Emersed UG/UG... with frogs?

[AlexW]

So, kinda an odd question but right now I'm growing my HC and UG emersed in amazonia and am looking at getting a poison dart frog tank... thinking it'd be awesome to have the carpet plant being either HC or UG, preferably UG.

Anyway, the recommended substrate for the frogs is coco fiber and I'm wondering if anyone thinks UG or HC would have a reason to not survive in coco fiber? The frogs shouldn't be a harmful thing to them... but would the frog poop negatively affect them?

Gonna be probably a 20 gallon with a catalina double cfl or a fishneedit t5...

Thanks!
Alex

[marrow]

I have seen brilliant dart frog tanks with riccia for a carpet, It looks brilliant and not like riccia usually looks like at all. There is quite an avid dart frog community out there that would have tons of advice for you on suitable carpet plants for frog tanks. Most of what I have seen has been on the mossy side of things.

[AlexW]

Thanks!
yeah, thats where I got the idea lol, since I knew riccia was a commonly used carpet plant for dart frogs I thought UG might work too lol

I checked with them... didn't find anyone who knew what UG was so I guess I'll have to try it out for myself, if it doesn't work that's a bummer, if it does... great!

[rain-]

I've kept both in my dart frog tanks and they don't mind. I've had them on several different substrates: plain sphagnum moss, coco humus + fir bark chips, sand+peat, and also on a tree fern plate. They seem to do fine in many different conditions.

[CL]

I would think that pdfs would do good on amazonia as well, but idk for sure. This site is really helpful fyi- http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/

[AlexW]

Originally Posted by rain-

I've kept both in my dart frog tanks and they don't mind. I've had them on several different substrates: plain sphagnum moss, coco humus + fir bark chips, sand+peat, and also on a tree fern plate. They seem to do fine in many different conditions.

Awesome, thanks!
I was kinda worried that the frogs might end up trampling it which would suck lol

I thought about amazonia CL... but I'm 16 and decided a 4 dollar brick of coco fiber is alot better for me than a whole 9 liter bag of amazonia :P

[4f1hmi]

UG may work with cocofibers but when you grow them emersed IME, they tend to have a pale green color and do not root strongly enough. I may be wrong about it's weak rooting that I just got impatient with it waiting for about 2 months growing it. I did grew them outside with natural sunlight though and used ADA soil. Growing them indoors with highlighting may turn out differently. Good luck on your project

[rain-]

Here's a good photo of emersed UG. In my experience that plant looks and grows the best when grown emersed, but with high light and ferts you can achieve nice results underwater too.

It is a fragile plant and does indeed have tiny roots, but after it has settled in it can handle trampling tiny frogs too.

[CL]

Originally Posted by AlexW

Awesome, thanks!
I was kinda worried that the frogs might end up trampling it which would suck lol

I thought about amazonia CL... but I'm 16 and decided a 4 dollar brick of coco fiber is alot better for me than a whole 9 liter bag of amazonia :P

True, but coco fiber has 0 nutrients, so the UG might suffer.

[rain-]

Frog poop + dead fruit flies and decomposing plant matter will offer nutrients.

[CL]

Originally Posted by rain-

Frog poop + dead fruit flies and decomposing plant matter will offer nutrients.

I forgot about the frog poop

[rain-]

It's actually quite potent even though not that visible (just tiny black droppings here and there). Most of the PDF keepers don't fertilize their terrariums at all and the plants grow very vigorously.

[CL]

I would be afraid to fertilize with darts in there. Their skin absorbs everything.

[rain-]

Yup, their sensitivity is the reason why there's no additives used.