# realistic fire belly toad set up?



## hassman789 (Dec 9, 2010)

Hey I have been wanting to "pimp" my fire belly toad setup. Like with a dirt shore and flowing water. I'm pretty sure I'd be able to do it, I've seen alot of REALLY cool enclosures here. But what would I make naturalistic land out of? Would I make it out of expanding foam stuff that hardens and then put like eco earth on it? Or would that diactivate wen its in water/ be bad for frogs? And is there a safe glue type of thing that I could secure substrate with? could I use caulk like with backdrops? thanks for any help! and if there is a thread or somthing explaining this and I didn't see it, pointing me in that direction would be nice.


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## moose35 (Dec 9, 2010)

like this??







moose


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## hassman789 (Dec 9, 2010)

YEAH!!!! This picture was actualy what I was refering to when I said I saw some really good ones. Mine would probably be less complicated and less good...lol How do you keep mold out of that? and what is the substrate? Is it gravel on the bottom with potting soil on top? Nice enclosure! And also what is the plant that covers the land?


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## moose35 (Dec 9, 2010)

there is just gravel
then some peat,vermiculite,potting soil,charcoal---for substrate
the moss is java moss and riccia and what ever is left of some stuff i grabbed from outside.

i don't have any problems with mold..a little here and there but i just leave it.

i need to take more pics. its grown in a little.


moose


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## dtknow (Dec 10, 2010)

That is a real old school setup! I'd think you might have problems with excess water wicking up through the soil but I take it that is not the case(so long as you watch the water level).

What is the background? I see cork. Is the filler quikcrete, styro, or clay?(or some other method). Also, what lives in it?


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## hassman789 (Dec 10, 2010)

I'll probably end up using some of that jungle wall paper for the backdrop lol.


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## moose35 (Dec 11, 2010)

dtknow said:


> That is a real old school setup! I'd think you might have problems with excess water wicking up through the soil but I take it that is not the case(so long as you watch the water level).
> 
> What is the background? I see cork. Is the filler quikcrete, styro, or clay?(or some other method). Also, what lives in it?


i know...i didn't want to be bothered with the false bottom.

the substrate can get soaked if i add too much water. but i pretty much let the whole pool evaporate down to about an inch of water before i refill. so the substrate gets a chance to dry out.

also the background is great stuff with a few pieces of tree bark added while it was still wet(not corkbark) then covered in silicone(black) then a dry peat and potting soil mix was added to the silicone.

the waterfall was made by carving out the great stuff and jamming the rocks in then sliconing them into place.


when i make another 1 of these i think i'm gonna try the bentonite method(clay). plants can root into it and moss also grows on it.


moose


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## hassman789 (Dec 11, 2010)

*Finished product*

Well I made mine. Obviously not as much work and goodness as yours probably took. Even though mines not as good, I worked VERY hard on it. burning myself from POINTLESSLY hot glueing things that would just fall apart (the hot glue dryed to my skin then wen i pulled it off, pulled off my skin!) Being OBSESSIVE over how every little plant sits. but I like it, It came out pretty darn good for one of MY projects. 
PICTURE!!!!!!! http://hassman789.deviantart.com/#/d34pbh7


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## moose35 (Dec 12, 2010)

looks pretty good.  :clap:
what kind of lighting do you have?


moose


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## dtknow (Dec 12, 2010)

Bentonite clay works great. That is how I made mine(mixed with varying amounts of aquatic plant soil, and coir to attain whatever consistency you want). The only problem is you need to make sure it does not dry out(and crack) or get too wet(and start to sag).


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## hassman789 (Dec 12, 2010)

moose35 said:


> looks pretty good.  :clap:
> what kind of lighting do you have?
> 
> 
> moose


Actualy I am a little unsure. It makes that blueish lighting that you see in led flashlights and on the light bulb it says ECLIPSE.


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## eruheru (Dec 12, 2010)

Nice tanks. This is an older picture of my tank, some of the plants are different now.


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## ArachnoYak (Dec 30, 2010)

These set-ups are beyond compare, nice work dudes.   Moose, I'll bet dendrobatids would work well in your set-up.


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