planted frog tank help

[sphag]

hi fellas i need someone to point me in the right direction with a planted terrarium for my red eyes.
i want to hve a little pond with two land sections on each side with a waterfall/stream over one of the land sides. i know the planted land sections need a false bottom and im sweet with all of that but i have no idea how to separate the water section from the land section. it has to look a natural as possible as i want this terrarium to look perfect. will have lots of ferns moss and bromeliads.
cheers
Mitch

 

[James_Scott]

Hi Mitch
When you do the false bottom you need to create two separate islands. The gap in the middle will create the stream. You will have to work out if you are going to use a filter or not and whether it will be an internal or external filter.
The external canister filters work best but you reaaly need to drill holes in your tank to hide tye tubes under the false bottom.
You can do a search for dendro in Google and look for some good frog forums who specilise in this kind of setup.

 

[sphag]

thinking of an interal filter, may be a pain to clean though as i was going to put it under the the false bottom. i have it all figured out now all that is left is filter placement. thanks for the help! cheers

 

[James_Scott]

I went with the internal filter on my gtp tank and have to say have regretted it ever since. It takes up too much room and doesnt clean anywhere near as well as an external canister filter. Eventually when I get time I will switch it over. Are you making the background and waterfall yourself? I look forward to seeing some pictures.

 

[Pythoninfinite]

I would consider using Pothos as the primary plant in your tank - it's very tough, grows very well in wet/damp situations with relatively low light, and looks great. It will even grow well just in water, developing a root-mass which will act as a bio filter for any animal wastes that your frogs deposit. You can get it in normal dark green, a yellow/green variegated form and a bright yellow-green form. I used it for years in a tank containing large Splendid Tree Frogs in WA. It's a fantastic plant for these situations. Not sure the moss will be a success though...

Jamie

 

[sphag]

i have a canister filter but i just could be bothered doing the plumbing into the tank for the tubing. if i have just a powerhead in there, to power the waterflow (keeping all the water moving, then just do part water changes and clean the sand that will be underwater in the front then i should be sweet right? its a 3ft exo terra tank so the backround is already made and in there.. just a foam one. im going to grow ivy over it though to almost complety cover it for a more natural look.will replace the moss for a plant called baby's tears. awesome fast groundover. going to have a little umbrella tree in there with some scattered pteris ferns and some maiden hair ferns. im a full time nursery worker so i have accses to lotts of different plants and i think i know what will and wont work but never done this before so just hoping for the best haha.
will find a spot for some pothos, ill get the light green lime sort of coloured one its almost gold they call it goldi locks,though it is a philidendron, or philidendren part of the pothos family? cheers

 

[caliherp]

I agree with Jamie on this one Pothos is the way to go.