I assume you were refering to a different DH? If not, I may well be taking my design into production soon, so stay tuned :) BTW, for those building water features, I think I have found something better than great stuff. I just ordered some fiberglass sheets and a whole heap of resin. I'll let ya know if it works out well when I get it.

-DH

oh yeah, and congratulations on your new tank :)

-DH

DH = Dear Husband

DOn't you only need to feed FBTs a few times a week, not every day?

LOL, deadhamster! =) Yes, I meant my Dear Husband, as Nathan wrote, not you. =)

breton: I'm not quite sure, yet. I know that Pet Stores tell you you only need to feed FBTs a few times a week, but I don't put much stock by their advice! Steve Brighton is out resident frog-care expert, so maybe he'll let us know. And if not, I'll email him. There is also a very good old post on the forum on the care of FBTs, which I will review unti l have it memorized! =) I did do an internet search as well, but found some misinformation, some contradictory info (one site said males were larger/huskier, one said the females were, and both were scientific sites!), and some factual, but it's hard to sort what's true from what's not if you have no experience with frog-keeping! And even if I don't need to feed them every day, it will still be nice to have that easier access with the front sliding door. I just hope it's not too heavy for me. . . since it will be about 23 x 32 inches. I'm wondering if I should make this one piece acrylic instead of glass. Any thoughts? I know how easily it scratches, so I'll be extra careful with it (and good thing it's too high up for my toddler son to reach!), but I'm really worried about this big sheet of glass falling out one day and shattering on the floor.

I don't know yet what I'll do for my waterfeature, but I know I want less of a splashy waterfall! I might do just a trickling stream and rely on a misting system or hydrofogger and/or rain wall to keep stuff watered. I also don't know what I'll use for the tree form, but probably not Great Stuff, as per the discussion previously on the forum. I might use that foam for ponds (though it must be used outside, because of it's toxicity while it cures), but the stuff my DH originally brought home has to be wet-cured (great for people fixing their already running pond waterfalls and streams, not great for me), so I don't know. Might just carve it out of good old pink styrofoam! I am used to working with it, so it might be the best option. Then I'll have to figure out the concrete bonder and peat moss thing. . .

As a person who has a to slide a 5'x3' glass panel to get into his existing tank (and broke it once already, barely avoiding involuntary amputation), I would suggest acrylic :) Where do you get the pink foam? I want to build mine out of it and cover it over in fiberglass. I was thinking about packing material...

-DH

The pink foam is sold at Home Depot and other such places. It's the stuff for insulating houses. Very nice to carve because it isn't composed of little balls, unlike other styrofoams. It's smooth, but sturdy. It's not very thick, but you can just glue several layers together to get the thickness you want. I find Weld-Bond works well, as does silicone. Scoring the foam helps, too (so that the glue can get into the little score-marks).

Yeah, I really think I'll go with acrylic. I'd rather have a couple scratches on it than have a glass door fall out and cut my toe off, or worse, land on my kid or cat! Even just shattering all over the floor would be a disaster. . . (ever try to keep your toddler or cat away from glass shards? Near impossible without physically restraining them).

Sahoy - I'm already envious of your old tank, so very beautiful - I guess I'm just going to die when I see your new one!! :)

Just finished setting up our terrarium - it's a 55 rectangle tank. I'm beginning to find out how bothersome it is removing the covers and lights to do maintenance. I will be posting pics soon - keep in mind, it's our first one!

Nancy

Look forward to pics of your new terr, Nancy! I always love seeing pics of other people's terrariums, and you shouldn't worry at all about yours not being 'as good as mine'. Mine actually looks pretty sad right now. The pics you've seen are old, when it was in it's prime.

I do have a buyer for my tank now! So hopefully I can start the process of getting the new one set up. The main problem is that the buyer is moving in a few weeks, so I need to wait before he wants to take it, but at the same time, I don't expect him to pay until he actually gets the tank, so I need to temporarily go into debt in order to make the new one. =P The glass will be the only real expense, since I already have the plants and a lot of driftwood, but still, I hope it works out! Because I need to have the old tank totally clean when the guy wants to buy it, which doesn't leave me much time! Right now I'm just planning the new tank and potting up my current plants in preparation for their move. It's actually nice that this is happening though, because the cedar mulch I'm using as substrate is bad for frogs, so I need to switch to cypress or fir mulch anyways, so I don't need to worry about transfering all that media to the new tank. I do hope I can find a source for cypress mulch though. . .

Mr.B: I wanted you to post something here! Read this thread already! =P =)

I don't think you will be dissappointed with the acrylic sahoyaref. If you are making a door with it, consider doing it on the side and using glass on the front. That way if the acrylic gets scratched, it isn't on the front where people will be looking at it anyway. And you might want to put weather stripping around the door to keep in some of that heat/humidity. You can grab it at an auto parts store easy enough. Thanks for the tip about the foam, I've built my waterfall and should be coating it with fiberglass this week.

-DH

Thanks for the tips, hamster, but for now I'm counting on a fairly close fit for the sliding door. =) If that doesn't work, of course I'll look at other options. But I don't need to heat my terrarium as much as you do, so I don't have to worry about an air-tight seal. I figure a bit of a gap (a very little bit) is fine, and will keep the terr. from overheating. As for the humidity, I've found that tiny cracks don't really effect it.

Was just deconstructing my tank this morning! Potting up plants, taking some of the bark out, wondering where to store everything until my new tank is ready. . . the glass guys should call me today or tomorrow with a quote on the glass pieces. Then I have to figure out if it would be cheaper to do the back corner with plywood coated in epoxy paint and pond liner. . . or even fibreglass. Makes me realize how much I hate math! Though I must admit I did somewhat enjoy figuring out what angle the glass needed to be cut at for the top and bottom pieces, and what the width of the front piece was. But then, i did always enjoy trig. . . anyways, I hope it ends up being cheap enough! Bit of a money crunch right now, though I could technically just put the plants in a small tank if the guy wants the tank sooner than mine is ready, and then use that small tank for my sump later. I figure filtration will be way easier that way, and cheaper than a Fluval! I can also put my water heater(s) in there, and not worry about them being in the tank and a frog sitting on them. I'm really excited about getting frogs now! Of course I don't know how my husband will react when I tell him that he will have to pick crickets up for me on his way home from work at least once a week. . . =)

Feed Fire-bellied Toads every day or less often? Once you see how much they love their food, it's an easy call to decide to give them that regular daily stimulation. But you can just as easily give them two or three days supply of crickets at a time and leave them to it. The advantage of daily feeding is that dusted and vitamin-loaded crickets can be observed being eaten right there in front of you without delay - you know it's doing your FB's good and isn't going to be wasted or washed off by hanging around for several days. The toads (they're technically 'frogs', of course) get hand-tame with a little patience and actually approach you for food - but you don't have to do it this way. Just leave insects and amphibeans to work it out on their own, if you prefer.

Fortunately, the answer to this feeding frequency question is do whatever is convenient - maybe vary between the two regimes? As long as the planted-up habitat can hide a good quantity of crickets, it's no problem to take a week's holiday without getting a house sitter to come in and feed the FB's.

The more water volume you build in, the cleaner it will stay between change-overs. But it only needs to be an inch or two or three deep. The more climb-out items you include, plus immerse plants, the more naturally (and entertainingly) they behave. They'll breed faily easily too - just one tadpole at at at time, whenever they feel like it!

Steve - Brighton, Sussex Coast, UK

Thanks, Steve! (Ignore my feeding question on your other post. I didn't read this one first). I guess I'll do my best to feed daily, but since I am a mom with a young child and another one on the way, I'll probably miss the odd day! And I also understand that crickets cannot swim, and will end up dead, floating on the water, so I don't want to waste half the crickets.

And yes, I'll definitely have places for them to sit in the water, and lots of water plants. That's part of the reason I decided on a paludarium. I just love those emergent plants! Already have some anubias. I'm hoping they don't breed too vigorously though. . . I read that the female will deposit 200-300 eggs! Of course I would let the parents eat most of the tadpoles, but I'm sure some survive (if I feed them). What do you feed your tadpoles?