10g Badis and Firefrog Palace

Set this one up yesterday. I recently got a pair of scarlet badis and two firebelly toads for my 55g paludarium, but they're both way too small to play with the big boys. The toads will go in the 55 once they grow up a bit, but not the badis. They probably won't get any bigger than their current size of <1". I appear to have confused the scarlet badis (Dario dario) with Badis badis, which gets about three times as big. So, they're probably in here for good. I am fairly sure I have a male-female pair, so who knows; maybe in a species tank they'll give us some babies.

For good measure, we added around a dozen huge (c. 1") scuds we found in a pond yesterday. Hopefully their babies will keep the badis fed.

So, here it is. Unlike most of my tanks, with this one I've made absolutely no effort to recreate a certain place. I just tried to create the healthiest badis and frog habitat possible. The frogs are currently hanging out on some floating water fern and rhododendron. They'll have a moss-covered, floating island to live on as soon as the paint dries. Water is still a little cloudy from fresh substrate, but that should clear up soon.

Check out the size of that scud. There are at least a dozen of them in here.




Such photogenic little guys...

Very nice! I hope these little froggies grow up nice and big. Froglets are always adorable little things. Out of curiosity, where did you end up deciding to get them from?

Seisage said:

Very nice! I hope these little froggies grow up nice and big. Froglets are always adorable little things. Out of curiosity, where did you end up deciding to get them from?

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My local pet store was able to order them! That was a nice surprise.

A rather handsome pond snail, also collected from the frog/scud pond. It has been laying eggs, which bodes well for the badis. I've read that they are mighty hunters of baby snails. Between that and the scuds, my live food worries might be over...

Built a floating island out of blue foam, painted with Drylok and concrete pigment. Rhododendron growing through a hole in the center (@Wills , you might be interested in that), and top surface covered with moss collected from the mountains. Toothpicks are to keep it away from the aquarium walls so fruit flies can't escape.

Lil fella is enjoying a tax-free life

question - do terrestrial mosses work best with a lid on to keep humidity or is that just a way to have mould grow?

MattW3344 said:

Lil fella is enjoying a tax-free life

question - do terrestrial mosses work best with a lid on to keep humidity or is that just a way to have mould grow?

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As long as the edges are touching water, they don't seem to care about air humidity; they just stay soaked from below. I'm actually going to replace part of the glass with stainless mesh for better ventilation, since too high a humidity isn't great for the frogs.

One word of caution regarding the moss: if you have native frogs/other amphibians that frequent the areas you collected the moss from, there's a chance (a slim chance, but still a chance) of spreading chytrid to your FBTs. Not meant to cause alarm, but wanted to mention that it is a risk. There are likely other hitchhikers on the moss, even if you washed it, but depending on how particular you are about your setup, those won't be as much of an issue. The only animal hitchhiker I could see posing a danger to the frogs are centipedes, which are usually easily spotted. But don't be surprised if you find a few unexpected critters

Seisage said:

One word of caution regarding the moss: if you have native frogs/other amphibians that frequent the areas you collected the moss from, there's a chance (a slim chance, but still a chance) of spreading chytrid to your FBTs. Not meant to cause alarm, but wanted to mention that it is a risk. There are likely other hitchhikers on the moss, even if you washed it, but depending on how particular you are about your setup, those won't be as much of an issue. The only animal hitchhiker I could see posing a danger to the frogs are centipedes, which are usually easily spotted. But don't be surprised if you find a few unexpected critters

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I didn't think about chytrid or other pathogens; the pond where we collected the moss and scuds is indeed completely filled with leopard frogs. Too late now; we'll just hope for the best. On the optimistic side, if the pond had chytrid I doubt it would be so completely full of very healthy frogs.

Other than pathogens, I don't mind unexpected critters. In fact, I rather enjoy them, and sometimes even count on them.

I just did a little reading. It appears the leopard frogs are very susceptible to chytrid, and frogs with poison glands tend to be resistant to it. So, there might be reason to hope for the best.

WhistlingBadger said:

Built a floating island out of blue foam, painted with Drylok and concrete pigment. Rhododendron growing through a hole in the center (@Wills , you might be interested in that), and top surface covered with moss collected from the mountains. Toothpicks are to keep it away from the aquarium walls so fruit flies can't escape.

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I am very interested I'd not thought of something like a Rhodedendron as a candidate for growing in water but they like wet conditions right?

Wills

Wills said:

I am very interested I'd not thought of something like a Rhodedendron as a candidate for growing in water but they like wet conditions right?

Wills

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They seem to like just about any conditions. They're an attractive weed.

At least you’re lil froggies are staying present

Magnum Man said:

At least you’re lil froggies are staying present

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So far! Fewer places for them to disappear into...

Wills said:

I am very interested I'd not thought of something like a Rhodedendron as a candidate for growing in water but they like wet conditions right?

Wills

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Also, the leaves are above water; the stem pokes down through a hole in the island. Similar to what you've done in various ways, just a little different take on it.