Popular Amphibians. Philippe De Vosjoli
flush the gravel bed more thoroughly. To do this, pour greater amounts of water over the land area and siphon out the flushed water from the water section. Two to three flushes will clear out a significant amount of waste while retaining enough bacterial colonization in the gravel to still act as a biological filter.
This is a basic inexpensive shoreline setup. The land area is a gravel bed. The plants are Chinese evergreen rinsed free of soil and planted in the gravel. A layer of moist moss covers most of the land area. A section of cork serves as a shelter. A low-wattage incandescent bulb over a basking site or a fluorescent bulb is used for lighting. The water can be changed using a small plastic container or a turkey baster.
Advanced Shoreline Vivaria
You can create a larger, more complex shoreline vivaria (at least 6 square feet) by planting a variety of shoreline plants and increasing the lighting over parts of the water section.
Along the shoreline, add Java moss (Vesicularia dubyana) into the water. With time, the moss will creep partially onto wood, cork, and rough rock while spreading in the water section. Also place semiaquatic plants, such as dwarf umbrella (Cyperus alternifolius dwarf), sweet flag (Acorus gramineus), slender arrowhead (Sagittaria graminea), Anubias spp., sword plants (Echinodorus spp.), and pennywort (Hydrocotyle spp.), along the shoreline with their bases submerged. Always leave open passages that allow frogs to easily access and exit the water. To create even more biological complexity, you can grow aquatic plants in the water section. To do this, add a layer of substrate (e.g., gravel, sand, or clay) to the floor of the water area, and plant with short aquatic plants such as dwarf Sagittaria (S. subulata var. dwarf).
Aquaria
Hypothetically, aquaria for aquatic amphibians should be set up in the same manner as aquaria for fish. However, unless you want to keep very large species of fish or amphibians, there is only one way to design aquaria: create a natural-looking biological system using biological filtration and live plants to maintain water quality. Step-by-step details for this technique are provided here:
Step 1. Choose tank size and animal density
Because amphibians vary in proportion, it is difficult to provide specific guidelines based on size. A very general guideline is that the tank should have a length at least four times the length of the largest animal. For example, a 3-inch-long newt needs a tank at least 12 inches long. A general guideline for animal population is to provide a minimum of 1 gallon of tank space for every 2 inches of animal. Generally, a lower density of animals reduces biological waste, which makes water quality easier to maintain.
Step 2.Add substrate
Prior to introduction, thoroughly rinse the substrate to remove dirt and dust. At the bottom of the tank, place a 1.5- to 2-inch layer of coarse aquarium sand or fine aquarium gravel (up to a 0.5-inch diameter) or a fired clay substrate. Do not use fine silica sand, which is too dense for adequate root penetration, and do not use coarse gravel, which is too thick for good rooting.
Step 3. Furnish with rocks, wood, and cork bark
Next, add landscape structures, such as fresh water drift-wood, rock, or cork bark. Aquarium stores usually carry a good selection of rock and wood suitable for use in tanks, while reptile supply stores usually carry cork bark.
To achieve aesthetic uniformity, select one kind of wood or rock that resembles what is found in nature. Use only wood and rock with smooth edges to reduce the risk of injury to the aquarium inhabitants. The rock and wood should cover less than a third of the surface area of the tank. Usually just a few pieces are adequate as background or as a centerpiece around which plants can be arranged.
Much of the wood sold in aquarium stores leaches tannins when initially introduced into tanks. These tannins turn water the color of tea. It might be necessary to change the water many times over the first weeks or months to reduce the level of leached tannins to a point where the water is relatively clear. An alternative is to soak the wood in a large tub of water for several weeks prior to introduction.
Cork bark should be weighted down, glued to the tank sides with silicone, or wedged between the sides of an aquarium. It also leaches tannins, but only for a relatively short period of time.
Cork bark and drift wood should be soaked in tubs of water prior to use to clear them of dust and debris, and to allow tannins to leach out.
Step 4.Add plants
Plant heavily when you set up a tank rather than gradually adding plants over an extended period of time. This speeds up the time required for the tank to become balanced and biologically active. One advantage of a heavily planted tank is that the plants use excess nutrients in the water, leaving little available for algae growth.
Island Aquaria
Island aquaria consist of a tank that holds at least 10 gallons of water, preferably more, with the water level at least 3 inches below the top of the tank and one or two land areas emerging from the water. Because the structures used to construct islands take up space, larger aquaria are better suited for this type of design. You can use freshwater drift-wood or rock to create the islands or attach panes of glass or acrylic (with silicone) to create underwater towers. As an alternative to islands, you can add a shelf by attaching a panel of glass or Plexiglas‚ to the back or sides of the tank using silicone. As with an aquarium, the water area needs to have good filtration and live plants. With island aquaria, large sponge filters or submersible filters are most effective because the low water level is unsuited for external, hanging-type power filters.
Island aquaria are half-filled tanks with islands made of stacked wood or rocks or wedged cork bark.
Plant Selection
Because most aquatic amphibians do not like bright lights, you will do best with aquatic plants that thrive in low to moderate light levels; many are listed on the next page.
Background Plants
These plants are likely to grow as tall as the height of your aquarium, creating a beautiful, naturalistic background. In some designs, you can place one or more tall plants in the middle of the floor plan to add another visual dimension to the tank. Newts and frogs will use tall plants for climbing or resting near the water surface and also as egg-laying sites. Among the best choices tested and proven with the species in this book are: water wisteria (Hygrophila difformis), elodea (E. Densa), Sagittaria spp. (S. subulata, S. graminea, and others), Vallisneria spp. (the ribbon-leafed V. spiralis and the twisted-leafed V. tortifolia), large Amazon swords, and tall Cryptocoryne spp. (C. balansae, C. ciliata, C. retrospiralis).
When growing plants hydro-ponically in gravel, they must be cleaned of any soil before being added to the substrate.
With bunch-type stem plants, such as water wisteria and elodea, regular pruning and pinching keeps plants controlled and bushy. Insert the cut sections in gravel to produce additional plants. Rosette- or ribbon-forming plants, such as Sagittaria spp., Vallisneria spp., and sword plants, will produce runners.
Midlevel Plants
These plants typically grow a quarter to half the height of the aquarium and are best planted in the middle areas of the floor substrate. Good species are medium Cryptocoryne (C. affinis and C. blassii), medium Sagittaria spp., smaller sword plants, and Anubias spp. (A. afzelii, A.