Paludarium

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fishfreak2009

Candiru
MFK Member
Sep 25, 2009
694
14
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Michigan
A week ago or so I posted that I got a green tree frog. Now, my 40 gallon is empty and my mom is letting me turn it into a paludarium for my tropical lants and my frog. I siliconed the divider in last night, and will check tomorrow for leaks (waiting 48 hours). I actually bought some more plants yesterday, so now I have all the plants going in. The plants will be removed when they get too large. Here's the plant list:
3 Flamingo flower
1 Birdsnest Fern
1 Staghorn Fern
2 Parlour Palm
2 Peace Lily (dwarf variety)
1 Bromeliad
Some Pothos
Some Java Fern
1 Bronze Cryptocoryne
1 Random houseplant I don't know the name of ;)
1 Red and Green Dracaena
I don't know for sure, but I still might buy an orchid and some cabomba
 
I might put some house geckos as well, it all depends on what peaceful small species I can find for under $23.00. I am also considering anoles, more green tree frogs, grey tree frogs, gliding geckos, longtailed grass lizards... I wouldn't do all of them however, probably only 1 or 2. I am also open to other suggestions although it has to do well with my green tree frog. I figure with lots of plants and branches (along with a half coconut shell and a covering of coconut fiber for the 1 side and some of the back wall., the bigger tank, and lots of food, 3-4 small, peaceful reptiles/amphibians with similar needs should do fine together.
 
I suggest you skip the lizards. It's not really a good setup for them- too humid, too much open water, too many frogs (big greens will eat small lizards, and are not shy about jumping on anything that is sitting where they want to be). Gray or more green treefrogs will be a fine addition.
 
cant wait for some pics! sounds great. there was an article in UK practical fishkeeping mag recently and as soon as move house i sure will invest in a second-hand tank and get to building one! ill be keeping an eye on this one!
 
Where did you get the plants? If you got them from a nursery or a shopping center you absolutley have to "quarentinize" them, that is care for them for a wille before putting them in in your vivarium, preferably outdoors. The reazon is to allow your plants to shed any quemicals they allmost cernatly have been exposed to. This means watering them, washing gently their leafs with a paper towel moist in warm water (or rain outdooors) and letting some time pass, I would say at least a mouth (the ideal would be a copple of mouths). This is very important because your animals, specialy thouse tree frogs are very sencitive to pesticides and other quemicals. Of course if you got the plants from some company that specializes in providing plants for vivariums housing life animals then you can use them now.
 
Actually, I am not putting the staghorn fern in because it turned out to be too large to go through the opening. I wasn't worrying about the plants though, because I got them at a local nursery that has an entire section dedicated to vivariums. Plus, the only new ones are the staghorn and the flamingo flower. All the others have been growing in my smaller tanks or used to until they got too big. I don't fertilize or apply pesticide to my plants, that's what waterchanges, rubbing alcohol, and tweezers are for. As for the lizards, humidity is 70% with the lid on, and I would only have 2 frogs. American greens don't eat house geckos or anoles, I've kept them together before. Plus they don't get large enough. The same applies to the greys. By the way, I couldn't wait. I added water yesterday and the seal has held very nicely! So this morning I threw all the aquatic plants in. I'll try to get pics tonight, but no promises. There's no soil yet either (in both the water or land portion). By the way, what should I use as a substrate in the water portion? Pea Gravel? Sand?
 
American greens absolutely will eat any lizard or frog that will fit in their mouths. I have seen them eat juvenile house geckos and adult spring peepers. Check your humidity in another week or so; in my expeience these types of setups, even unheated, tend to range up into higher RH than that. Do you have glass lids? If so, your air flow will be too poor for the lizards. It's up to you, of course, I just want to make the risks clear.

The frogs won't care about the aquatic substrate. Rooted aquatic plants generally do best with sand or fine gravel. Do you have a power filter in the water? If so, be careful with sand, as it can damage the impeller if it is sucked in.
 
my green tree frog isn't full grown yet, and they would be adult lizards plus as I said, I have kept them together before without problems. I would not be adding my spring peepers (I have some in my 5 gallon paludarium). The lid is actually part screen, so the humidity stays around 70%. Added some of the terrestrial plants and I'm adding all the soil as soon as I'm done with dinner. I'll wait 5 days, then add my green tree frog. As it ended up, my birdsnest fern was also to big to fit next to the large flamingo flower. So it is staying on my plantstand. :(
However, I'm going out in the woods tonight to look for a big branch to put in, as well as some moss for the bottom. As for my water movement I realized that I cound just use the pump off of one of my old U.V. Sterilizers. It moves the water beautifully.
 
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