55g Himalayan Foothills Paludarium

[WhistlingBadger]

Here's the new, improved waterfall! I turned off the waterfall, fog, and bubbles for almost three days to let everything dry out really well, then siliconed the shelves back on. After letting it dry for so long, I realized that this Drylok finish was holding a lot of moisture, which was keeping the glue from fully adhering. I think this one's going to stick! Should look really nice once the moss grows in. (Also, enjoy some of the Badgerling's flute practice @TheLavenderBadger )

 

[Colin_T]

@elephantnose3334 should check this out to get ideas about the paludarium they want to make.

 

[elephantnose3334]

@elephantnose3334 should check this out to get ideas about the paludarium they want to make.

Oooh. Very big. But I'm not ready to build a paludarium yet.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Oooh. Very big. But I'm not ready to build a paludarium yet.

Let me know when you are, and I'll share lots of ways to creatively screw it up.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

I threw a small earthworm in the other day. The commercially-raised padamya barbs half-heartedly picked at it; the danios were curious but a bit frightened, the worm being bigger than they are; a couple of the hillstream loaches were attracted to the scent but unsure how to proceed. Then my wild-caught sand loaches showed up at the party, and they knew exactly what to do. That worm was torn to pieces and gone in about half a second.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Well, it has been three months since I've seen a fire belly toad. How time flies. I dreamed last night that the pet store ordered a pair of Asian rat snakes for me. Maybe it's time to give up on them. Looking into ordering some more from Josh's. Wish they weren't so stinking expensive.

Fish and plants are doing great. I think I'm actually going to remove a bunch of willow moss and trim some of the crypts during today's water change. It's always a good milestone when I have to start removing plants from a tank. I'm really enjoying this setup. It just needs something on the land area.

 

[jaylach]

Well, it has been three months since I've seen a fire belly toad. How time flies. I dreamed last night that the pet store ordered a pair of Asian rat snakes for me. Maybe it's time to give up on them. Looking into ordering some more from Josh's. Wish they weren't so stinking expensive.

I trust that you are aware that, according to Murphy's Law, as soon as you get new frogs the current ones will come out of hiding to meet the new friends.

Speaking of Murphy's Law, do you know O'riely's law? Just one rule that states that Murphy was an optimist...

 

[rebe]

Catching up with your paludarium adventure, and I have to say that I love your new profile picture Badger! A work of art!

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Catching up with your paludarium adventure, and I have to say that I love your new profile picture Badger! A work of art!

We had a little too much fun at "Family Art Night" at my school the other day.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Just found out my LFS can get firebelly toads, for only $40 and no shipping! Ordered a couple to start; we'll see what kind of shape they're in and go from there.

 

[jaylach]

From previous posts you have said that you feed fruit flies. I just did a quick search on what they eat and flies are not listed. Here is a short list...
Their diet includes:

• Mosquito larvae
• Aquatic insects
• Worms
• Beetles
• Spiders

 

[WhistlingBadger]

From previous posts you have said that you feed fruit flies. I just did a quick search on what they eat and flies are not listed. Here is a short list...
Their diet includes:

• Mosquito larvae
• Aquatic insects
• Worms
• Beetles
• Spiders

I was feeding them wingless fruitflies that they could catch, gut-loaded and dusted to make them nutritious. I think most frogs and toads are generalized bug eaters. If it's moving and it fits in their mouth, they'll eat it. Three seasons of the year, I can feed them ants, worms, spiders, and the rest. Winter is a little trickier, and if these make it and don't disappear on me, I'll probably go to fruit flies and crickets.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

New froggies are in at the pet store! Six of them! I think I can only afford two. But still. I want them all.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Got two frogs. They're tiny and half starved. Did some work toward solving that problem last night, when each of them devoured about a half dozen fruit flies. I set up a little 5 gallon tank for them. @TheLavenderBadger finally got her apistos for the 30g, so I needed a place for our pair of badis to live. So now the badis are downstairs (probably to be joined by some red cherry shrimp soon), and the frogs are upstairs. I plan to keep them there until they grow up a bit, then move them into the 55g.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

One of my hill stream loaches up and died this morning.

Other than that all is well! I'll try to get a new vid this week.