# Fire bellied toad water filtering



## Superarty (Feb 5, 2011)

Hi all, 
I know that fire bellied toads need a 60% water surface in their tank, but how do you go about filtering this? Unless it is a river flowing through the tank from a waterfall, down a pipe, through a filter and out the waterfall again I cannot see how you would do it.
Any help appreciated


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Exactly how much proportion of land to water is needed is open to debate; I have seen them thrive in everything from a woodland-style set-up with a large waterbowl to nearly completely aquatic, with just a few floating cork 'islands'. 60/40 sounds good to me, though.

Generally speaking, if you are going to filter, try not to give them a torrent- they don't live in fast-moving streams, and get disturbed by too much water movement. Either small power filter or even one of these air-powered box filters would be fine. If you are deperate to have a waterfal, aim for a gentle flow. I don't filter mine at all: a 25% water change, once a fortnight or so is fine.


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## Superarty (Feb 5, 2011)

Thanks! Do you keep your toads in an aquarium or an exo terra/zoo med terrarium?


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

A hexagonal aquarium at the moment. The land area is built up of large pebbles and bogwood, mounded with gravel and topped with java moss. Acorus and and Anubias root down through the gravel into the water. They will be moving into a standard-shaped 24" tank,soon,though, mostly for visibility- the current tank looks very pretty, but it's a bit crap for actually watching the toads!


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## Superarty (Feb 5, 2011)

Thanks, where do you get your aquariums from? Most of the ones I've found that are approximate in size to a 24" long exo-terra have been £40-£50 more. Also, where do you get the plants?


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Superarty said:


> Thanks, where do you get your aquariums from? Most of the ones I've found that are approximate in size to a 24" long exo-terra have been £40-£50 more. Also, where do you get the plants?


Both from petshops- altho I was lucky with the 24" tank- my local shop was upgrading their display area, and gave the old tanks away to regular customers :2thumb: If you check out local adverts, junk shops, Loot, Freecycle or Ebay, you can often get hold of them dirt cheap. Check them for leaks though; in most cases that's easy to fix with a small tube of silicon sealent.


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## Superarty (Feb 5, 2011)

Ron Magpie said:


> A hexagonal aquarium at the moment. The land area is built up of large pebbles and bogwood, mounded with gravel and topped with java moss. Acorus and and Anubias root down through the gravel into the water. They will be moving into a standard-shaped 24" tank,soon,though, mostly for visibility- the current tank looks very pretty, but it's a bit crap for actually watching the toads!


Sounds like an interesting setup, do you have any photos of it? most of the ones I've seen are just eco earth and a divider and then the water part.


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Superarty said:


> Sounds like an interesting setup, do you have any photos of it? most of the ones I've seen are just eco earth and a divider and then the water part.


There's a crappy cam phone pic or two on my profile- not having a decent camera, I've never gotten round to mastering pohtobucket!


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## Dlanefox (Feb 5, 2011)

this is my set up 2 weeks after moving them in i now have babies
i use a small aquarium filter at the back behind a piece of slate which help control the water flow its going really well


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Dlanefox said:


> image
> this is my set up 2 weeks after moving them in i now have babies
> i use a small aquarium filter at the back behind a piece of slate which help control the water flow its going really well


That's spectacular! :2thumb:


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## s6t6nic6l (May 15, 2010)

it's not worth using a filter with these toads esp' if you have 4 or more of them. the mucus they produce will create a film which covers the media in the filter so in essence you are not doing any water purifying at all. the best way, as ron is saying, is to replenish the "pool" with fresh water often. i do a 100% change fortnightly with purified water that has been "fast-flowed" through an ion exchanger so has not too lose to much minerals from the water (too much purification is just as bad) for there needs. so distilled water and the like changed often is best. i use a filter myself but only for the water feature and has only sponge and polyfilter as the media and the slime soon builds up in that.

that is an excellent setup you have there miss fox :2thumb:


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## Superarty (Feb 5, 2011)

Thanks for all the info. What are their lifespans (roughly)? There's a lot of conflicting advice all over the internet and I just wanted to make sure.


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Kept in conditions that suit them they can live twenty or more years.


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## Superarty (Feb 5, 2011)

Sorry for the endless stream of questions, but would a 18" long by 12" by 12" be big enough for two, or does it need to be bigger?
Edit: Also, is it okay to feed them earthworms?
And is it possible to sex them at young ages, I've read about males that never stop calling, so I'd prefer females
Thanks


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## Dlanefox (Feb 5, 2011)

Sometimes I wish I could take my males batteries out :lol2:


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Superarty said:


> Sorry for the endless stream of questions, but would a 18" long by 12" by 12" be big enough for two, or does it need to be bigger?
> Edit: Also, is it okay to feed them earthworms?
> And is it possible to sex them at young ages, I've read about males that never stop calling, so I'd prefer females
> Thanks


They are really hard to sex- in theory, adult males are supposed to be slightly smaller, and have thicker forearms- but it practice things are rarely so neat!:lol2: As has been discussed on this forum before, males seem to be rather more common than females in captivity. I don't mind, I like the calls, and I have four very happy gay boys!:2thumb:

That size would be fine for two, and suitably-sized earthworms are one of the best foods around for both reps and phibs, with an almost perfect calcium/potassium balance.


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## Dlanefox (Feb 5, 2011)

So I'm quite lucky then cos I have 1 male and 3 females


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Dlanefox said:


> So I'm quite lucky then cos I have 1 male and 3 females


Very lucky!


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## RhianB87 (Oct 25, 2009)

Dlanefox said:


> So I'm quite lucky then cos I have 1 male and 3 females


If he is anything like mine he wont care about all the ladies :whistling2:


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

FallenAngel said:


> If he is anything like mine he wont care about all the ladies :whistling2:


True!:lol2::lol2::lol2:


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## Dlanefox (Feb 5, 2011)

Yes he's a bit of a ladies man especially since new set up, got one lot of tadpoles already and a female that looks like she might lay tonight, wasn't expecting first lot but have managed to fish 20 odd out doing well, limb buds growing already they are fast growers, have separated female so he doesn't stress her anymore hopefully will have lots more babies soon


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Dlanefox said:


> Yes he's a bit of a ladies man especially since new set up, got one lot of tadpoles already and a female that looks like she might lay tonight, wasn't expecting first lot but have managed to fish 20 odd out doing well, limb buds growing already they are fast growers, have separated female so he doesn't stress her anymore hopefully will have lots more babies soon


This may be the first ever recorded het male FBT! :lol2:


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## HanP (Apr 6, 2011)

Sexing Bombina shouldn't be difficult if the toads are adult and
well-fed: there's a difference in webbing between the toes 
of the hind-leg; the males' webbing is far more developed and fills the gap
between the toe-tips almost completely.
Just a bowl of water is not enough imho, Bombina likes a lot of water, some 5 inches deep; 80% water, 20% "land".
I never change the water but use an Eheim Professional canister-filter.
Drilled 2 holes through the bottom-screen: outlet in the front (gravity!),
inlet in the back, easy adjustable waterflow. Filtercleaning every 2 months. Have been using this filtration-system for almost 15 years now.

Han


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## s6t6nic6l (May 15, 2010)

HanP said:


> Sexing Bombina shouldn't be difficult if the toads are adult and
> well-fed: there's a difference in webbing between the toes
> of the hind-leg; the males' webbing is far more developed and fills the gap
> between the toe-tips almost completely.
> ...


glad to have you on board han :2thumb: we'll keep you busy with the bombina topics for sure :whistling2:

so, what media are you using in the filter to eliminate the toxins/mucus to good effect!!


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## HanP (Apr 6, 2011)

The canister is filled with mechanical and biological
filter-media (bottom>up): hollow ceramic material, pre-filter pad,
porous substrat, activ carbon, fine-filterpad.
I use an extra 9W UV device through which the water flows before
being pumped back in the tank to destroy algae.

Han


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Might be a good idea to change some of the water regularly anyway. With a filter, ammonia gets converted to less toxic nitrite and then nitrate- but that's as far as it goes. Nitrate is the least toxic of the three, but a build-up is not good for the frogs health.


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