# 25 Gallon Paludarium Setup



## Diver Dan (Apr 24, 2014)

Hello all,
I am an ex reef keeper looking to start a PDF paludarium. I have been lurking for quite some time on here while reading and building what I think would make a decent home for a frog or two. I've used a nano tank designed for salt water reef keeping that I had left over from my past hobby and repurposed it into a cool little display with easy access to the pumps and equipment in the back and a display that is free of anything mechanical. 

So far I've used pumice stone to build the tiers of the hard scape and then secured them in place with pond foam. Substrate I've used for the land is a mix of orchid mix, palm and cactus soil, and sphagnum with a layer of sphagnum on top. I know i messed up using potting soil with tons of organics that could damage the frog's skin, but I'm in no rush to get frogs. I plan on letting the ammonia, phosphates, and nitrates in the potting mix to settle out for a couple months while I read up more on frogs. 

The bottom tier is pretty marshy because of the water level of the aquarium portion of the tank. I've separated the bromeliad using a pot going horizontally into the cave in the back. All other plants down there are more water tolerant or so I assume as they are growing.

Let me know if you see anything I fudged up on. Also I would be interested in hearing what frogs you think would do best. (The anole is temporary and will be given to a reptile loving friend far before I am ready to get the PDFs)

Specifications
Tank: Aqua Euro Usa Nano with back compartment
Lighting: 2 24w T5HO
Temp: 70-75 during the day 
Humidity: 95-100% Lower when the computer fan I've set up turns on (I now know that my hygrometer isn't the best)


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## darterfrog4774 (Apr 24, 2014)

Looks nice, and pretty sweet what you did with the rocks, but how deep is the water? The PDF's might get stuck, for what i've heard, they can drown very easily, but somebody should probably back me up on that. Maybe some red-eyes? I'm pretty sure they can swim reasonably well, and they would enjoy the extra height. All in all, very cool viv.


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## jaybugg13 (Dec 9, 2013)

It looks like up at the top left the intake teeth from the overflow are still there, you may want to screen that over with no see um to prevent fruit flies from escaping into the false back. The tank looks really nice, but I think I'd be a little hesitant about a frog due to the water height and the lack of usable floor space. For example a typical 10g tank (200 square inches of floor space) is often cited as the smallest tank for frogs and I've yet to see a "nano" or "pico" frog setup. Maybe it's bigger than it looks though?


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## NewToFrogs (Sep 23, 2013)

I don't know much about PDF's, but I keep starry night reed frogs in a 20 gallon high. I have been very pleased with them.


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