Random idea

[andyjs]

I was recently given a free 65 tall full setup (nice cabinet stand, THREE filters, heater, top, strip light) by one of my professors. I've also been recently looking into DIY styrofoam backgrounds/hardscape, and thought this might be a good chance to do a pretty small-scale test run of some of the concepts I've been reading up on online.

I figured a cool setup to do in this tank would be a paludarium to upgrade my little musk turtle from his 20L. I would like to incorporate some sort of terrestrial plant feature. I think it would be best to do this as a sort of glass trough raised off the bottom to keep as much of the footprint (36"X18") open for him as possible.

Anyway, another idea that came up for this setup was for the upper portion of the tank. I was thinking about doing 12" or so of water. That still leaves another open 12" above that, so I was thinking about the addition of something arboreal like some green tree frogs or something. While this sounds like a cool idea, I also don't think it sounds like a very good one. I was just looking for some opinions from others as to if they think this could be at all feasible. I've kept several species of North American tree frogs before, but it's been a while. I'm also not really worried about the turtle bothering them, just how well they would do in a setup like this

 

[ivgonmad]

I think the frogs could become lunch for your turtle, but who knows thats the only draw back I see

 

[babygurl1561310]

How big is your turtle? I would be concerned that the turtle would try and eat the frogs two. I have a red ear slider and shes gettin pretty big its hard to keep any decor in place cuz she drags and moves everything around. I ve thought of putting in real plants but worry they wont make it due to the fact that she places things where she wants them not where i want them lol. Turtles also grow to the size of thier enviroment i've had mine for about two years and shes already five or six inches long. It might be worth a shot to try but id expect to lose some frogs.

 

[andyjs]

Turtles also grow to the size of thier enviroment i've had mine for about two years and shes already five or six inches long.

Turtles absolutely do NOT grow to the size of their environment. Quality of care is what determines their growth and lifespan. A female RES, if kept properly, will end up around 12" fully grown. Also, you won't have much luck keeping real plants with a slider. They become increasingly herbivorous as they grow and will eat any live plants in no time.

I'm really not worried about the turtle going after the frogs. He makes no attempt to catch any of the fish he is with. He also stays below the surface of the water 99% of the time and is not very big and won't be able to reach very far. I'm more concerned as to whether the frogs would do ok in the habitat assuming no predation from the little musk turtle

As a kid, I did once try RES with tree frogs and that was a TERRIBLE idea. The frogs immediately hid in the top corners of the tank, and the turtle immediately tried to climb the glass after them and refused to stop until I removed the frogs.

 

[snakeguy101]

I think the frogs would be fine in there. I think that it would be really neat if you did a sort of shelf to hold the plants and then had roots (fake of course) coming through the bottom and hanging into the water portion. I think some ferns and carnivorous plants would be neat for the land section too.

 

[andyjs]

I think the frogs would be fine in there. I think that it would be really neat if you did a sort of shelf to hold the plants and then had roots (fake of course) coming through the bottom and hanging into the water portion. I think some ferns and carnivorous plants would be neat for the land section too.

I was actually thinking about some temperate carnivorous plants. I currently have a flytrap and purple pitcher that would be pretty cool in there (probably individually potted, so I could also have the option of non-bog plants as well)

 

[paul112]

Turtles also grow to the size of thier enviroment i've had mine for about two years and shes already five or six inches long.

I also agree that this is completely wrong. People that keep turtles in small tanks, usually also have the turtle in filthy water and do not feed it properly, which causes stunting, not the size of the tank.

The frogs will probably wind up dead, but if you put lots of floating vegetation in the tank, then they might be able to get out quickly if they fall in.

Paul