Live plants for frog tank

[Chicken]

Hey everyone, i have a green tree frog terrarium that is 70cm tall 50 deep and 50 wide with a fake rock background. Right now it houses one baby green tree frog but ill be looking to get 2 more next year. The whole floor of the tank is covered in 1/2 inch of river rocks then a 2 inch layer of water. So i was thinking and decided i would like to put some live plants in there. Ok so i have whatsoever absolutely no clue about different types of plants so i need some experienced guys to help me out. So the plant MUST be safe for my frogs! It has to be able to grow in the water, so maybe some type of water plant or something? The plant needs to be able to put up with daily misting, humidity, warm water and constant temps of 25 - 28c. It also must be able to fit in my tank. Is there any vine or anything that will kind of grow up the glass and stick to the glass? Cheers guys

 

[ozziepythons]

Devils ivy can be grown from a cutting in water itself, and grows readily. Spathiphyllum can be grown in a pot of soil or inwater (without soil) as well. Both species can tolerate low levels of light and very little maintenance. Neither are toxic to frogs and they can rest on the leaves.

 

[Chicken]

I like the look of Spathipyllum, very good bonus it can grow in water. Nice big leaves which is good the frogs can rest on them. How well it go under a 5.0? Thanks for the help

 

[rockstar_jones]

Plus 1 for the devils ivy.

I have frog enclosures that are 2.2mx1mx.6m and have some devils ivy plants in these that have been going for 3-4 years. Started off from small cuttings, and now have 10mm thick vines/stems with 200mm long leaves!

Responds well to good pruning, with offcuts that can be started as new plants.

Cast iron plant seems to go well also, but slower growing. Also can grow in water.

Have had good success with elephant ear plants, but could be a bit big for what you have in mind. Have had these plants put out pups that randomly pop up as small seedlings throughout the tank flooring even after 12 months of removing the big plant because it has outgrown the tank!

Fruit salad plants and various philodendrons work well aswell. Can pick these up as tube stock cheaply aswell.

Have had good success with weeping fig plants. Mine tend to have a lot of leaf loss in the initial planting but after a couple of months come back strong and grow quite rapidly. You can kind of prune these to shape after a year or so. You can usually pick up small tubestock of these which may go alright and last a long time in your size tank.

Look up java moss on ebay or something aswell, can make a good addition to the wet areas in your tank and grows rapidly.

Regards, Michael

Edit: just saw you're running a 5.0. That might be a bit harsh on the spath. species. See how you go though might be alright. I usually run the 2.0's for my GTF's and my Magnificients with gro-lux hydroponic globes as supplementary lighting and have never had a problem.

 

[glassless_mind]

Fruit salad plants are actually somewhat toxic, if the leaves are damaged. They can inject calcium oxalate raphid crystals and cause irritation, resulting in congestion, swelling and pain. Might want to watch out for that.

 

[glassless_mind]

sorry, raphite crystals, not raphid
Good luck with the frogs. My partner wants to set up a tank and have green tree frogs at some stage.

 

[Chicken]

Rockstar very helpful thanks a lot. I like the cast iron and the spath, how big does cast iron grow? Can i trim it? Ill go with a 2.0 then, is that ok for cast iron? Thanks a lot.

 

[rockstar_jones]

hey sorry for the late reply. 2.0 seems fine on most plants I have kept.

glassless - Back when i started with frogs many years ago I soon discovered that most plants including devils ivy are somewhat toxic. However through a lot of research don't really pose any threat unless consumed. As for plants being damaged and leaking substances I have never had a problem. I can't recall even having a leaf of a plant damaged by my frogs and my GTF are all up around 9-11cm's


Regards, michael

 

[hornet]

the thing you have to remember with alot of the plants mentioned here, because they dont naturally grow in water year round (some are underwater for a few months a year from natural flooding) they often will not do well in the long term submerged. Your best bet would be either making the foor of you tank part land part water or sticking to plants that naturally live in the water. You could quite possibly collect your own if you have a look round lakes, rivers, streams etc

 

[rockstar_jones]

Yes agreed, forgot to mention that I have dedicated land sections. Also found eBay is good for waterloving and exotic plants, just beware of snails eggs that show up on aquatic plants etc.

 

[Snakeluvver2]

Hey mate I'm only a beginner myself in the live plant terrium conquest but heres something I did a few days ago.
http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/general-discussion-42/homemade-frog-back-ground-151068/

Using Bromeliads and African Voilet.
I should be getting some small ferns and java moss as well.

 

[xavarx7]

Hey mate to give you an idea and how to make a live plant frog viv you can check out my youtube account, it has a 5 part tut on how to make a live plant frog viv
YouTube - JesseAKASlick's Channel

 

[Trench]

Java moss, here is a thread about it http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/general-discussion-42/java-moss-152193/

and there is some for sale here java moss, Home, Books, Magazines, riccia items at low prices on eBay.com.au

or you could try java fern, there is some for sale here java fern, Home, crypt items at low prices on eBay.com.au

 

[Chicken]

Thanks Trench ive got some already

 

[Trench]

ok cool

 

[Froggiestyle]

awesome going to try some of these plants. i also known peace lily grows very well in a hot humid vivarium.

I am trying out some aquatic plants but as for now they seem to be dying atm, going to give them a month and see what happens hopefully they re spout with new leaves.

I had a devils ivy in one of my tanks and got told its toxic to frogs it releases something from the leaves which irritate the frogs causing sore and ends in death.
So i took that out and replaced it with the peace lily.