FBT Vivarium Preparations

[synikalspinstress]

Monster, that is an awesome looking paludarium! If my terrarium was made to hold water, I'd definitely do something like that. At least I've found a massive tupperware container for water (13" by 9" by 4-1/2", there abouts). And! If my toadies seem to be enjoying the water, I can always get more, stick 'em around the terrarium.

Quick question about a bioactive substrate! Is there a way to, like, make my own? Out of Eco Earth? I've already got that stuff, and it looks like it'd be kinda pricey buy a bunch of the ABG stuff. Could I mix one bag of Josh's Frog's ABG mix (4qts or 16cups or 3.79L) with the Eco Earth?

[daybr4ke]

Will it really not hold water? I don't have any experience with glass tanks, as all mine are either sterilite bins or truvu plastic fishtanks. You might be able to seal it with silicone aquarium sealant, but that could get kinda messy.
As for the abg mix, I actually just the other day bought a bunch of materials for making my own rudimentary mix. It isn't perfect but it works. Coco fiber at the start is pretty close to nutritionally void, and only gains nutrients over time as the frog's feces is washed into it. I personally just picked up some natural topsoil(pretty much just dirt in a nice big bag for cheap), a medium bag of sphagnum moss, a medium bag of "orchid bark"(which is actually Western Fir bark nuggets), and some aquarium activated carbon(the link below should explain why.) I got everything but the carbon at home depot. I wanted peat moss, but they only had miracle grow peat, which has added fertilizer, so I don't have milled peat moss or tree fern bark, which are other parts of the mix, but you might be able to find those at a hudroponics store or garden center or something. All of the ingredients I got were pretty cheap and it'll make more of the mix than I need for one tank, which is a actually why I'm gonna work on the 20g. Below I've included a link to the DIY mix list, and the post that says aquarium carbon is a fine substitute for charcoal, and a picture of the stuff I picked up. You could probably get away with getting some natural organic topsoil and cutting the ABG mix with it and maybe some sphagnum moss and orchid bark if you feel like it. With the orchids bark, you have to make sure there's no perlite. A helpful Home Depot employee was nice enough to slice open one bag of the stuff to see if perlite was in it. I ended up with pure orchids bark, which I will have to break up myself.

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/par...#/topics/68357
http://www.frogforum.net/showthread....rate-questions

[monster]

I don't mind that you saved the picture at all, and trust me if I wasn't a plant serial killer I would have had it planted. L.O.L I cant even keep house plants alive. If you want more inspiration check out a girl's named Ibannie on here in FBT forum, its one of the nicest one's I have seen. Now that my nephew has them he has bought them a fogger and it looks just amazing when it goes off, it starts in the water area and flows over the top of the water and through the plants to the land side and its absolutely beautiful. And oh my lord do the toads ever sound off when the fogger goes off, they love it.

[synikalspinstress]

Yes, alas. The Zilla Critter Cages are made with thinner glass than aquariums, so, they can't withstand the pressure from much water. Hence, tupperware. I only noticed after I bought the thing, brought it home, and then opened it. It has a wonderful little piece of paper saying "DO NOT FILL WITH WATER" inside it, as well as a bit of small print on the front sticker. I McGoogled it, and, well, it just doesn't seem worth the risk. I'm willing to work around it, because I won't find a tank of this size for what I paid for it (half-off sale).

Looking over my options and how much it would cost compared to just biting the bullet and buying the pre-mix, I think it might be cheaper to just return the Eco Earth and buy a couple bags of the ABG. Of course, that brings me back to one of my original problems: can I set the bottom of my water dish on the floor of the tank and build the false bottom around it? Otherwise I'll have to buy, like, six bags of ABG, which, no.

[daybr4ke]

Wow, okay. No paludarium then...that slightly worries me in regards to the false bottom however, since that fills with water...will it hold up to that?
As for the ABG, I would personally pick up some organic topsoil(Mine is Earthgro, it cost me around 4$ with tax for a bag about the size of my torso) and mix in 1-2 bags of ABG. As long as it's mixed well, it should basically be watered down ABG mix. I went with the approach of dropping the ingredients I couldn't find easily and cheaply.

[synikalspinstress]

That's... an excellent point. I should test that, before I ruin floors, furniture, and tiny toad lives. I think it'll be okay, because it's not very much water, displaced by gravel. But better safe than sorry. If it leaks, I could probably silicone it myself. If it shatters, well.

I'm out forty bucks, I guess.

[daybr4ke]

I worry because I feel like the gravel might create some outward pressure of It's own, and combined with water the pressure may be too great. Also, gravel is pretty much the heaviest drainage layer there is, hydroballs or another type of similar drainage layer might be better, since the glass is thin. It probably won't matter if you're going to leave it in one place, though. The PVC false bottom might be better too. I've also seen posts about using plastic egg crate, but I don't know too much about the pros and cons of each type. One solution to the problem of water pressure might be to make sure you can siphon it before there is too much. A nice way to do that is to work on some gray PVC and run it vertically down to the drainage layer. You can use a knife, dremel(id you have it), and some sandpaper to make the gray pvc look like (ugly) wood. How good it looks depends on practice. Mine look...mediocre. I wish I wasn't poking holes in your build, but I'd hate for anything to go wrong. I really hope the drainage layer works in it.

[synikalspinstress]

Better to have holes poked into the build now than next week! Please continue to do so! :P

So I did a mini-test, filled it with about two inches of water for five minutes. No leaks, didn't instantly shatter. Looked at the seals, and no water got underneath them. I think it'll be okay, so long as I'm very, very diligent about emptying the false bottom, via the PVC method. Looking around the internet, others who put far more water in it than I'm planning on (up to half a tank) say they've had no issues. Of course, others say it's cracked on them, so.

I think this will work.

So, the plan is, make a 2-inch egg-crate false bottom, and an egg crate, like, divider, to hold back the substrate when I remove the water tub for changes, with a PVC pipe for drain access. Then three-or-so inches of Eco Earth x ABG. Load with springtails and another plant or two, and call it golden.

Uh, and then Fire Belly Toads.