How to create a natural enclosure

[CallmeUmaster]

I have a 55 gallon tank that im planning on converting into a large naturalistic frog enclosure with live plants and the works. Im hoping to pick up some red eye tree frogs at the repticon atlanta show in july for the enclosure. Ive kept a few frogs in the past so i have a little bit of knowledge but my main question is how should i go about making this enclosure. I mean the whole 9 yards, substrate, what live plants, how i should have the water in the cage etc. Sorry if im being a little vague. Any pics or words of advice would be beyond appreciated. Thanks!

[cmack91]

well first off that is a pretty big and vague question, i actually went and smoked first before even thinking of the answer lol. and please excuse my grammar since this is going to be alot.
WATER:
1. section off a part of the tank with acrylic, a good square foot of surface water should be fine, have it be 3-4" deep. in the water you will need aquarium rocks on the bottom, with larger rocks spread throughout so they can sit on a submerged rock without have to fight to stay above the surface.
2. Get a GOOD, overly powered external fishtank filter to create a waterfall effect, you can set it as high in the tank that you want, the waterfall will do two things, create humidity, and oxygenate the water. also you need a water heater, keep the water around 70-75 (?) degrees, and dont lower it at night.
SUBSTRATE:
cover the bottom in about 2 1/2-3" of aquarium rocks, and cover that with coco husk, or a mix of coco husk and repti bark, then cover about half the space with mosses, but mix it up some( some moss here, some there, none there etc.), and throw in some larger rockes on top (just big enough for them to sit on).
PLANTS:
now, i dont know the exact species that you can use, but i know that retf's need large broad leafed plants, they need to be strong enough to support the weight of the frog without collapsing. and you need alot of them, especially if your planning on having multiple frogs, they need to be able to hide during the day in total shade, so go heavy on the plants (around the walls), and if there arent enogh hiding spots males will fight for territory (not sure about females). you also will need vines for them to climb around on, i would use those fake twisty vines (medium), but dont just run them against the wall, make it more 3D, you can also cover them in moss using aquarium grade silicone to make it more natural looking (these are more for swinging across the top of the tank), and for more variety and realism, use some good looking sticks going from the ground up (these can also be covered with moss).
FOR MORE REALISM:
1. make what i call a plant wall, basically you make a wall to cover the back wall of the tank. use expanding foam to make the forms you want, and you can add spots in the foam for plants, just make like a half bowl shape sticking out of the wall. they can be bowl shape, long and thin, however you want to do it, jus remember to drill holes in the bottom of the compartments to drain excess water, just dont make them so big the soil falls out. AFTER you drill the holes you can paint it and you will need to cover it in a nontoxic waterproof coating (the entire thing, the back of it (that will sit on the glass) inside to holes you drilled etc. everything), or you can cover the whole thing in aquarium silicone and stick a bunch of rocks, bark and dirt to it, but you still have to cover the back and the holes in the silicone. to make it just get a piece of plywood the size of the back wall, and lay a piece of wax paper over it (wax side up) and lay it flat on a table. you can also mold a compartment in the wall to house the water filter. just wrap the filter in wax paper (wax side touching foam) and coat a layer over it, then when it dries remove it and remove the wax paper and coat the inside (with the waterproof coating) (you do want the whole filter removable to make cleaning easier). and remember, these frogs get most of their drinking water from beads on the leaves and not from pools.
and i think that pretty much sums it up. alot of people also get fogging systems or rain systems for even more realism, and to help with humidty (80-100%).
if you have any questions feel free to PM me and i will answer them the best i can, since im sure i probably forgot about something in here. anyway, good luck and let us know how it goes

[cmack91]

oh yeah, sorry i dont really have any pics to show you, at least right now, i can start searching though, youtube also has some pretty good examples, just type in "paludarium" in the search bar and it should lead you to some good ones eventually