Giant Riparian Pond Tank for Tiny Aquatic Frogs

This is a tiny frog, and here are some of its friends. For three years they've lived together in this little paludarium. However, that time has come to an end, because I just built them a much larger pond-style setup. This video is sponsored by Fritz Aquatics. I'm in the process of streamlining my animal room to make it as easily maintained as possible so we can enjoy it to its fullest. By we, I mean the animals, myself, and you. I know I haven't shown it in a while, and that's because it's a construction zone at the moment, all in due time. A huge part of that is replacing any setup that's even slightly annoying to maintain. While most are fine at this point, one that's been lingering is this African dwarf frog paludarium. The setup remains clean, so it doesn't need much work. However, when it does, it's very challenging to fit my hands through the scape to clean the glass or add water. And don't even get me started on accessing the pump. It's nearly impossible without messing something up. Like a lousy recipe, these issues are baked into the design. That's when I decided to make a much larger replacement. Now, these frogs are notorious for having difficulty finding their food. As a result, it's generally recommended to keep them in something smaller. That said, there's a pretty easy solution that I've implemented with mine, tap training. It's like sending a morse code signal to the frogs who've learned to decipher this as come to the front, it's time for food. Theoretically, this would scale up to a larger setup, but there was only one way to find out. Did I mention that these frogs are tiny? They can't just go into some massive aquarium with deep water. They do best in relatively shallow water that's around 12 inches deep or less. While I could have bought something like this ready-made, you know how things go on this channel. I wanted to keep it cheap, which meant go the custom route and build it myself. Well, kind of. I had an open space right above the wild betta aquarium that was perfect for something like this. I began sifting through my glass piles to see what I could build within this footprint when I remembered about the old tanks in the corner of the animal room. This one was the perfect size for that rack and it was already drilled. I decided to take it apart to modify it. Usually this is straightforward, but this tank fought back. The frame did not want to come off in one piece. Cutting through the seams to separate the glass, as you can see with this first one, is also usually easy. However, the glass was so close with the others that they were practically non-existent. There wasn't even room for the razor. I was trying for almost a half hour and eventually got impatient and took a more forceful approach. Well, that was unfortunate. At least it finally made enough room for me to get it done. That's when I removed all the old silicone. The only modification needed from there was a shorter piece of glass in the front. First, I cut off the part with the broken corner. Then I removed some of the bottom. This tool makes it easy to score a line that I can then turn into a fissure with the wedge on the back and ultimately separate the glass. I buffed out those sharp edges before taping everything off and reassembling the tank with some silicone. With that, the foundation for greatness was set. Well, almost. I removed the film from this tank to cover this one. I also added some to the sides. I needed bulkheads as well. Nah, that's too small. And that's too big. Almost right. Now that's more like it. I had to find some barbed elbows to connect to this canister filter as well as a strainer for the intake. This one was too small though. Luckily, I was able to MacGyver it with some other random piece. That was great and all, but would it even hold water? You know what? I'm not going to waste your time or mine with some fake YouTuber drama. It held water just fine. With the foundation for greatness set, I was free to create the hardscape. I wanted to keep it fairly simple to maintain full and easy access into the tank. I'd also use these branches to create other features, so I kept that in mind too. Making these scapes can take a while, but I was actually able to move forward with the first configuration I tried with this one. However, I needed stones to prop them up and didn't want them directly on the glass. A sheet of acrate would help evenly distribute their weight. I also just kind of like the idea of having a barrier between delicate glass and heavy rocks. It just seems like a good idea. That said, I did have to use a board to hold it all up while including other elements. Even though I knew how I wanted things arranged and it came together quickly, at this point it took many fine adjustments to have it appear correct, or at least what I deemed to be correct. I don't know about you, but I'm not interested in the game of floating driftwood or ruining a scape during maintenance. That's why I mixed up epoxy. This made the task of securing the design against such scenarios effortless. This was going to be a planted tank, and for that I'd need an appropriate substrate. These Fritz Super Sacks are my new go-to for creating substrate bags. They'll neatly hold the materials below a bed of sand where only the plant roots can access them. Otherwise, these particles could migrate to the surface over the course of time, ruining the aesthetic. I'd prefer that doesn't occur, as well as keep those elements away from the frogs who could accidentally ingest them. That's also why I'm using play sand, which has very fine granules. Yo, play sand Tanner here. I just wanted to pop in real quick to see if you'd like, comment, and subscribe to help support the channel. Of course, I thoroughly rinsed it before concealing the substrate bags. While the sand made it look better, it could use a few embellishments. A piece of driftwood there to follow the directional vibe of the scape, one back here to accentuate what I imagined to be the root structure of a degraded tree, and a tiny one on the back to increase the sense of depth. These smaller stones helped with all of that as well. I locked these branches in with epoxy, making way for the final element, spiderwood branches. I used these to mirror the features of the central design. They would have floated as well, but epoxy would have been challenging to use. Instead, I applied superglue and covered it with coco fiber. Now I had a huge mess on my hands. I preferred a scape before adding sand for this reason, but that wasn't an option here. Luckily, a little water and the shop vac cleaned that up no problem. You may have noticed this elbow in the top right. That's for the filter's return, which will be used to create a drip system on the hard scape. I connected a tube to this and zip tied it along the branch in the back where it snakes onto the rest of the wood. Here I drilled in a few spots to add more ties. The entire length wasn't necessary. Finally, I put slices in the tip to seal it off. What remained kind of looked like a giant millipede crawling on the branches. After filling the tank and poking holes in the tube, I was eager to see the results. And nothing. This filter just didn't have the chops to deal with my antics. There was another in the corner of the room that was intended for a different project, but its time came a little sooner than anticipated. It works! I poked the thing full of holes to get better distribution, but I couldn't have water spraying everywhere. The easiest solution was to simply layer on scraps of geotextile fabric to dampen the flow. It would also absorb water to create a growing surface for moss. I wouldn't add that until after the other plants though. When I think of a pond style design, I immediately go to the riparian zone at the water's edge. I give more detail about that and how to grow plants like this in the definitive guide to house plants in an aquarium if you want to learn more. What that meant for this design though was clustering plants behind the scape on the right to give the illusion of land while still being usable for the frogs. Then I covered the fabric with this beautiful moss before moving down into the water. While the frogs are large enough not to be harmed by the intake, I added a sponge pre-filter for good measure. As before, I grouped plants close to the hard scape to simulate the look of that transitional riparian zone into open water. However, I had little to work with, so I had to take everything from the frog's current home to get a denser look. I couldn't leave that hemigraphus behind either. It's one of my favorite plants because I love the fine textures it brings to setups like this. A pond style setup wouldn't be complete without floating plants either. Even so, the crypts are what really made this one shine. The front of the tank was looking pretty dirty after that, so I had to wipe it down with some fritz glass cleaner. It's an awesome option because it's animal safe and protects the glass from collecting dust or fingerprints. I also added some fritz turbo start nitrifying bacteria to jumpstart the cycle. Like all new setups, it must mature to look its best. Even so, I'm really pleased with the result. I didn't want to reinvent the wheel or go crazy. Just a simple design to maximize the space for the frogs while allowing them to feel at home. After all, I think they were wondering what did I just do to theirs. I felt bad about what I had to do next because they thought I was bringing them food. At first, this one didn't want to have anything to do with the net, but once introduced into its new home, it stuck around for quite a while. The second was keen to my schemes because it was even more ornery. Yet, it also seemed to feel comfortable in the net. However, after entering the tank, she just kind of sat there and stared at me. As if to say, what's all this? I thought you were feeding me. Needless to say, I told her what was up and hand delivered the food directly. That's when I saw a movement on the other side of the tank. This one must have been looking for food as well. The third was the hardest of all to round up. I gotta say though that I'm astounded at how receptive these animals are after being in my care for so many years. While such an experience could easily be stressful on them, they didn't skip a beat whatsoever. While this new setup is three times the usable footprint of the old one, it only holds a few more gallons of water. That's alright though, the horizontal space is much more critical for the frogs. And while I've explained the reasons for building it, there is one that I didn't tell you. It's bittersweet to see the old tank in shambles, but that's all part of the process. Where one chapter ends, another can begin. Due to uncontrollable circumstances, I only have three of the six original frogs. The plan was always to breed them, but that can't happen just yet because these are all females. That said, I just so happen to have some eligible bachelors who will meet these lovely ladies very soon. If you want more frog content like this, you'll love to see how I made a little jungle for some tree frogs, or a proper oasis for my fire-bellied toads. As always, thanks for watching. Until next time SerpaSquad, take care and peace.