Tiger Sal Tank - Revamp Time!

KingCam · Feb 23, 2012

I decided the substrate in my tiger salamander tank was staying too wet. I thought I could control the amount of moisture making it into the substrate, that was before I realized tiger salamanders make a point to splash around in their water bowl so much that they empty half of it into the floor of their tank every night :lol:

Anyway, here is the BEFORE shots:

And here is what I put together last night. This is my first attempt at a false bottom. I think I made it a bit too shallow :-\ Oh well, the tigers don't seem to mind

^ The tupperware containers are so I don't have to use as much hydroton. I drilled holes in the sides and bottoms of the tupperware containers to allow them to fill with water. The holes are barely visible in this photo.

^ Used hydroton to fill in the gaps, and rocks & gravel to hold stuff in place.

^ Time to make a divider to keep the substrate separate from the water. I chose this lid because of the pre-formed lip it has. I was hoping it would help keep the substrate from spilling into the water side.

^ Lined it with long fiber sphagnum to help prevent substrate from leaking into the water.

Anyway, I know it's not perfect, but I'm pleased with my first attempt at a false bottom tank

Hope you enjoyed my post!

Lamb · Feb 23, 2012

Creative way to use things found around the house. I'll have to remember the tupper ware trick the next time I use hydroballs. Did you poke holes in the blue plastic lid so that water could drain straight down out of the soil?

KingCam · Feb 23, 2012

Lamb said:
Creative way to use things found around the house. I'll have to remember the tupper ware trick the next time I use hydroballs. Did you poke holes in the blue plastic lid so that water could drain straight down out of the soil?

No, but I probably should have :-\ I figured it would drain out the sides. Hopefully I don't have to take it all apart just to add some drainage holes :lol:

Kaysie · Feb 23, 2012

Just burrow through the substrate in the middle and poke some with a sharp nail. That's where water is most likely to pool, given the weight of the substrate. No destruction required!

KingCam · Feb 23, 2012

Kaysie said:
Just burrow through the substrate in the middle and poke some with a sharp nail. That's where water is most likely to pool, given the weight of the substrate. No destruction required!

Good call! I could even use a pencil to make small holes wherever I wanted to drill, then using a long drill bit, I could just drill through the plastic below.

I'm also wanting to add some more hydroton to raise the land a little further so I can fill the water area more. I'm hoping the plastic tray will be sturdy enough that I can get my hand & arm under it to gently/slowly lift it and add more hydroton without destroying everything.

The log I placed in there is hollow all the way through. I was hoping if I provided a really good cave they might stop burrowing constantly. So far so good, kinda. There was a small amount of digging done last night, but it looks like whoever was doing it changed their mind and decided to sleep in the log

They were both in there sleeping this morning. Burtha of course came out as soon as I walked into the room. I'm pretty sure they can feel the vibration of me walking in.

Here's Burtha begging for food. I took this photo on my lunch break just now.

Lamb · Feb 23, 2012

I'm not sure about territoriality in A. tigrinum, but I feel like it's always a good idea to provide individuals with more than one hide, even if there is only one in a tank. If it's possible, you might want to give that a try. It may cut down on the burrowing if they don't have to share.

You could make a cave/hide with a halved length of PVC. It's easy enough to silicone bark to the pipe, and then cover the bark with moss. You could just place it in the tank, or partially bury it. It would be an easy way to give them another dark spot in which to take shelter without actually losing any surface area in your tank. Ooo!-You could even make a "hill of hides" by stacking a shorter piece of PVC atop two similarly sized pieces. But that might be getting too crazy

KingCam · Feb 23, 2012

Lamb said:
I'm not sure about territoriality in A. tigrinum, but I feel like it's always a good idea to provide individuals with more than one hide, even if there is only one in a tank. If it's possible, you might want to give that a try. It may cut down on the burrowing if they don't have to share.

You could make a cave/hide with a halved length of PVC. It's easy enough to silicone bark to the pipe, and then cover the bark with moss. You could just place it in the tank, or partially bury it. It would be an easy way to give them another dark spot in which to take shelter without actually losing any surface area in your tank. Ooo!-You could even make a "hill of hides" by stacking a shorter piece of PVC atop two similarly sized pieces. But that might be getting too crazy

I like all of those suggestions! Especially the "hill of hides"

I'll probably go out in the woods soon and find another nice piece of wood to use.

By the way, how do you all sterilize logs and stuff? I soak mine in extremely hot water for about 20 minutes and then stick it in the microwave for like 5 minutes or more. They always come out steaming, and even smoking sometimes. It seems to be an effective way to kill stuff.

Kaysie · Feb 23, 2012

Boiling water is the usual, but you've got the right idea. I imagine it's just as effective.

Lamb · Feb 24, 2012

To be honest, the most I've done in terms of sterilization is baked thick bark or branches in the oven. I typically set it at 200F and, depending on the size of the wood, leave it in there for an hour.

KingCam · Feb 24, 2012

I added a second hide. So far there has been no more digging (except for at the entrance of the new hide area)

(See Burtha??

)

Lamb · Feb 24, 2012

Burtha is adorable.

TylototritonGuy · Feb 26, 2012

Great Set-up! you should be proud of yourself for that. :happy:

Out of interest, what are those Bamboo-looking plants you have in with them? I'm thinking about using those for a T.kweichowensis set-up and wanted to know what they were called.

Thanks

Azhael · Feb 26, 2012

Those are some species of equisetum. Nothing to do with bamboo. Many species and "populations" of equisetums are protected so take that into account before collecting any.

TylototritonGuy · Feb 26, 2012

Azhael said:
Those are some species of equisetum. Nothing to do with bamboo. Many species and "populations" of equisetums are protected so take that into account before collecting any.

Cool thanks you and i didnt say it was related to bamboo i said "Bamboo-looking"

I wont be taking wild specimens though i will be buying from a shop, i prefer to do it that way

thank you!

KingCam · Feb 26, 2012

TylototritonGuy said:
Great Set-up! you should be proud of yourself for that. :happy:

Out of interest, what are those Bamboo-looking plants you have in with them? I'm thinking about using those for a T.kweichowensis set-up and wanted to know what they were called.

Thanks

Thanks

They grow in the fish pond at my parents' house. I only know them as "horse tails." Great plants for wet environments.

Lamb · Feb 26, 2012

Word to the wise about Equisetum - they can spread like wildfire under the right conditions. They are grown in the teaching garden at my university, and are sometimes viewed as annoying. They're still pretty awesome though, what with being a "living fossil" and all.

Molch · Feb 26, 2012

those look like Equisetum fluviatile, the water horsetail. They are hollow and make a funny little plopping sound when the muskoxen or reindeer bite them off. I attached a pic just for kicks of 2 muskox youngsters knee-deep in fluviatile...

If you could get them to grow that dense it would look really cool...however, I think they like to be in very wet ground, so they may or may not make it in your tank...and tiger sals may be more compatible with some kind of forest species of Equisetum.

as for drainage, you could also set the blue plastic divider at an angle, sloping toward the water, by putting more hydroton or a bigger tupperware underneath in the far corner, and then drilling a couple drainage holes at the lower lip of the lid where moisture would pool. That way, moisture in the soil will drain off toward the water side and you'll get more of a moisture gradient...

ByrdRausch · Feb 26, 2012

Hullo,

I love this set up you have.

Could you list the plants you have here?

Thanks,
Dante

TylototritonGuy · Feb 27, 2012

That's great thank you for that! :happy: I will have a look around for them for sale then and see what I can find.

Thank you again for telling me and giving me the information :happy:

nwmnnaturalist · Feb 27, 2012

Older folks called the Horsetail "Indian Tinker Toys" since you could pop them off and put them back together to a degree. They also make wonderful noise in a fire, and are great for cleaning pots and other stuff at a camp site. A good substrate for Horsetails is a mix of organic compost w/ manure, wet and decayed leafmold (dead leaves chopped into smaller bits, then allowed to decompose) and a bit of perlite for drainage. They can tolerate dryer conditions, but really thrive in moist soils.

Tiger Sal Tank - Revamp Time!

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