Helo, just joined. It has been interesting reading all the information you all have come up with for the natural aquarium. I keep poison dart frogs and clay based substrates I beleive are the next innovation in the hobby. They will allow microfauna to uptake nutrients which in turn will be passed on to the frogs. I am a real fan of a natural aquarium or vivarium.
I have some questions for all you natural substrate dabblers. Most of the frogs we keep come from South and Centeral America. There has been some talk trying to replicate the clay soil found in these areas and here are a few recipies. These are not mine, but pulled off
http://www.dendroboard.com/general-discussion/page25.html
Flourite and other fired clays will not work because they will not allow microfauna to up take nutrients.
I was thinking of adding flourite or eco-complete or this...
http://www.proschoice1.com/products.html#
I have some questions for all you natural substrate dabblers. Most of the frogs we keep come from South and Centeral America. There has been some talk trying to replicate the clay soil found in these areas and here are a few recipies. These are not mine, but pulled off
http://www.dendroboard.com/general-discussion/page25.html
Flourite and other fired clays will not work because they will not allow microfauna to up take nutrients.
and anotherkaolinite (EPK) 1100 [58%]
Bentonite (kitty litter) 550 [29%]
Fe Oxide red 70 [4%]
Fe Oxide Yellow 70 [4%]
Al oxide 60 [3%]
sugar 9 [.5%]
cornstarch 9 [.5%]
gelatin 10 [.25%]
soy protein 10 [.25%]
CaCO3 20 [1%]
This recipe is just based on the soil composition from my study site in Panama. Other recipes will work, that mimic other soils.
Mix it all together with enough water boiling water to make it like yogurt. Mix very well (egg beater, potato masher, etc) Heat it up in the oven to lightly boiling/bubbling
(be careful it bubbles ans it burns when one pops and lands on you)
you will have a soil type smell in your kitchen from this
mix it up one more time, allow to cool, then allow it to dry.
It should be dry enough to crumble apart with some force but not hard enough to to require a hammer or make dust.
Pass it through a fine screen (usual reptile screen ~1 mm).
Take your soil and put it in a container so you can compact it again (yes I know this seems redundant)
At this point you are now compacting all the small pieces into larger pieces that are loosely bound together. You can use a lot of force, like your foot or your body.
Take the soil out and it should still com apart fairly easily (if your soil was too wet when you started it may just be a big clay lump at this point)
break it apart again and pass it through a larger screen ~2-3 mm.
These small soil balls should now be ready for a frog tank. For variety you could skip the fine screen for some of the soil and just go to the large screen. It would just give you larger tight clay aggregates (harder for roots to penetrate, but still hold water and nutrients at their surface)
The problem is that these substrates must maintain some shape and rigidity and not completely turn to mush. Any ideas how to better bind these together?Mix 2-3 parts Redart clay with 1 part local soil (I collect mine from under conifers to get a good mycorrhizal inoculation) [edit: beware of chytrid! Use sterile topsoil if in doubt]. Add just enough sharp sand to be able to tell it is there. Add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup hydrated lime to 2 gallons of soil mix. Mix it all up. A cement mixer would be ideal but I use a paint mixer attached to a drill. Slowly add water while stirring until the mix is evenly damp and clumps up into pea sized and smaller aggregates. Spread the mix out in the sun on a piece of burlap or similar and let it dry. Dilute some acrylic mortar fortifier about 10:1 with water (so it is really thin and diluted). Spray down the dried mix with the solution to thoroughly dampen it. Let it dry and repeat the spraying. Let it dry again. Sprinkle a little more lime over the mix and stir it in. It is ready to use. If you want to get really picky, sieve the mix through a 1/4" mesh. I didn't and just broke up the largest chunks by pinching them.
I was thinking of adding flourite or eco-complete or this...
http://www.proschoice1.com/products.html#