How to set up a proper vivarium

How to set up a proper vivarium for most species of tree frogs.

One of the most important things when keeping frogs and other amphibians, is that your cage be set up correctly. Most tree frogs that you can buy at the pet store like the same conditions, so here is a generic tree frog cage setup instructions.

Materials

1: A suitable cage for the amount/types of frogs you want.
2: Steril Top Soil and or pea gravel
3: Assorted Plants
4: Small Dish
5: Good galvanized steel lid or a regular aquarium hood that fits the tank.
6: Misting Bottle/System
7: Proper Lights w/ a automatic timer
8: Sphagnum Moss

Procedures

Now you are ready to start putting your cage together, you have a choice, do you want to use soil and gravel or just plain gravel?....if you want to clean it every month or so, put a 2 inch layer of aquarium gravel in the tank before you put the top soil down. The purpose for the gravel is to create an area for the water from misting to have a place to drain into, so your tank does not turn into a swap. Make some hills and ravines in the soil to make it look natural, then take the plants and place them how you think they should look and where they will get enough light to live. Some people like to leave the plants in the pots, I don't like to do that because I think it looks real unnatural. Another variation, is to only use gravel and no soil, At first, I did not think this would be all that great for the plants, but I have switched over to it and my plants are flourishing, its easier to clean, and helps when you have to prune your plants.

Leave enough space to put the water dish in and now you are ready to cover the remaining dirt or gravel, (depending on the method you used) with sphagnum moss. After the moss is in place, if you have some other things you would like to put into the tank like rocks or branches, put them in now. After everything is in place, spray the tank down with pure water, I would use bottled water, or if you have access to a carbon filter, then tap water would be just fine, and if you have access to a Reverse Osmosis machine, then that's even better. Place your frogs into the tank and put the lid on and then the light. Set the timer to 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness(or other, depending on the frog) and plug it in with the light. You are now done with constructing your vivarium.

This is just a basic vivarium, an easy way to start out on a small budget. Now if you have some extra money and would like to make some modifications to it, go for it, but remember to try and stay as natural as possible, and don't go overboard.

Vivarium variations

Put a waterfall in it.
Put a pond in it.
Get a night light for it...A moon simulator bulb.
Make it larger.*
Put an automatic misting system in it.*
(* coming soon)

Put a waterfall in your tank.

To put a waterfall in the above mentioned vivarium, you are going to need a small pump or power head that can be submersed, a piece of egg crate that fits the bottom of the tank, a piece of air conditioning filter(the non fiberglass type), enough pea gravel to cover the bottom of the tank 2 inches deep, and a minimum of four 2 inch PVC elbow pipes, tubing that will fit on the pump and some rocks or another item that you want the water to run down.

Procedure

Take everything out of your vivarium so you have a empty waterproof tank. Now take the PVC elbows and put them in the corners of the tank. If the tank is bigger than a 10 gallon aquarium, then you are going to need more elbows to support the egg crate and the gravel. Next take the pump with the tube attached and place it in the general area where your waterfall is going to be. Now take the egg crate and place it over the elbows and pump so that it is resting on the elbows, if it is on the pump, you need a smaller pump or bigger elbows. The tube should be sticking out one of the holes of the egg crate. Now take the air conditioner filter and cut it so it fits over the egg crate and then cut a small hole/slit where the tube is going to come out. Now put it over the egg crate and begin to cover it with the pea gravel. After all the gravel is in place and even(there should be no gravel under the filter or the egg crate.), fill the bottom of the tank with water till it reaches the bottom of the egg crate. Now if you set the pump up correctly and put everything in the tank right, you can plug in the pump and water should come out of the tube coming out of the air conditioning filter. Now all you have to do is hide the tube with a pile of rocks or whatever and theres your waterfall. Now that there is no soil in your tank, if you want to put plants in there, you can put them in little pots, or plant them directly in the gravel, the moss can be placed right on top of the gravel with no problem.

Putting a pond in your tank.

If you decide to add a pond to your tank, and you do it right, it will look 10 times better than before. A tank with a pond in it opens up a lot of new choices for animals and other tank modifications. Now, to put a pond in the above mentioned tank, you will need a piece of plexyglass that will fit across the inside of your tank, to make a separation for the water. You will also need some aquarium sealant, available from your local aquarium store. If you have the piece of plexyglass and the sealant, you are ready to start.

Procedure

First, you want to empty your tank , I'm assuming your tank is just a regular waterproof aquarium. Now after you empty the tank, clean it the best you can, you want to remove all marks and dirt on the glass. After you have done that, dry it with a clean towel and let it sit for 30 minutes just to make sure that it is compleatly dry. After it is compleatly dry, cut the plexy glass to desired length, and set it in the tank where you wish it to go, it should be almost flush with the sides of the tank. You should put the plexy glass in at an angle, so that things will be able to crawl, slither, hop, etc. out. Now take the aquarium sealant and bead it on both sides of the plexyglass creating a double seal. You may need to use tape to support the plexyglass so it will hold while the sealant dries. Now read the sealant container and see how long you should let it sit and dry before you put any water in it, usually its 48 hours. After the sealant has dried, put the soil/gravel in first, this will support the plexy glass when you put the water in. Pour the water in slowly. I put a 1/2 inch layer of gravel in the water side to make it look like a river bed. You should connect your pond with a filter, unless you want to change the water every day. I reccomend a canister filter used for aquariums. With a canister, you can make the ex-current coming off the filter into a waterfall with the above mentioned plans.