# General Topics > Vivarium, Terrarium & Enclosure Discussion >  How do i clean my 55 gallon tank to make it sparkle and not harm none of my froggies?

## nightfire213

oh and all the plastic plants and one copper statue and a couple other plastic stuff [= i usually just use warm water and ALOT OF elbow grease. however, people are suggesting vinegar with warm water and elbow grease...any suggestions? oh and instead of a bunch of water is bark way better or a carpet for a bedding?  :Stick Out Tongue:  :Big Grin:  i wanna make sure if i can destroy all the parasites, harmful bacteria and what not... and if i do get bark how much should i get it moist...sorry for all the questions ]=

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## Don

To clean accent items its best to either remove the frogs or remove the items you want to clean.  Anything you clean should be rinsed and allowed to air dry to ensure the chemicals from the cleaner are not left on the item.

As for substrates..... what frogs are you housing?

Don

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## nightfire213

so its fine to use vinegar and water? and i have a red eye, big eyed, 3 american tree frogs and 2 white's [=

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## Don

Yes, a vinegar or bleach mix can be used but like I stated, everything has to be rinsed extremely well and let air dry.  Before you put any items back in, none of the items should smell like the cleaner.

For substrate I would use Plantation Soil, Zilla Jungle Mix, or a mix of coco fiber and peat.  Since the Whites are aggressive eaters, try to stay away from substrates that tend to have bite size pieces of bark since your Whites will swallow them when they miss grabbing a cricket.

  I would also have a drainage layer under the substrate and use a screen to separate the drainage layer from the substrate.
For some examples of drainage layers see some of the construction journals in the vivarium construction section of the forum.

The frogs you have listed should me housed in separate enclosures due to the toxins they secrete and the differences of how they move and eat.
Whites are aggressive and surely will cause stress with the other frogs.

As for water, your frogs will usually soak at night and water changes with Whites is usually needed daily since they dirty up the water quickly.
The Red Eye and Big Eye should be changed at least every other day and your Whites should not share the same water with the other frogs.


Daily misting should also occur for all these frogs at least twice a day and ensure keeping the humidity and temp levels appropriate to each species of frog.  See the care sheets located at the left of the forum for more info on each frogs requirements.

Hope this helps
    Don

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## nightfire213

thank you yeah last night i was a busy guy actually making my own 55 gallon tank into 3  separations with glass and it looks very unique i made more room for the whites and big eyed since they're both huge and then i think i have a male red eye and the other regular tree frogs are fully grown 

really treefrogs have natural toxins? everything is fine and cleaned out thanks for the suggestion

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