Dirt or moss or ?

[passon13]

hello, i have an agtf and i am using dirt as the substrate (the one that comes in a brick). It is starting to smell quite foul. I was wondering if it woule be better to use moss? or what do you use? thanks

[Kurt]

Change out the substrate and replace it with clean dirt substrate (the one that comes in a brick). By the way, its actually ground coconut shell, not dirt. It would be a good idea to cover the substrate with leaf litter to prevent the frog from tracking it all over the place. You can get live oak leaves from Jim O or Josh's Frogs. Live oak doesn't break down as quickly as other leaves do.

PS what's an agtf? Abrieviating can lead to confusion, so please refrain from it as much as possible. Thanks.

[passon13]

good to know thanks. it's an american green tree frog. i see people posting gtf got "whites frog" so i put a for american so people would know which one. ill just write it out next time. thanks

[Kurt]

You're welcome.

[woppa]

I think it would be better to with the dirt substrate. Its is what i use and its safe when my frog swallows it when hunting for crickets. I hear that moss sometimes impacts so I've personally never used moss though.

[smashtoad]

What size is the tank? If it is a 10 gallon or bigger...throw a cheap pump in that sucker and get some wtaer moving...it is the secret to a healthy viv. A waterfall turns your plain old viv into something that stops folks in their tracks...and it is simple.

I modified the method of Patrick at Saurian.net, and it works great, and is simple.

Maybe I should write a how-to. It is really simple.

[killerecho]

I would certainly appreciate it if you could do something like that (write a tutorial). The biggest problem for me was finding the right material to form the water basin. I settled on a large glass Pyrex bowl. It made things simple but also meant the water feature is contained rather than tank-wide.

What size is the tank? If it is a 10 gallon or bigger...throw a cheap pump in that sucker and get some wtaer moving...it is the secret to a healthy viv. A waterfall turns your plain old viv into something that stops folks in their tracks...and it is simple.

I modified the method of Patrick at Saurian.net, and it works great, and is simple.

Maybe I should write a how-to. It is really simple.

[smashtoad]

I would certainly appreciate it if you could do something like that (write a tutorial). The biggest problem for me was finding the right material to form the water basin. I settled on a large glass Pyrex bowl. It made things simple but also meant the water feature is contained rather than tank-wide.

Read my post here...
http://www.frogforum.net/vivarium-te...ure-water.html

As for the pond...just make sure you have deep gravel (4"), and keep the water table below that...maybe 2"...you'll get a feel for what's what. Then just dig out a depression pond in the gravel, take some river stones and push them into the sides to help it hold form...simple...natural pond. This allows all the water in the "resevoir" you've made to flow throughout the bottom of the tank, oxygenating the water and creating a 4" deep undergravel filter.

NOTE: This method has been used very successfully for small frogs. A six inch toad in a 20 long is not going to work like this. Your ratio of poop to plants to water has to have a balance.