The Ultimate Terrarium: Creating a Self-sustaining Habitat for Tree Frogs and Fish

Creating a self-sustaining (or very nearly so) habitat for tree frogs and fish can be very time-consuming, but very rewarding in the end...

Begin by deciding what sort of environment you wish to create and what sorts of critters you'd like to put in the tank. This is extremely important, as many frogs and fish are only compatible with certain environments and species. For example, my tank has White's Tree Frogs. These are large tree frogs from Australia - they can reach sizes relative to a small adult fist and are cannibalistic, meaning they'll eat other frogs (even of their own species) if those frogs are small enough to fit in their mouths. White's will also eat lizards, newts, salamanders (which is why newts and salamanders should never go in the same tank with frogs - if eaten, they are toxic!), along with their normal diet of insects. Therefore, I can only have White's Tree Frogs of SIMILAR size in my tank and nothing else. If I'd wanted multiple frog species, it would have been necessary to choose something else...

As far as basic tank set up goes, it is again necessary to choose your critters ahead of time, as some may prefer more land, some more water, some more height, etc. Again, I'll use my tank as an example, as it is easiest. White's are tree frogs that get rather large, so I chose a tall 29 gallon tank - I only have three frogs, so this is plenty of space.

Being tree frogs, White's require LAND, so I backed the tank with cork bark and stacked up the sides with rocks and caulked the gaps with moss (excellent for keeping the humidity up). I created ledges and caves and placed large branches in the tank to give the frogs numerous vantage points and places to hide (they're nocturnal and like to hide out during the day). I also built a small waterfall into the rocks - again, this is great for humidity, plus it keeps oxygen cycling through the water in the bottom of the tank.