# paludarium



## heatfreakk3 (Oct 15, 2008)

Hey everybody, I was thinking about making a paludarium for frogs and some fish. I was wondering if like luecs would go good with a paudarium? Also they wouldnt drowned if they went in right? Im not sure. And what kind of fish would you recomend? I dont want any expencive fish, just pretty, good looking, inexpencive fish.  Also if luecs are not good for a paludarium what would you recomend? I am also puting a fake rock wall in the back and making a brigde over the water  ill post pictures also. And how would i keep the water seperated? Just like plexi glass in the middle of the land and water? Or what?


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## raimeiken (Dec 24, 2006)

you're always taking a risk when you put dart frogs in deep water. I dont think any of them are good swimmers. 

I used to have a paludarium that had a big island in the middle and the water went around it. I had the outlet on the left side (covered with river rocks) and flows the water around the front to the right side where I put the intake tube.

I just put some cloud minnows in there, which are cheap and colorful. and also some cherry shrimps. The water wasnt too deep at all but the fish and the shrimps multiplied in there!


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## jdart16 (Jun 5, 2008)

First thing to consider is size. When making a paludarium i would say the smallest you should go is 50 gallon tank. If you can't get something that big I would advise you not to do it.

Dart frogs generally don't need a huge water section so most any species will work as long as there is enough land area. They can swim but are not the best so it is EXTREMELY important they have many areas to get out of the water in the form of logs and rocks.

Seperating the water may be a problem there is a good chance that it may leak even if you seal it well so it may be easier to have a large false bottom and have the water go under the soil rather than a plexi divider.

Fish choices depend on water depth. You really need at the least 10 gallons of water and it has to be fairley deep. For inexpensive choices you could do neon tetras (and variouse other tetras), white cloud mountain minnows, and some of the smaller barbs.

Justin


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## heatfreakk3 (Oct 15, 2008)

oh... well i was going to use a 10 gallon for it but i guess thats too small. Would it still be too small if a make a little like second floor that ramps up from the land and makes a second floor over the water?


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## jdart16 (Jun 5, 2008)

That is way to small.

10 gallons is the minimum for darts when its just land. Water would be taking away to much vital floor space.

Justin


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## heatfreakk3 (Oct 15, 2008)

oh ok, darn. O well i dont know what i want to do with my 10 gallon tank now. Any ideas? They dont have to just be for dart frogs either, they can be ideas for other reptiles


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## jdart16 (Jun 5, 2008)

I would suggest fire bellied toads. They will like the large water section you want, are semi-colorful, inexpensive and will eat crickets.

I just wouldn't go with fish there isn't enough water.

Justin


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## heatfreakk3 (Oct 15, 2008)

oh ok, im not sure though cuz i diddnt really want fire belly toads... I dont know maybe i will just save the tank and think of something to put in it


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## Otis (Apr 16, 2006)

jdart16 said:


> I would suggest fire bellied toads. They will like the large water section you want, are semi-colorful, inexpensive and will eat crickets.
> 
> I just wouldn't go with fish there isn't enough water.
> 
> Justin


I second this, these are just about the coolest toads you can get for under 10 bucks. They are toxic though so you could not put fish or inverts in there.


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## heatfreakk3 (Oct 15, 2008)

oh ok well i might think about it, are they toxic to people?


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## McBobs (Apr 26, 2007)

If you do a quick search on google, you can come up with virtually ALL the information you could need for fire bellied toads. 

-Matt


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## jubjub47 (Sep 9, 2008)

McBobs said:


> If you do a quick search on google, you can come up with virtually ALL the information you could need for fire bellied toads.
> 
> -Matt


Hmm 

I just laughed so hard it's ridiculous  Thanks for making my day.


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## Otis (Apr 16, 2006)

heatfreakk3 said:


> oh ok well i might think about it, are they toxic to people?


No. 

It just told me I had to type at least ten characters, so here's me typing more than ten...


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## heatfreakk3 (Oct 15, 2008)

oh haha ok, well i would of done a search about fire belly toads befor i asked but i never even new that much about them, i was not even planing on getting them, so thats why i diddnt do a search yet, i was planing on getting dart frogs but someone said fire bellys are better


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## kawickstrom (Oct 3, 2008)

You can always turn the tank vertically and house a pair of froglets in it.


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## heatfreakk3 (Oct 15, 2008)

dart frogs or fire bellys


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## kawickstrom (Oct 3, 2008)

Dart frogs.. I keep my froglets in ten gallon verts so I can keep an eye on them.


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## elblando (Dec 8, 2008)

killifish are an ideal species for a paludrium. most prefer shallow water and and similar conditions created by the substrate leaching into the water. There are also some very colourful breeds and most stay relativly small. Research the speacies you want first though. some only live about 6 months as a few of them live and breed in puddles through the rainy seasons. There are a couple of good sites but this one has quite a good data base. THE BRITISH KILLIFISH ASSOCIATION


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## Otis (Apr 16, 2006)

kawickstrom said:


> Dart frogs.. I keep my froglets in ten gallon verts so I can keep an eye on them.


I'm not sure froglets would be the best idea for heatfreak...
they are not easy to come by unless you are breeding something or live close to someone that is.


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## heatfreakk3 (Oct 15, 2008)

ya ill probably get fire belly frogs, i can make a fake rock wall for them like i was going to do my dart frogs though right?


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

you can make your viv as cool as you want to. you could still make a paludarium out of a bigger tank. darts are terrestrial/arboreal and need room to walk around, not swim. like someone else here said, you really need about a 55 gal, or at least a 40 breeder to do one right. pumps, etc false bottoms and the works would leave precious little land to work with. Think about the cultural needs of the animals you are trying to keep. Why not get some newts or something if you aernt stoked on the fbt's? they would use the water and wouldnt care about the smaller space.


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## heatfreakk3 (Oct 15, 2008)

well i think i am setting the 10 gallon tank up with a smaller frog i had in another tank. Although i do like fire belly newts. Would fire belly newts get along with a baby frog or adult frogs? And there is pond in the adult tank, the frogs dont use the pond that much but a fire belly newt would use it, and the tank it pretty moist and wet for the newt. Would the newt get along with them? Or would it just crash and burn?


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## Otis (Apr 16, 2006)

Don't mix species, I don't have time to go into all the reasons but its a can of worms... just take my word for it. Do a search on it and you will see.


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## Otis (Apr 16, 2006)

kawickstrom said:


> Yes you can


What? 
both fire-bellied species are toxic, so for that reason alone they should not be mixed.


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## heatfreakk3 (Oct 15, 2008)

oh ok, i was just going to maybe experament but if you say its bad than i will not do that haha


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## kawickstrom (Oct 3, 2008)

Sorry Otis I was replying to his question about the rockwall but you guys have it all covered so I deleted my post.

Dont mix species! It always ends badly.


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## Otis (Apr 16, 2006)

heatfreakk3 said:


> oh ok, i was just going to maybe experament but if you say its bad than i will not do that haha


Thank you for listening. 



kawickstrom said:


> Sorry Otis I was replying to his question about the rockwall but you guys have it all covered so I deleted my post.
> 
> Dont mix species! It always ends badly.


 Phew...


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## heatfreakk3 (Oct 15, 2008)

no problem, maybe ill do the paludrium when i get a little bit more experenced and get a bigger tank and everything. My sisters friend gave us a 10g tank so i wasnt going to let it go to waste..


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## dendrothusiast (Sep 16, 2010)

hey man, I just saw your question:

you can have any kind of dart frog in there you just gotta take precautions for the water. I recommend using bog plants that can live in the water but grow emersed from the water as well- anubias, cryptocornes water hyacinths. just keep the water areas planted with those type of plants close to the shores or areas overhanging the water where frogs may fall in from. In my paludarium my water was 7 inches deep because i liked keeping fish with my newts and other terestrial animals but I grew water lilies and tiger lotuses to keep my darts from drowning and it worked like a charm. 

as for fish in a paludarium, its all depending on the water depth you have, most common usually four inches high are what most people have so recommendations i would suggest are lyretails, ram cichlids (peaceful with small tetras), serpae tetras, killifish (beautiful and never can go wrong), white cloud minnows (indestructable fish with charm), dwarf cory catfish, and the list goes on. I hope ive been of some help


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## myersboy6 (Aug 23, 2010)

if your going to be working with a 10 gallon. here is what i did with my 10 gallon to have a little bit of water in it. definitely not enough water to keep fish, or to make a paludarium. 
I'm still not done planting it. I plan to cover the whole bottom with moss. hope this helps


10 gallon viv by myersboy6, on Flickr


10gal water feature by myersboy6, on Flickr


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## Quaz (Nov 13, 2005)

You might need that tank anyway. Don't you have a few azureus coming out of the water?


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## boabab95 (Nov 5, 2009)

guys this was about 2 years ago... i think it was all taken care of then... no offence, but i could be wrong...


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