Pre-Construction Advice

ARod

ARod

AC Members
Jun 30, 2007
40
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0
40
St. Louis, MO
Hello there,
I'm looking to build another planted tank. I've done 5 or 6 planted tanks with the 'great stuff' foam background for crested geckos. I recently gave a gecko away and have an empty tank. I would like to set up a fire-bellied toad tank. I have a 20gal tall glass tank.

I suppose I am just having a hard time picturing it in my mind with a 2/3 of the tank water and several inches deep. How do I get my land 1/3 of the tank to look natural? Wouldn’t there be a steep slope into the water region? Is a 20gal to small, or do I just not have enough creativity?

What about filtration? What type of filter should I be looking into? How often would I need to change the water out? Is there any way to make this process easier? Drilling the tank? Never done that before.

Glass top?

If I do a 'great stuff' background, would I run into any issues having the base of it submerged?

What sort of lighting should I use? I have been using CF 6000k GE bulbs for the crested. I assume that would work as well.

I probably forgot something, any other advice?
 
if i was doing this i would probably do some type of false bottom and plants, i would skip the great stuff background for most of the tank except where there is a land area. for filtration i would use a canister filter but thats just me you could also use an internal filter or something else. also the CF build should be fine for most plant growth esetially if it's not all the way filled up just make sure you wont have too much light other wise you will have problems with algae. i think you just have to get some idea on how to make a paludarium i suggest looking at other people tanks and getting the idea of how this works out. i know i had that problem when i switched over from planted aquariums to vivariums and my geckos.

i think that should cover it, also i would cover the tank with glass and if you have any other questions just ask.


edit: now that i think of it a riprarium would make a good set up for fire bellied toads.
 
If it makes things easier you can go with 1/2 of the tank in land. They will gladly use the extra dry space. In my experience they're not as aquatic as people think they are.
 
that is true when we had them at the store thay spent alot of time on the land area of there tank. Vicious do you think a false bottom that thay could swim under would be alright? just asking because i have my own ideas.
 
Yeah. I think the separator would make my life easier. Would it make it look less natural? Perhaps.

How would the fire bellies respond to a harsh transition from land to water? Would they prefer a smooth transition? That is my main concern right now.
 
To make separator look more natural you could use foam in a similar way to making a background.
I made a foam separator for my tank and covered it with epoxy and sand.
 
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