Vivarium cleaning?

[Velgost]

I'm new to the frog community, my sons wanted some "frogs" and a friend of ours had some Fire Bellies her son didn't want anymore. Long story short I'm now the proud owner of 3 toads, 2 of the oriental variety and 1 european. Since they have become my responsibility I've been combing the internet for information.

I've come across some AMAZING vivariums in my search, some complex and some fairly simple (like mine ). The real question here is how are some of the more elaborate vivarium's cleaned? What do you do with the moss, plants, etc that have taken root in the substrate? I've seen some of the tanks with false bottoms, so that water would take up the entire bottom level. Does that water get changed out? It seems that cleaning would be a pain in the proverbial ****.

My tank is 20 gal, has coconut husk substrate, the toads have a little pool (maybe 2" deep) an overturned log hiding area, and a couple plastic neon plants that my wife said looked "soooo cute". I'd love to be able to really make a nice little ecosystem with some live plants and some real water features (I think we'll need a bigger tank) but working full time plus overtime hours and still spending time with the family cuts down on toad tank maintenance time.

[Tropicok]

Congrats on the FBs and hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy mine. One things most people on this forum will tell you is you will keep wanting to change the habitat at first. I started out very simple but have continued to use a water container that I can remove and clean very easily. Later on you can advance to tanks with pumps and/or tanks that maintain themselves with islands or banks of soil and tropical plants. My advice is take your time, read and process the info, sit in front of the tanks and study the frogs and their habits and enjoy.

[JeffX]

I'd keep it simple for now. Get used to cleaning that tank out, and maybe move on to something else later. Or you could always change out that tank to something more elaborate once you get more comfortable. Surprisingly you do a lot with a 20 gallon.

I have three tanks with false-bottoms. They aren't hard to clean out. The smallest one I actually take out the egg crate and remove all of the water to clean out once a month. I do periodic water changes inbetween that time. My largest is a bit more troublesome since it's 29 gallons and loaded with rock. Someday I'm going to change that out soon.

[Paul Rust]

Hello and welcome. The elaborate looking setups are not that difficult to create. Using real plants, moss, water features with pumps and filters and letting beneficial bacteria grow in your vivarium will make it virtually maintenence free. I only clean the front glass once a week so my setups look good, I don't really need to. When you mist the tank the feces will dissolve into the soil and be used by the plants. Many people here have beautiful setups, look at their albums and ask questions if you like something. They are more than happy to help you. As for me, the flora and microfauna (springtails) inside my setups are just as interesting to watch grow as my frogs are. Have fun with it.

[Velgost]

Thanks for all the replies. So far I enjoy watching them and listening to them "bark". The kids seem to only be happy with feeding time. I'm planning on taking it slow, I was really more curious than anything.

[daziladi]

I had a lot of questions too, remembered this thread has a lot of info for beginners. You may also want to check the care sheets listed to the left, sometimes they include setups for your type of frog. Good luck!

http://www.frogforum.net/vivarium-te...on-thread.html