Hi Nicky...being an aquarium guy i have all the answers for you on this as ive done tanks like this many times.
First off plants. Aquatic plants are tricky, often harder to keep then things like fish themselves. There is all sorts of things such as nutrients and lighting that have to come into question here..and without getting to complicated or to expensive i think i have a simple solution for you. First, lighting. General rule of thumb for plants is at least 2 watts per gallon. But with that being said, ill give you a list of plants that will tolerate less as im sure your frog doesnt require super bright lighting. When selecting a bulb...most ppl use flourescent lighting...buy plant gro bulbs..your best bet is straight from the hardware store. They are cheap, readily available and will cover a spectrum that will be comfortable for the frog as well.
Most plants require substrate for them to anchor themselves onto...but there is always exceptions. Here is a list of plants that are easy to find, inexpensive and dont need to be planted in soil, gravel etc....ill explain that next
Anubius..there is lots of varieties, Java Moss, Java Fern...lots of varieties for these as well, Riccia, and some sword plants. Okay..no planting..here is why. Most of these plants prefer to be out of soil. They are found in the wild attaching themselves to tree roots and rocks where they grow quite comfortably. Infact, if you push the roots of the majority of these plants (with the exception of swords) into the substrate, they will shed all theyre leaves and die. So when you buy these, just simply tie them with thread to whatever other underwater decorations you have...or let them float and they will eventually find theyre own way
As i mentioned, any of these plants can be found in just about any aquarium store, they are all relatively cheap and are by far the easiest to care for
Fluval and theyre accessories. Okay, first things first. Carbon and why we use it. Carbon is a semi permiable membrane that is used to soak up fish waste, and harmful bacteria in an underwater environment. Do you have to use it....NO. Most advanced keepers do not use any carbon for one reason...what goes in, must come out. If you dont monitor carbon, eventually it can no longer take in all the bad stuff and it starts to leach it back into the water..but at a very fast pace quickly poisoning the tank. My best advice for you with your set up....considering there is going to be frog waste in this water, is to use carbon. Not only use it, but change it monthly just to be safe. Now this will depend on which fluval model you buy, how big, and how much water its going to cycle. Once you decide all this, drop me a line and ill select a service interval more suited to you. As for the other accessories, most of them are for speciality tanks. Stuff like ammonia remover, peat etc etc. Depending on what the ph of the water is where your frog comes from, peat might actually be a nice choice to use...but im not sure what his water requirements are, so youll have to tell me. So, thats about all i can think of, if you have any other questions, feel free to ask, or pm me etc...best of luck
Linear Mode
