FBT Vivarium Question

[Guero Grande]

Hello. I was wondering, do I need to provide Fire Belly Toads with a soft coco-fiber land mass? It seems to be what everyone else is using, but I do not like the manner in which it leaves my water brown. I cleaned it all out of my tank, and think I like my tank better without it. Will the Toads still be ok with just the large river rocks, or shoudl I try to encorporate the soft coco fiber? Below is a pic of what it looks like now without the coco. It is a 40 gallon tank (36X14) I do not have any toads in it yet, but plan to get 4 or 5.

[Rainfrog]

I would say you need more land than that. Your substrate should be 1/2 to 1 inch above the water and then you wont get brown water or soggy soil. An idea might be to use a tupaware dish. get a dish that is the size you want and glue/silicone rocks to the sides so you can hide it. fill the bottom with rocks,gravel, or expanded clay(for drainage) and put the soil over that. make sure to put holes in it so it will sink and water will drain out of it. then just landscape around it with rocks so they slope away. also this way when you need to clean the tank or change the soil you just pull it out. I think you will have happier frogs.

[Ajax]

Acutally, I think it wouldnt hurt to have a bit more land. My frogs spend most of thier time in the water. I would estimate 80% of the day. Other than that, I think Rainfrog covered it!

Love the tank though!!