Exotics and Fish

[King Edward]

I am building a tropical pond, which due to the humidity of the last one is going to be enclosed in glass. The space above the water will be ~7ft by 4ft by 3ft. Theres going to be an island and lots of climbing space with a small waterfall with small pools inaccessible to the fish...if it all comes together!

I was thinking about keeping tree frogs in there but a quick search of the internet seems to show a divide of people who think they are easy and hard... Would you recommend it? Would you suggest anything else with a rainforesty theme? The fish will be peacefulish amazons ie Uaru, tetras ect...

 

[Connor0729]

you could go with a green tree python, or an emerald tree boa. both are great display animals. tree frogs would be cool too. you could do a LOT. i would do some red eyed tree frogs, clown tree frogs, and maybe some newts or salamanders for the ground. this thing sounds awesome, and i can't wait untill i have the space (aka my own house) to do something like this.

don't forget to post pics

 

[King Edward]

Its great having some space...been waiting for years! Never really considered anything but fish... I'm gonna have a read up on the emerald tree boa. You can handle them cant you? Thats the down side with frogs...very pretty though. I like the salamander idea too... Want to put a Matis in! The kids love having animals about.

 

[loconorc]

A mantis would probably drown at one point and they only live a year or two... I would go with an ETB or ATB. Youre doing South American fish right? So it makes sense to keep it at least semi-native. If you do tree frogs, Red-eyes or waxy monkeys would work well. But no matter what you put, some driftwood should be placed in the pond to prevent drowning. Some people do dart frogs in these setups, and although they can swim decently, they can drown without an easy haulout. And its a good place to anchor plants.

You *might* be able to do a single basilisk. Theres a thread by Malawi Haps about his work in progress basilisk enclosure, it might prove helpful. And it might interest you to look at my 'ray and caiman lizard' thread in the stingray forum, just for fun

This is a great idea, and I hope it turns out fantastic! I wanna see pics dude!

 

[Connor0729]

the emerald trre boas tend to be pretty nasty (atleast from what i've read), but i've also heard/read that, if handled from an early age, they ca get use to it and end up not being so nippy. they are great show pieces too though

 

[davo]

If you don't have much experiance herp/snake wise, I wouldn't advise an ETB, especially in a harder to maintain set up such as your own (not to say not possible to succeed with a LOT of research). Also humidity would always be a constant, which may be too much all the time. Also when handling young you have to be very careful due to the fragility of these young snakes. Personally, I'd go another way.

I think amphibians would be a better idea. There are lots of different frogs to choose from. Salamanders and newts would be pretty cool too.

 

[loconorc]

Salamanders and nexts probably wouldnt work... First, its an Amazon setup, it would just be... weird. A deep pond can drown some of them if they cant get out easily. Some are also poisonous (I think...). Axolotls and waterdogs eat anything they can fit in their mouth, and fish pick at their gills.

I think tree frogs (red-eyes are best) or an Amazon tree boa would be best for you.

 

[King Edward]

I really like the ETB and the jesus lizard...it would be real cool if I had some experience and loadsa money! Gonna look at salamanders newts and frogs...any suggestions for pretty easy to keep ones?

Never thought of lizards...I must admit I have never associated them with the rainforest, lol. Are there any small aquatic/semi aquatic lizards from the jungles, preferably cheaper than 10,000 loco. Cool idea with a stingray though!

 

[davo]

Salamanders and nexts probably wouldnt work... First, its an Amazon setup, it would just be... weird. A deep pond can drown some of them if they cant get out easily. Some are also poisonous (I think...). Axolotls and waterdogs eat anything they can fit in their mouth, and fish pick at their gills.

I think tree frogs (red-eyes are best) or an Amazon tree boa would be best for you.

Again there is such a thing as too much humidity, which is a reason I would stay away from these snakes... they need a drying out period. Not to mention they are generally pretty snappy, and it would be a lot of working cleaning it out all the time in such a bacteria thriving set up.
Yes, I agree newts or sals, would look a bit odd... but I used to be a bit caught up in biotypes, but i haven't seen many biotypes that even have the right fish, let alone plants, substrates, wood, rocks etc so...
Some species may be slightly toxic, but due to dimensions, it sounds like a pretty large body of water, and there are plenty that aren't.
I am struggling to think of anything better to use than frogs/toads atm though.

 

[loconorc]

I still think red-eyes would be absolutely best.

Anyway, yeah a drying out period... hmm... Dont know what to do about that...

Dont want someting over 10 grand? Good thing no one suggested one... Dont know where you got that from bud, but basilisks only go for about 100 bucks at the most.

Why dont you draw up your plans or something? See what you have in mind so maybe we can come up with better help