# Planted Tanks > Vivariums >  My 1st vivarium set up

## kennethc

Hi all, I am looking for suggestions.
This is my set up


I am wondering if the murky water will be cleared, using my aquarium pump, sponge type . Not the submerged filter type.

What should i do next?

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## AQMS

Im not into vivarium but i sure like your driftwood,
where did you get it?

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## kennethc

> Im not into vivarium but i sure like your driftwood,
> where did you get it?


That Aquarium y618

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## cdckjn

Not to be a wet blanket, you have at least 2 big errors in your setup.
1. Your Spanish moss will not make it. It need a drier environment - it will be too humid in the tank. You may need moving air for it to grow.
2. The orchid on the driftwood will be too wet - the roots will rot.
3. the black tape hold your rubber tubing will fall off soon, use silicon to attach it if you want a secure bond.

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## Merviso

Hi Kenneth, murky water will be cleared eventually as the particles settled down... hopefully your air pump filter will not keep stirring them up thou.

What is the purpose of the white egg crates with mesh structure? Unfortunately, it is kind of a eye sore to your whole scape... try to replace it with something else, or maybe use black color crates instead....  :Grin:

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## kennethc

> Not to be a wet blanket, you have at least 2 big errors in your setup.
> 1. Your Spanish moss will not make it. It need a drier environment - it will be too humid in the tank. You may need moving air for it to grow.
> 2. The orchid on the driftwood will be too wet - the roots will rot.
> 3. the black tape hold your rubber tubing will fall off soon, use silicon to attach it if you want a secure bond.


Thank you! I will have to keep an eye on the spanish moss. I will try to move the orchid away. Can i ask how to i water the orchid? Must i do it manually?
Ok about the black tape, i will conside silicon.

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## kennethc

> Hi Kenneth, murky water will be cleared eventually as the particles settled down... hopefully your air pump filter will not keep stirring them up thou.
> 
> What is the purpose of the white egg crates with mesh structure? Unfortunately, it is kind of a eye sore to your whole scape... try to replace it with something else, or maybe use black color crates instead....


Murky water is cleared. :Smile: 

Egg crates to support together with the ss mesh, to keep the structure upright such that the land area will not collapse. There are three defences against clogging in the pump, wire mesh on the egg crate and the pump itself and egg crate and pebbles. Rusting cannot be prevent though.  :Sad: 

Do you know how to prevent rusting?

I will try to add moss in the future, to cover the ugly sight..

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## kennethc

So.. How do i prevent rust?

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## SeVenZ

if you bought good quality ss mesh, it wouldn't rust. im sorry but you need to put in more effort to research and re-plan the scape, its quite a bad attempt. but good effort i must say.

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## kennethc

> if you bought good quality ss mesh, it wouldn't rust. im sorry but you need to put in more effort to research and re-plan the scape, its quite a bad attempt. but good effort i must say.


I see.. I am pretty satisfied with it, thank you! (:

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## mincedmeat

I doubt the orchid would be able to survive in the tank. They need to be in a drier environment. You could explore having other plants to replace the orchid?

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## kennethc

> I doubt the orchid would be able to survive in the tank. They need to be in a drier environment. You could explore having other plants to replace the orchid?


Dont worry, i moved the orchid away from the water flow. I only water them manually.

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## mincedmeat

I would think you might need more charcoal for the orchid. They primarily thrive in dry and humid temperatures. When you water them, you should only mist the roots and occassionally the leaves. Hopefully it flowers in the tank.

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## kennethc

> I would think you might need more charcoal for the orchid. They primarily thrive in dry and humid temperatures. When you water them, you should only mist the roots and occassionally the leaves. Hopefully it flowers in the tank.


Thank you for your information!!

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## eddy planer

Hi kennethc

any picture of your build.. can I see the latest update, bo?

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## kennethc

When i finally convinced my mum to have a frog.... BAM!  :Grin: 

But before i added the frog, i had black phantom tetras in it..
Had a successful bloom of my orchid inside the vivarium!  :Smile: 
Torn down and rebuilt 3 times already so far.

Please give comments and feedback :-)

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## bernie

Nice. Spanish moss can survive in the humid condition?
What is your lighting's setup for the orchid to bloom? Maybe you can use a wire or fishing line to tie the orchid to the wood  :Smile:

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## kennethc

> Nice. Spanish moss can survive in the humid condition?
> What is your lighting's setup for the orchid to bloom? Maybe you can use a wire or fishing line to tie the orchid to the wood


I was using normal aquazonic 1.5 ft light.
Now i am using beamswork double power 1300.

Yeap i tied using black string and a cable tie as a backup :-)

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## eddy planer

Hi kennethc,

What an amazing setup you got another a big plus the White Tree Frog, Yay! :Jump for joy: 

I've got some cautions to bring up. In months time, your white tree frog will be fatter, heavier and bigger and your beautiful flora(Orchid ) will soon rip apart one by one . The orchid will not be able to withstand the weight and its massive strength of your beloved frog . That's why I use mainly artificial flora ..mind you I got at least 10 WTFs to take care. 
You can either choose to save your beautiful orchid or remove your frog  :Confused:

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## kennethc

> Hi kennethc,
> 
> What an amazing setup you got another a big plus the White Tree Frog, Yay!
> 
> I've got some cautions to bring up. In months time, your white tree frog will be fatter, heavier and bigger and your beautiful flora(Orchid ) will soon rip apart one by one . The orchid will not be able to withstand the weight and its massive strength of your beloved frog . That's why I use mainly artificial flora ..mind you I got at least 10 WTFs to take care. 
> You can either choose to save your beautiful orchid or remove your frog


Hey thanks, but one question.
Is it possible to control the diet of the frog so it wont become 'overweight'?

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## eddy planer

Hi kennethc,

Just feed it with 4 to 5 crickets (coated with calcium powder) in every 3 days, will do the trick.

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## bernie

> Hi kennethc,
> 
> Just feed it with 4 to 5 crickets (coated with calcium powder) in every 3 days, will do the trick.


Even not too big ones like 1 inch in size (nose to vent) ones is OK to feed every 3 days? I read that growing ones need to be fed everyday. Not sure what size constituent as "frogs in their growing stage".

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## eddy planer

If you feed everyday , your White Tree Frog will be seriously obesity like this 





and you will kiss your flora bye bye  :Knockout:

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## kennethc

> If you feed everyday , your White Tree Frog will be seriously obesity like this 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> and you will kiss your flora bye bye


Hahahaha, opps i just fed it 4 crickets today. I havent start adding calcium powder yet. will do it soon

But there also different sizes for crickets.. So you mean 4-5 big or small crickets every 3 days?

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## eddy planer

This fella ate two pinkies a week and 6 fat black crickets and roaches two times daily for about three months to see this result like" kok head luohan" LOL

It doesn't matter if you feed big or small black /white crickets in every 3 to 4 days. You will be able to maintain its mass. But please coat them with multi-vitamin / calcium powder to keep it a top condition.

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## kennethc

> This fella ate two pinkies a week and 6 fat black crickets and roaches two times daily for about three months to see this result like" kok head luohan" LOL
> 
> It doesn't matter if you feed big or small black /white crickets in every 3 to 4 days. You will be able to maintain its mass. But please coat them with multi-vitamin / calcium powder to keep it a top condition.


pinkes  :Shocked:

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## AQMS

Its Jabba the hutt!!! :Surprised:

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## kennethc

I really pity the frog. Its the owners job to keep it healthy )-:

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## kennethc

10376156_807718179239903_4923075281624001317_n.jpg
latest set up
10402671_794361037242284_7407556193006253592_n.jpg
my frog got spring disease recently

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## eddy planer

How long your White Tree Frog has this happening? Look like it's green pigment isn't spread nicely. Can you try to relocate your tank near the window to allow natural sunlight ( no direct sun light, please) colour

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## kennethc

> How long your White Tree Frog has this happening? Look like it's green pigment isn't spread nicely. Can you try to relocate your tank near the window to allow natural sunlight ( no direct sun light, please) colour


2 weeks i managed to stopped the disease from spreading, spread to half the body.
Now fully recovered with a small scar.

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## Zenith82

In my opinion the tank lacks of humidity, tank substrate has no layering for water irrigation, water logging in the substrate might cause plants to rot, then decompose. Later will have mites or other insect problems, the frog waste will also not be able to wash down into the soil and that might cause skin problems to your frogs. Water bowl too small. Tree frogs love to soak themselves in water at night to keep skin moist. What substrate are you using? Please check the underside of your frogs to see are they pinkish or reddish to see are there skin irritations because from the picture it looks like potting mix which might contain fertilizer that are harmful to frogs. I suggest you re-layer your substrate foundation with clay pellets, then a layer of mesh to prevent substrate erosion into the bottom. Then the coco peat, lastly some sphagnum moss to help retain moisture. Upgrade the water bowl bigger. Use fake plants, your plants won't survive for long, as Eddy mention they will be trampled, die and rot soon. I notice some black stuffs inside at the bottom are they charcoal, if they are please remove, they might be toxic to your frogs skin. 

Just some pointers to share to improve your tank's conditions.

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## kennethc

> In my opinion the tank lacks of humidity, tank substrate has no layering for water irrigation, water logging in the substrate might cause plants to rot, then decompose. Later will have mites or other insect problems, the frog waste will also not be able to wash down into the soil and that might cause skin problems to your frogs. Water bowl too small. Tree frogs love to soak themselves in water at night to keep skin moist. What substrate are you using? Please check the underside of your frogs to see are they pinkish or reddish to see are there skin irritations because from the picture it looks like potting mix which might contain fertilizer that are harmful to frogs. I suggest you re-layer your substrate foundation with clay pellets, then a layer of mesh to prevent substrate erosion into the bottom. Then the coco peat, lastly some sphagnum moss to help retain moisture. Upgrade the water bowl bigger. Use fake plants, your plants won't survive for long, as Eddy mention they will be trampled, die and rot soon. I notice some black stuffs inside at the bottom are they charcoal, if they are please remove, they might be toxic to your frogs skin. 
> 
> Just some pointers to share to improve your tank's conditions.


Thank you for your comments
my frog got the spring disease from the previous set up. this one so far nothing happened.
i am using the ada soil, small lava rocks, coconut peat and garden soil. 
is garden soil harmful for the frog?

I guess i will have to change the whole set up back to the old one.

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## eddy planer

Glad to hear your Whites are staying alive!
Garden soil and ADA soil are harmless, but it's simply waste on Tree Frogs. If you still want real flora instead of plastic one in your Exxo Terra, then get a big bird-nest fern to do a temporary trick but not for too long if you aren't bother this flora at all.

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## kennethc

> Glad to hear your Whites are staying alive!
> Garden soil and ADA soil are harmless, but it's simply waste on Tree Frogs. If you still want real flora instead of plastic one in your Exxo Terra, then get a big bird-nest fern to do a temporary trick but not for too long if you aren't bother this flora at all.


I am currently hunting for suitable sized ones.
not to worry, my frog is too small and light to crush my flora

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## kennethc

image.jpgimage.jpg
My set up for the newt kindly given by a fellow member here
will add more wood and plants in the near future

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