I'm going to be setting in on this tank as soon as I manage to pick one from the animals I want. But I was looking at it, and starting thinking if I did an arboreal animal with tree frogs, wouldn't it be better to turn the tank on its side. Just like Liz said about the 75. Have a tank thats 2 1/2 feet tall, and 18"X12", rather than one 18" tall and 30" by 12". So I jumped on sketchup to get an idea what it would look like. Just thought I'd share this a bit, see what everyone thinks.
*note this is tank with backround, drainage layer, and substrate in place, to scale.

Attached Images

	29 horizontal 3d.JPG (24.4 KB, 3 views)
	29 horizontal front.JPG (21.1 KB, 1 views)
	29 vertical 3d.jpg (12.4 KB, 2 views)
	29 vertical front.jpg (14.1 KB, 5 views)

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yes, if you had tree frogs they would rather have the extra height. it would be a very good idea to convert it.

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I think so, my only concern is where to go with white's tree frogs. Would the ground floor be enough space? I have read they need more ground space then other tree frogs.

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If you have plently of wide branches for them to sit on they should be fine. You might even try a second pond higher up like Liz did. Try to get branches or something that are at least 2-2.5 inches wide so they have a nice stable area that is almost as good as having extra floor space. Lots of plants for them to hide in and climb on as well!

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Is it just UVB that can't pierce glass, What about UVA? If there's live plants in the enclosure would the proper light the plants require penetrate the top?

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Frogs don't need UVB. They sleep all hidden away during the day. The plants will do fine through the top glass.

In a vertical conversion, remember you need heat as well. If you have live plants an under the tank heater may bother them and they may not live. I don't have an answer for this one since I don't have a Under Tank Heater under plants at the moment in any of my setups.

If you need heat inside a vertical one, you may have to add a heating element or light bulb INSIDE the enclosure (unless you can cut tempered glass in a circle shape).

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

Or get a clamp lamp that you can shine in through the screen you have at the top top the front

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oh, thats a good idea there Shell.

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My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

Thanks, It was the plants needing UV (A or B) I wasn't sure about. I would like to stay away from Hanging anything that gets very hot inside the tank, especially because of how much room it cut's back. Good idea about through the screen there. just wondering, has anyone tried attaching under the tank heaters to the side or back of the tank in a situation like this? Thought about that, but not sure how well it would work. Especially if I use the greatstuff method for the background. Would it still disrupt the plants?
Also, I'm planning on making the tank accessible from the side, not the front.

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I'm also kind of wondering, is there a rule of thumb for how much of the expanded clay balls you put down for drainage? I'll be going with the Hydroton (think thats it) type drainage layer. With a piece of window screen over that, and coconut expanded substrate over that. At first I planned a 1" layer of Hydroton, and a three inch layer of the coconut substrate. Is that about right? Many guides differ in opinion. Just wondering what people with tank set ups like this, or have had tank set ups like this, think.

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