Pacman Vivarium Substrate

[jimmyj93800]

Hi Everybody,
I just recently joined this forum to learn more about other species of frogs. I currently am on Dendroboard and have been pretty active in dart frogs over the past few years. I got some red eye tree frogs about two months ago and have loved having some variety in my collection.
I have a exo-terra 24x18x12 that I have been thinking about putting a Pacman frog into. I love the fact that my dart frogs and red eye Vivariums are low maintenance and "bioactive". That is what sold me on the frogs I purchased in the first place. However, I have not been able to find much on "bioactive" set ups for pacman frogs. I would like to give one of these frogs a try, but only if I can set up its enclosure to be mostly self cleaning.
My question is
1. Can this set up be done with such a large, burrowing species?
2. What type of substrate would you recommend? I use ABG in my dart viv. But I'm concearned about impaction with the Pacman.
3. Should I use a drainage layer or will these guys burrow past the divider into the drainage layer?

Thanks for you response. Any input is appreciated.

[GrifTheGreat]

Hi Everybody,
I just recently joined this forum to learn more about other species of frogs. I currently am on Dendroboard and have been pretty active in dart frogs over the past few years. I got some red eye tree frogs about two months ago and have loved having some variety in my collection.
I have a exo-terra 24x18x12 that I have been thinking about putting a Pacman frog into. I love the fact that my dart frogs and red eye Vivariums are low maintenance and "bioactive". That is what sold me on the frogs I purchased in the first place. However, I have not been able to find much on "bioactive" set ups for pacman frogs. I would like to give one of these frogs a try, but only if I can set up its enclosure to be mostly self cleaning.
My question is
1. Can this set up be done with such a large, burrowing species?
2. What type of substrate would you recommend? I use ABG in my dart viv. But I'm concearned about impaction with the Pacman.
3. Should I use a drainage layer or will these guys burrow past the divider into the drainage layer?

Thanks for you response. Any input is appreciated.

They are very low maintenance and seem to fair better in basic setups. You can try a semi-bioactive setup with some live plants and a drainage layer, but do be sure that they cannot get past the barrier to the gravel, clay balls in that layer. If thay have deep substrate they will dig pretty far down so keep that in mind. As for substrate, your options are a bit limited. All substrates have an impaction risk they just differ in how high that risk is. Long strand mosses like sphagnum are bad, but some of the finely ground peats can be okay if mixed with coconut fiber. I began to build a bioactive setup for one of mine a few years ago and scraped it while attempting to establish a cleaning crew. Had a waterfall to assist in humidity, but the substrate was so absorbent that it wuld wick too much of the water into the soil and over saturate it.

You can attempt one if you like and expirament with it a bit. It was going to be my first bioactive setup so it was bound to have issues and a learning curve. I just keep mine in basic setups now.

[hisk]

I use a mixture of dead leaves, coco fiber, and organic potting soil in all my setups.

The only one that has a proper drainage layer is my skink tank though. Drainage layer is separated with egg crate cut to fit (as a sturdy barrier for burrowers) and nylon window screen to keep the dirt out. Isopods, red wigglers, and springtails added, along with sturdy plants that will tolerate low light. I haven't attempted anything fancy with waterfalls and such yet, but I'm planning a larger setup for some milk frogs that should end up having one.