Getting intimidated, overwhelmed, etc.- design princples

[postal]

Depending on where you live, most mosses need a cool winter period, and dont do well in vives. If you live in florida, it's probably a tropical moss and would be fine.

Too humid in a tank for most lichens.

Buttermilk/yogurt mixes seem to get mixed reviews, but can get a lot of mold in a tank.

Some people sterilize plants in 5% bleach for about 20 minutes, then rinse really well and let them air out before planting.

Others use a drop of dishsoap and a few tablespoons of cider vinegar in water.

Tank looks good, but what is the substrate? it isnt a regular potting soil is it? In the pic it looks like it has pearlite which means regular potting soil which is generally not good for frogs. Most have fertilizers in them which is bad for frogs. Pearlite can be ingested and kill them too.

[mtolypetsupply]

Substrate is a blend of Shredded Cocohusk, Coir, Peat, Rice Hulls, Tree Fern Fiber and a soilless mix without fertilizer. There is a tiny bit of Perlite in there. What's the risk involved with it? Not in what can happen, but in probability of occurrence. Like, at any moment, a plane *could* fall out of the sky and kill you, but the probability is slim to none.

I doubt I could get it all out, if the probability is high that they would eat it, I'll replant. If the risk for eating it is low, I could pick out the visible pieces, and keep an eye for new ones that migrate to the surface. I will definitely keep the perlite out of the blend next time. Are there any other substances I shouldn't have in there? Vermiculite, will they eat that? I have done searches on these things but didn't find this info. I think things like this should be a sticky in care sheets with the Keywords as the title!

[Brock]

Any updates on this tank? I love this thread.

As for perlite, I'm surprised no one replied to that, sorry I got to it so late.

There's a high probability of ingesting perlite when it is in the viv. I know of a few froggers who have lost frogs and done necropsy only to find perlite clogging the digestive tract.

It's definitely a high enough risk to replant the viv with a new substrate.

[Lilypad87]

this is a great thread, ive made at least 10+ (starting to lose count lol) tanks from 10-29g tanks and ive always worried about my tanks being aesthetically pleasing to visitors, but idk i usually draw a couple diagrams on paint on my laptop and then wing it from there. But i was gonna tell you there is a cool slideshow on blackjungles website that talks a lot about planting and where to put plants. one good piece of advice it gives if you have several plants from the same species dont spread em over the tank instead have them in bunches kinda like they would be in the wild. i did this in my new tank w/ my oncidium orchids and also in this example with a clump of pothos in the right and a several fittonia in the left

hope this helps a little bit just my two cents