )

For long term terrariums for frogs that aren't at risk of ingesting chunks of substrate, I use a thin layer of coconut husk above the drainage layer. This is covered in a layer of ABG soil mix (search the forum for Atlanta Botanical Gardens). Not all of the exact components are natural to the Appalachians, but they have very close counterparts there.

I confess that I am a bit of a gardener, and with that experience and having seen the Ultimate Clay Thread over at Dendroboard, there are some parts of it that make a heck of a lot of sense to me, just as ABG mix does - there is also a part of me that would like to experiment with Terra Preta even though it's not normally occurring in the Appalachians.

I have been giving a lot of thought to trying to work up a cross between ABG mix and clay substrate to go under the leaves ( but this is something that I am still debating on ) - I guess - part of where I'm trying to go with this thread, is that I'm trying to answer the following:

1. What leaves do I avoid at all costs, and why?
2. What leaves are going to be good for my Viv, and why?

I have gone on line and looked in various forums and web sites, and no one seams to agree.

[Chopper Greg]

Alot of people use leaf litter over soil or coconut fiber. It helps to keep the substrate off the frogs as well as other benefits. I dont think any kind of wood chips are recommended due to the fact they could be accidentally swallowed.

I never had a problem with it, but then again it was more like orchard bark than chips that most people envision ( perhaps .3/4-1" long and a 1/4" wide ) large enough that it would take some effort on the part of the animals to ingest - and once wet it stayed in the substrate rather than move to the top. After a couple of months it was partially decomposed, acting more like a sponge than wood.


Back to leaves......

I guess part of the problem is that I am seeing leaves from this type of tree or that type of tree for sale, but often what I see for sale on one list, I also see listed on other web pages as not being good for tanks for one reason or another.

Locally I have a choice between maple, oak, grape, ash, cottonwood, aspen, rose, raspberry ( and then there are the leaves of the plants I considering for my next set up ) yet trying to find out which ones will cause ( or will not cause harm ) to my Viv appears almost next to impossible, for no two lists ever seam to agree on what is ( or is not ) Viv safe - and there is the frustration in my search.