# Irian Jaya Paludarium



## joddyjeremy (Sep 15, 2013)

Hello everyone, just wanted to share my tank that's still on progress

It is gonig to hold whites, i know this is a dartfrog forum but cant getit anywhere in here (i'm in indonesia)
So here it is

Hardscape..









The hardscape consist of driftwoods and some river rocks

Underwater plants..









Only java ferns and cryptocorynes though, but looking forward to get some more

The waterfall
Its still in the making but here it is
Off








On









The fogger and the rain system is responsible for maintaining the humidity

Creating the second island


















Thats all for now, going to post more updates soon, thanks!


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## papa_mcknight (Feb 3, 2013)

Looking forward to seeing how this comes along, subscribed


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

When you say "whites"--do you mean Whites tree frogs?


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## joddyjeremy (Sep 15, 2013)

Judy S said:


> When you say "whites"--do you mean Whites tree frogs?


Yes, litoria caerulea


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

tree frogs? "TREE" frogs? Your setup would be great for critters that want to be in a paladarium...but tree frogs would be more comfortable with branches with foliage, and land rather than water...how would you even feed them? Crickets drown in a second... Please rethink what you are creating...this is not what tree frogs need or want...just my opinion...check caresheets on this forum, or on Frog Forum...or any other the other forums out there...


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## aquapimp (Oct 31, 2013)

looks incredibly beautiful, but I agree. White's are perhaps not the best species for it. just my $.o2


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## rigel10 (Jun 1, 2012)

Gorgeous hardscape, but definitely not suitable for frogs. Perhaps it would be better some Bombina.


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## papa_mcknight (Feb 3, 2013)

Whites tree frogs are more than capable swimmers, plus you have plenty of branches for them to use to get out. Get the branches covered in moss, broms and some kind of creeping vines. Also look at Hydrophyte's threads and his riparium planters, some of those on the back wall filled with semi aquatic plants would look great. As for feeding you will most likely have a few drowned crickets but a hungry whites is hardly going to give them time to end up in the water. Fortune favours the bold


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## papa_mcknight (Feb 3, 2013)

Just to put some minds at ease, watch all the way through.
(this does not belong to me, and I don't really agree with putting them in a bath tub btw)


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## hydrophyte (Jun 5, 2009)

That looks too wet for White's tree frogs. Crypt plants are very flimsy when grown out of the water. If you keep them with any animal weighing more than 1/2 gram they will all just get flattened down to the ground. 

Why don't you just put some nano fish in there?


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## joddyjeremy (Sep 15, 2013)

Judy S said:


> tree frogs? "TREE" frogs? Your setup would be great for critters that want to be in a paladarium...but tree frogs would be more comfortable with branches with foliage, and land rather than water...how would you even feed them? Crickets drown in a second... Please rethink what you are creating...this is not what tree frogs need or want...just my opinion...check caresheets on this forum, or on Frog Forum...or any other the other forums out there...


Then you must see the land area, its not visible from front view but from top, the land area is about 40cm x 80cm, i'll bet they will do just fine, plus there is so many branches. Sorry if i forgot to mention that this tank is 2.1m x 80cm x 1m (l x w x h), and from searching in webs, its more than enough for them, thanks for the opinion though, i'll reconsider what types of frogs that i'll put in


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

Looks great so far. Please keep updating


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

being stupid about metrics....I missed that course...I still think it may be very stressful for the frogs to have that much water...the firebellies are really fun to watch, and much more colorful...If you had large rocks that protruded above the water, that may be not only attractive, but give an easy out for the frogs...The paladarium I had, there will killifish in the water and the firebellies on land...


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## Dart girl (Sep 25, 2013)

Whites tree frogs??? That tank would be better suited for some fire belly toads. 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## joddyjeremy (Sep 15, 2013)

Hey guys, like judy said about drowned crickets, would it be better if i just house some archer fish instead of iriatherina, that way it will cleaned the drowned crickets and looks cool too, please advice


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## Judy S (Aug 29, 2010)

not all fish are suited to a non-filtered paladarium...I don't know about those particular fish...the ones I had did not need heat, or filtration of any complicated setup..the heat can be a big issue...


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## joddyjeremy (Sep 15, 2013)

Who says about non filtered, it has an under gravel filtration that based on your comment,quite well hidden


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## Afemoralis (Mar 17, 2005)

In keeping with your biotope, you have so many amazing creatures who might do very well- archerfish like you mentioned, along with riverbank mudskippers, the amazing diversity of crabs (including Geosesarma), as well as all of the great Indonesian frogs. White's pale in comparison to something like Pedostibes and the related forms found in your neck of the woods.


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## joddyjeremy (Sep 15, 2013)

Afemoralis said:


> In keeping with your biotope, you have so many amazing creatures who might do very well- archerfish like you mentioned, along with riverbank mudskippers, the amazing diversity of crabs (including Geosesarma), as well as all of the great Indonesian frogs. White's pale in comparison to something like Pedostibes and the related forms found in your neck of the woods.


Thanks man, can you list the frogs that you think might go well in this biotope?


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## Blue_Pumilio (Feb 22, 2009)

This may be helpful, just don't expect to be able to find most of these available.

http://www.inaturalist.org/check_lists/15803-Irian-Jaya-Barat-Check-List


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## joddyjeremy (Sep 15, 2013)

Blue_Pumilio said:


> This may be helpful, just don't expect to be able to find most of these available.
> 
> http://www.inaturalist.org/check_lists/15803-Irian-Jaya-Barat-Check-List


Thanks man, really helpful


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## Adam R (Jun 26, 2013)

great start, look forward to seeing how you plant it


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## Veneer (Nov 13, 2012)

What kind of wood exactly?


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## joddyjeremy (Sep 15, 2013)

So after quiet a long time, finally its done


























 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTvHygpVwNs 

Enjoy, i hope you guys like it


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

Great tank. What did you decide to put in it? I can't say I was a fan of the tree frog idea given the lack of land, background, and broad leafed foliage in the upper parts of the tank, but the tank itself I love


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## joddyjeremy (Sep 15, 2013)

Maybe i wont go with tree frogs, semi aquatic lizards perhaps?


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## Jeremy M (Oct 19, 2012)

first thought: Reed Frogs!!! (see footnote)

first, a side note on that vid you posted of the white's tree frogs in the bathtub- all that I got from this is that they were really bad swimmers. Most every single animal _can_ swim if you put it in water, and quite well for a short distance... squirrels, bearded dragons, crested and leopard geckos, sloths (actually, sloths are great swimmers) etc. These act to me like one of those things that aren't meant to be in a water setup, and it shows by their poor performance. Though they probably wouldn't drown, they definitely look far from happy to be there.

If you do opt for lizards, you'll have to change the set-up a bit. Remember that you have to design a viv for the reptile, not make it look how you want it and then choose an animal to just throw in there. You'll need at least a basking lamp over one side of the tank in a place which can be utilized by which lizard you choose, and the other changes depend on the species. Lizards (and all reptiles) need the option to dry off completely. And you're really limited to only a couple species that may work in this setup (ie, it will be useless if you want a chinese water dragon or a basilisk). Perhaps I just can't see it, but your land section still looks incredibly small for me, especially if these animals, though semi-aquatic, won't spend most of their time actually in the water.

The only semi-aquatic lizards I can think of that may work in a setup like this would be red-eyed crocodile lizards and the chinese/philippine water skinks of the Tropidophorus genus. There isn't much information on the latter around as they aren't commonly offered, but I would hazard a guess that they would need a drier and more solid land area than you provide. The issue with the land that you have here is that it still appears to be quite wet- reptiles will need a dry, solid place to rest that still has plenty of cover. Some large, well-placed stones which protrude up out of the water to form additional land features with plants grown in their cracks (I'm thinking aksjflasjflake here) may help with this problem, but it would come at the cost of the flow of the layout you've set up here.

Red-eyed croc skinks may be a better option here as they appear to be more common. These boomed in the hobby a couple years back with large numbers being imported. I'm not sure how available they still are, but I know there are people who have worked to captive breed this live-bearing species with success (though their reproductive rates aren't high). They're semi-arboreal and semi-aquatic, so would utilize the branch system you've set up here as well. However, this species can also be somewhat shy if they're not given copious amounts of cover. In terms of the amount that they'll need, your setup looks somewhat barren for them right now. You would need to cover all of the branches and the whole water setup's surface with pothos or a similar vining aroid to make them feel comfortable enough to live happy lives and use the entire setup comfortably (as opposed to just hiding away in a corner). This effect could either be really cool to you (as it would be to me) or it would completely throw off the vision you've had for the tank. The full water area you have there would be better for their use if you broke up the depth with some rocks, some protruding from the water, some not. P

Now, people certainly do keep these guys in simplistic setups with just a shallow rubbermaid full of water on top of coco fiber with a couple pieces of grapewood and plastic vines. I think that this is an absolute shame, as they will never feel comfortable enough to show the complex natural behaviors that these guys exhibit when properly pampered to.

here's my idea of an ideal enclosure for them (someone else's setup, but perfectly executed) 



You can see that this guy does keep his with reed frogs with apparently no adverse effects. I'm not saying that that's a great idea, but apparently it can be done.

and here's some of the behaviors that these guys will treat you to when you treat them right 





As for aquatic inhabitants, I think that killifish really shine in a paludarium (mimics their natural environment of shallow, seasonal pools) as do Halfbeaks (a strictly topwater fish that will love you for feeding them fruit flies). If you decide to go with a larger species of herpetofauna, you could aim for an african butterfly fish- but be warned, these guys are great predators who take larger insects as their primary prey (crix are good in captivity) and will probably try to eat a smaller frog. I myself probably wouldn't be able to resist throwing some _Betta albimarginata_ in there... a personal favorite fish with great colours and aptterns and phenomenal personality/ behaviors to observe.

If you really want to get fancy with a reptile, look around for a Enhydris enthusiast to speak with... some species of this genus are comfortable being kept in a pretty much all-aquatic setup. This degree of aquatic tendency is only shared fby the sea snakes and file snakes to my knowledge.. both of which would be _terrible_ choices for this enclosure. 

*In all honesty though, I think that most everything you could put in here would highly benefit from the training of a sturdy, broad-leaved vining aroid to grow in at least the lower sections of those wooden branches, or some broad-leaved stalky plant through the whole viv instead of just on the right side. They would greatly improve the comfort and hiding spaces of any animal making use of the land area and provide necessary foliage for any arboreal species you might decide to put in there.

Great start, and I can't wait to see progress or hear what you decide on for inhabitants! Feel free to ask more further questions about husbandry for any of the mentioned animals if interested.


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## punctata (Jan 31, 2011)

Mossy Tree Frogs will work


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## terrorsquad (Feb 18, 2014)

i agree mossys would love this setup. they are fairly easy to keep. eat well and have a soft call.


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