View Full Version : Starting a 10g viv
Aussie_hippie_2
02-03-2007, 6:42 PM
So, I guess I'll be the first post; I'm starting a 10g vivarium with possibly 1 green tree frog and 1 firebelly toad. As yet I don't have any questions, but once I get knee deep in it I'll need a lot of help I imagine.
The plan is to have maybe one fifth of the tank water, with a home-made stream running through it. And lots of plants and branches for the GTF. I'll be doing live plants, with an old hood that has 15w on it, I don't know what plants I'll use yet, since Lowes dosen't have much selection this time of year. I want to keep it very natural looking.
sumthin fishy
02-03-2007, 7:16 PM
Well, I just got into this sorta thing, and have had some bad luck. One thing I noticed is its hard to keep gravel higher at one end of the tank. Something you may try, is to use a submersable pump and hide it under some larger rocks in a pile to one side, then have the "stream" run down them. Then add the substrate. What do you plan to use? gravel?
Aussie_hippie_2
02-03-2007, 7:23 PM
These are the things I need to figure out. I have no idea what kind of substrate, though I was thinking putting somthing under the substrate so that I could have a lower part (for the water) and then having soil so my plants could grow. I was thinking about making the stream out of pond liner and covering it with java moss. I'm also considering that rock plan on the water side, if I did this I'd make the water a higher percentage of the tank.
jm1212
02-03-2007, 7:58 PM
you are going to need a way to keep the water in the stream, not going through the substrate... perhaps you could get some clear tubing, perhaps 3 inches wide or so, and cut it in half, and then have the out put of the filter discharge the water at the beginning of the stream.
a canister is probably for this tank because you need the intake and out put of the filter to be at totally different ends.
this would be a good choice for your size of tank- http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/product/productInfo.web?picGroupKey=23234
legendaryfrog
02-03-2007, 9:09 PM
i dont mean to discourage you, but thats a lot of things to put in a 10 gallon tank.
if you're up for it, i second cutting a piece of tubing in half to use as the stream.
unlike the previous posts, i dont think getting gravel to stay at one side of the tank is hard. you just need to use larger gravel.
Dangerdoll
02-03-2007, 9:13 PM
when I had a half water, half land set up in a 55 gallon, I separated it by siliconing a piece of plexiglass with stone on it to look like a river slanting in. Worked beautifully. The plants in the land area were a little tough to maintain but all in all, people who visited my home loved it. Good luck, guys...
jm1212
02-03-2007, 9:15 PM
when I had a half water, half land set up in a 55 gallon, I separated it by siliconing a piece of plexiglass with stone on it to look like a river slanting in. Worked beautifully. The plants in the land area were a little tough to maintain but all in all, people who visited my home loved it. Good luck, guys...
that what i was thinking in the first place, but it seemed that his tank might be a little to small for that.
Dangerdoll
02-03-2007, 9:30 PM
yeap, didn't realize the tank in question was a 10 gallon. I wouldn't go with anything less than a 55 for this project but I am curious to see how it turns out.
Aussie_hippie_2
02-03-2007, 9:49 PM
I'm not going to do a stream anymore, too much work. So you think I should just do soil and no seperated water area?
fishcatch22
02-03-2007, 10:08 PM
I'm not going to do a stream anymore, too much work. So you think I should just do soil and no seperated water area?I reccomend just making a pile of big rocks on one side of your viv for the toads land space, and putting a bunch of criss-crossing branches throughout the top half for the green tree frog. I have kept both species before, if you have questions about their care you can PM me.
Aussie_hippie_2
02-04-2007, 12:35 AM
That would work? I could find some marginal plants to grow out of the water too. My LFS has that kind of setup for the green tree frogs aswell; they don't need land space? A few more Q's on that:
1. How deep should the water be?
2. Wouldn't the GTF not get any food since the crickets would fall into the water?
Aussie...you could always try something a bit more hands on than tubing for a stream....
http://www.terra5designs.com/supplies/mortar/
WeeNe858
02-04-2007, 2:47 AM
its not that hard.. get creative... the concept is a place to hide a water pump.. and a way to divide the land from water
so why not silicone 2 pieces of plexiglaas as the wall of the band.. and then have an eggcrate ramp at the end where you want the "stream" to start.. and you can house the pump under it with a tube running up and into the stream.. and you can decorate the stream however you want :]... just a suggestion
Germanman
02-04-2007, 3:49 AM
when i kept firebellys tree frogs together the poison of the firebellys leached into the water and caused the tree frogs to get sick. in personal oppinion and the recommendation of others(to me in the past) i wouldnt mix the two...at least with water.
also if the water isnt keep right the tree frogs develop internal bacterial infections that are hard to cure.
What GMan said should be considered........I have never kept either of those frogs so I have no input there..but I do have a few simple viveriums for my darts.
I have a 20long viv that has two seperate sections for two different PODs, a 10 gallon viv with one POD, a 20 tall with just plants right now (waiting on a POD)....and a little 5gallon river tank. The only one with water is the 5gallon river tank.
There are many different things you can do with a viv....alot of folks use egg crate to seperate the water area from the planted section....so that any water that does wik into the substrate drains through and doesn't saturate the soil.
That would be a simple enough project to have a layer of egg crate at the bottom......a layer of this stuff http://www.blackjungle.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=TL-10&Category_Code=SUB&Store_Code=BJTS or just plain gravel....with screening on top of that so that the soil doesn't mix with it......and then some cocoa bedding for soil. (cocoa bedding is best for vivs...drains very well. You can soak it in water with liquid plant fertilizer..make sure the fertilizer you use is ok to use for frogs, no chemicals and stuff)
You could easily work something up for a waterfall design using one of those little whisper intank filters. Put one of those where you want your waterfall and just silicone rocks/wood around it so that the water flows down and into your "pool" area. Of course, you would want to fix this up so that you can pull the filter out if you ever need to. You would also want to make sure that your frogs couldn't fall down underneath the eggcrate....so perhaps just a pile of larger riverstones for the water to fall onto and through the eggcrate. You could be creative if you want a pool of sorts, by just having a piece of wood or something that has a natural "dish" which could just collect water at the base of the filter.
I don't know if you can picture any of this....lol......I'm not that good at paint, but here's an attempt to give you a pic of what I'm talking about....
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y82/morroman/emgfishpics/viveriumidea.jpg
This would be simple enough to do in a 10gallon tank. Be creative in what you do to hide the filter or make it fit into the plan.
Have fun setting this up...and do post some pics ! :)
.....
Aussie_hippie_2
02-05-2007, 2:08 PM
I think I'll ditch the firebelly and just do two tree frogs. This also means I probably won't do as much water, if any at all. I'm thinking I'll just do a water dish and concentrate more on having lots of plants and the such.
But thanks so much EMG, I can tell you put alot of work into that, and all for little old me :D
If you're not going for firebellies, turn the tank so the longest side is vertical. Treefrogs enjoy height more than floorspace. You'll need to sort something to cover the 'top' - wire mesh or tight-fitting wood or glass is best, and relatively easy to create. Alternatively get a small purpose built terrarium like the exoterra range. A 10 gal is adequate for up to 4 green treefrogs.
I wouldn't rule out firebellies, though. Again 4 is a good number (the tank must be positioned lengthways), and they are active during the day, unlike the treefrogs. Don't go for an elaborate display in a 10gal - I planned a whole waterfall thing for my 18x10" firebelly tank, but although it seems like enough room beforehand, it is a suprisingly small space - I ended up with a half water half land setup with some wood.
5Bettamom
02-05-2007, 6:29 PM
when i kept firebellys tree frogs together the poison of the firebellys leached into the water and caused the tree frogs to get sick. in personal oppinion and the recommendation of others(to me in the past) i wouldnt mix the two...at least with water.
also if the water isnt keep right the tree frogs develop internal bacterial infections that are hard to cure.
FIRE BELLIED TOADS ARE POSIONUS?!?!?!?!?!
fishcatch22
02-05-2007, 6:30 PM
FIRE BELLIED TOADS ARE POSIONUS?!?!?!?!?!mildly. it's not really fatal.
Aussie_hippie_2
02-05-2007, 6:58 PM
Why thank you for hijacking my thread Bettamom.
Turning the tank on it's side would be alot of work to make it waterproof. What I'm going to do is just have the tank with ALOT of branches/plants etc. There should be enough climbing space for two with that kind of setup.
Aussie, if you turn the tank on it's side, you can avoid an overly large water dish if you mist several times a day. GTF will lap water off leaves and absorb the rest they need through their skin. Then you don't have to worry about waterproofing the bottom. They REALLY appreciate being able to climb up surfaces. You'd be amazed how long their legs really are :)
FIRE BELLIED TOADS ARE POSIONUS?!?!?!?!?!
Actually, Bettamom, most toads are poisonous to some extent. It's how they keep from getting eaten in the wild. They taste bad and the bigger ones, like cane/marine toads can kill a dog or cat that tries to eat them.
Aussie_hippie_2
02-05-2007, 7:37 PM
But I'm just wondering how on earth I'm supposed to keep it closed. Do I just get a normal top for it? Plus I was gonna use a light that was on the tank for both the plants and the frogs, but I suppose that would be useless. LOL
Could I use a normal spot lamp for it?
It looks like I'll try this approach :)
Cheers
beefsteak
02-13-2007, 12:59 PM
If you're going to go for a taller set up as opposed to a longer, I'd personally go with Exo Terra's line of glass terrariums. They're tall, come in a variety of sizes, have two glass doors that open in front, plus a removable screen top, and they have a natural background that is specially designed to hide cords so you can do some really cool stuff like adding a water fall. It's what I'm planning on getting anyway.
But yeah, I'd definetly go for height over length with the little tree frogs.