FBT Vivarium Preparations

[daybr4ke]

Hi, I think I can help. First off some explanation on false bottoms and plants: one main reason a false bottom or drainage layer(either works well. I personally use hydroballs for a drainage layer rather than a false bottom.) is used is so that water used to water plants drains through and doesn't saturate the soil. This also carries out frog urine, some feces etc into the drainage layer or false bottom, which is often accompanied by a drain or a piece of pvc pipe or something to allow a tube to be inserted down to siphon out the water from the drainage layer before there is too much. The plants absorb nitrates and other things that end up in the soil from the urine as well. Generally a false bottom is used for a planted Vivarium. One main perk of a planted Vivarium is you don't have to switch out the substrate, as more nutrients from frog urine and poo are "washed"(for lack of a better word) into the soil and absorbed by the plants, and the excess ends up in the false bottom and is siphoned or drained out. While spot cleaning normally is still necessary, the vivarium or planted terrarium does a lot of work on it's own, and with springtails and isopods in the tank cleaning up for you it turns into less work, functioning as something of a mini ecosystem. It sounds like you'll be doing pretty much everything necessary for a full scale small vivarium anyway. I'd recommend picking up 1-2 more plants(you can check the ultimate plant thread in the plants section for some ideas.), and adding them, as well as some ABG(Atlanta Botanical Gardens) mix, which should be available at Josh's Frogs online.
As for the dish, simply submerge it a bit in the substrate and don't worry about how it relates to the false bottom. As far as I know the only relationship between the dish and the false bottom is that splashes from the dish won't saturate the soil and will simply drain down. It shouldn't be a problem, I would just make sure to have some substrate below it between the bottom of the dish and the false bottom. You'll still need to switch out the water daily, since they often dedicate in the water and you don't want them soaking in old poo water lol
I hope this helps. If it brings up any more questions don't hesitate to ask.
Edit:WOW that's long....sorry.

[synikalspinstress]

It sounds like you'll be doing pretty much everything necessary for a full scale small vivarium anyway.

You ever have one of those... lightbulb moments? I'd thought about springtails, but, that almost seemed like too much? But, now that you've said this, I'm like... why not? If I'm doing the rest of it anyway, and it'd certainly make things easier on me. Thank you!

As for the dish, simply submerge it a bit in the substrate and don't worry about how it relates to the false bottom. As far as I know the only relationship between the dish and the false bottom is that splashes from the dish won't saturate the soil and will simply drain down. It shouldn't be a problem, I would just make sure to have some substrate below it between the bottom of the dish and the false bottom.

My problem is that the container I've picked is around 5 inches deep, so it just seemed like a lot of substrate. But, if I go with a bioactive system, then I wouldn't be replacing the substrate very often, if ever. If it came to it, I suppose I could elevate the area around the dish a little.

How deep should the drainage layer/false bottom be? An inch? (That'd leave me with six or so inches of height between the top of the vivarium and the substrate.) I'll be using the PVC pipe method.

And don't worry about being wordy--my first post was a novel itself.

[monster]

Hi, Daybrake has got you covered on the questions you asked but one thing I would suggest is I would give them a little more water then land. Maybe even a 40/60 split, you will notice that firebellies tend to spend a lot more time in the water then on land. I used to have 4 of them in 30 gallon long and did the 40/60 and the only time they really came out of the water was to eat, and even then you will notice that they will grab the cricket and jump back in the water a lot of the time to eat it. And put things in the water that they can climb and hide around to make them feel more secure, a lot of people will use duckweed in the water area or a similar kind of plant. Because I'm not the best with plants I used these fake lilypads I found at Walmart in mine and they absolutely loved them, and the stems were different heights so some would sit right on the water and others about an inch of the water. this way they could rest on one but still have the cover from another. These guys are very entertaining little froggies you will really enjoy watching them. I'm editing, I meant to say I found the lilypads at petsmart.

[daybr4ke]

Thanks for adding on to this Monster! I'm glad you mentioned the additional water split, I haven't kept Bombina yet, might be my next project, actually, since I have an empty 20 gallon long. Also, don't some people keep them in almost fully aquatic setups with shallow water and rocks or small islands to climb out on?

[monster]

Ya there are some people that keep it really simple and have it setup exactly like you mentioned, a nice big rock a turtle dock or a dock on each end and a filter for the water. And they will put a small real pant in a pot or a fake one on the island for cover. If doing it this way I like fake plants for fish tanks because instead of taking up the room on the dock a lot of fish plants have that weighted base to keep them submerged, so you can place the plant in the water and it can come through the back or over the side and let it kind of drape over the dock.

[monster]

Its not the best picture but this what mine looked like before I gave them to my nephew, as you can see a majority of the tank was water with rocks and plants. The land area had a little L shape to it along the back wall but not to much. And it was all fake plants, and as mentioned before the tank was a 30 gallon long.

[monster]

Here is a top shot of the water area.

[daybr4ke]

That looks pretty nice, I hope you don't mind I saved the image to look at later for inspiration. Personally I want to make mine planted, I really like working with plants. Maybe I'll make a little mini 20g long paludarium...I wasn't sure what my second simultaneous project would be, I was thinking WTFs, but now I'm thinking Firebellies. Maybe in a month or two we can compare FBT tanks
Edit: also, snatching prey and hopping back into the water sounds super adorable for some reason.

[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?