What Great Stuff thing did you use? Great Stuff Gaps and Cracks? And how much foam does it produce? Also, Manzanita Wood is what I would be using for driftwood. Does it raise or lower the PH?
Last edited:
Oddballs for 55 Gallon
- Thread starter The Masked Shadow
- Start date
you could have one bullfrog i believe theyre invasive to texas but well established just about everywhere in the united states you could house 1 in that size tank. leapord frogs are nice basically the same as a pig frog. in my area the leopard frogs are endangered or threatened. wood frogs are native to my area and are very nice looking little tree frogs (you will want to look up the croaking pattern of the species that you find yourself interested in so the croak doesnt annoy you at night).
most people silicon the eggcrate to the bottom personally i wouldnt just because i dont like making permanent modifications to a tank incase it breaks or i want to repurpose it.
you will need a lid if you want to keep frogs in there because when spring comes along they will want to go to the other croaking frogs. maybe decide on a species of newt or salamander.
the botanicals are beneficial not only for looks but for beneficial bacteria growth. there was an interesting article from tanin aquatics talking about how botanicals can help with anaerobic bacteria however there is a clear bias.
for moss you could try growing java moss emersed and submersed for different looks or even do a drip wall growing moss along the back (one of my favorite looks) or just use whatever you can collect. for plants im not sure if you want strictly native or anything looks nice. for natives id be unfamiliar with the plants in your area but whatever you think looks nice you may want it to acclimate it to being emersed in a seperate container so you dont have to deal with failed plants. creeping fig is my favorite plant to use in paludariums.
aquatic frogs (leopard frogs bullfrogs etc) really love plants in the water column so i like to do a layer of stem plants for them to sit on and if spooked they can just duck down. and then on the bottom layer you can go for a classic blackwater with no plants or low light plants like java fern. you will want to establish these plants really good before adding a frog especially a bullfrog if you decide on one. you may want to just hit up a pond plant section somewhere to save hassle on collecting plants.
personally i use lava rock instead of clayballs just because i hate paying for clay balls.
also these types of tanks are a real pain to clean so you may want to run the tank unstocked for quite a few months so the plants are removing nitrate at an optimal rate and you have more than suffecient bacteria.
i used pond and stone great stuff and i dusted it with crushed lavarock. it produced more than i expected but id buy atleast two of them because you may want to use it quite liberally. manzanita is known for not making a very big impact on ph im sure itll lower it slightly but if you cycle your tank properly there shouldnt be ph shifts because the ph will have already dropped. if its a dirted tank that will most likely add even more tanins. i also used allot of dead sphagnummoss in my paludariums because its more affordable than other botanicals but it adds substantial amounts of tanins and can really drop the ph.
something worth considering is that if youre mixing frogs and sticklebacks you may want to consider that a stickleback would be easier lodged in a throat of a leopard frog than bullfrog. also since you most likely have invasive bullfrogs in your area (which are probably giving other native frog species a run for there money) it would be much more ethical to catch a few of their gigantic tadpoles out of a local pond. personally i would consider taking native amphibians out of there natural habitat to be domesticated for the rest of their lives extremely unethical given how just about every native amphibian population is on a decline.
Thanks for the replies, djsaltynuts, I have replied to you in green.
Ok. My main goal isn't to stock, but for it too look nice. I have pre-cycled water, and can add pre-cycled gravel under the plants.
SerpaDesign uses Great Stuff Gaps and Cracks. Maybe I'll purchase both and compare. I think I will dust with some kind of crushed rock or just dirt. For substrate, pond mud will be it. Will that give off tanins? I don't want to use Sphagnum Moss because of it not being native, but I can definetly get other natives.
Ok. My main goal isn't to stock, but for it too look nice. I have pre-cycled water, and can add pre-cycled gravel under the plants.
SerpaDesign uses Great Stuff Gaps and Cracks. Maybe I'll purchase both and compare. I think I will dust with some kind of crushed rock or just dirt. For substrate, pond mud will be it. Will that give off tanins? I don't want to use Sphagnum Moss because of it not being native, but I can definetly get other natives.
I would never take any animal - besides Mosquitofish or something invasive - out of the wild for a pet. Also, maybe frogs aren't the best fit. Newts seem cool, and I can get California Newt, or Red Eft Newt. Salamander-wise, I could get Dusky Salamander, Slimy Salamander, or Ensatina. What are your thoughts?
You would have to have more mazanita wood than water to lower SD tap water PH.
the california newt is the best suited for a mostly aquatic environment. the salamanders you listed seem not to be in aquatic environments very often and i usually find them in leaf litter under moss or in rotting wood thats not to say they wouldnt do well but they might not use the water very often if the land portion is really moist. everytime ive seen a california newt (which is allot) its been sitting on the bottom of a lake pond or puddle they seem to almost be entirely aquatic. ive kept long toed salamanders in paludariums and theyd be in the water a good amount of the time. i dont think youll be able to source one of these but giant pacific salamanders are partly aquatic ive found them at the bottom of rivers, inside logs, under bark and they are quite amazing creatures. for me i would choose the tiger salamander without thinking twice i believe there are a couple species in california.
the mud will almost certainly release tanins so you probably wont need to add anything to acheive darker water.
the mud will almost certainly release tanins so you probably wont need to add anything to acheive darker water.
