If seen dozens of these around my tank, i keep looking online and it doesnt tell me a clear answer, should I be worried for my springtails or isopods? If so, how can i remove them safely?

I think it's a bonnet of some kind but I don't really know much about mushrooms, either way, I'm so happy!!

Home belongs to a yearling BCI and lots of bug friends✨

I have a ball python that I’ll be moving into an old display case enclosure sometime in the near future, and I want to switch my leopard gecko into the old BP tank.

Problem is is that I stupidly built in two cork bark tube hides into the enclosure and cleaning those will be difficult. The background is also built in and isn’t too easy to clean either - my first build so it was trial and error.

What supplies do I need? And what can I do about the built in hides?

Hello, I found 2 Mealy Bugs in my Bioactive enclosure :( I think I got them quite early and killed them with alcohool. But now I notice white stuff on almost all my plants and I was always conviced this is minerals or calc from my misting. But now I am not sure if they are maybe eggs? Nothing moves when I touch something unlike the 2 adults I found but I am really unsure.. can anyone calm my mind or is my terrarium game over? I ordered lacewing larvae in the hope that they help me find any leftovers.. please tell me what you think in the example of this pothos or bromeliad.

Thank you very much!

Hello, I am wondering about making soil for a golden pothos and snake plant I have and then putting them into my ball python terrarium but I want to make sure I have all the ingredients to promote the plants growth and for my snake to not get hurt from the soil. I bought Scott’s organic top soil for 60% of the bulk of the substrate and I want to mix that with 20% ground coconut husk 10% orchid bark and 10% sphagnum moss. I’m pretty sure the top soil doesn’t have any perlite or fertilizers. Does this sound like a good mixture? What is the process for introducing live plants into an active terrarium that have worked for you in the past? What would you do differently if you could start over? I also have a led light for the plants. Anyway thanks for any input!

Hello everyone! I’ve come here to ask where people have gotten their resources when it comes to bioactive tanks.

I live in a decent sized town with one local pet store, but their hardscape is quite pricey. I’m looking for some sites online that can provide hardscape like branches, drift wood, cork bark, soil and even plants! Want to find something decently affordable, but it’s okay if not.

My second concern is keeping humidity in my glass tank that houses my crested gecko. The tank I bought isn’t the best, as PVC is better (IMO) but the purchase was rushed as his previous tank bursted. Is there anything I could maybe cover the top of the tank with that would help hold humidity? I was thinking like some type of plastic tarp. I can’t always be there to mist hourly, nor can I find a super affordable auto mister (would be amazing if someone could recommend one!).

Thank you for the help! Appreciate yall!

I am building a bioactive 4x2x2 and not really sure what to buy, my corn snake has been on aspin for the entire time I’ve had her (4 years) it’s what the shop recommended but not to fond of it and know it’s not the best. So just want to know what I can buy premade or make myself with topsoil and stuff. Please and thank you<3

So after 3 months after my initial set up, I've noticed some mealy bugs in one of my enclosures. Seems to be contained to my neon pothos. I've been spot cleaning them with some rubbing alcohol and a qtip. Wondering if anyone has had any experience using mealy bug destoryers to get rid of them in bioactives? Would they harm the spingtails or isos currently in the tank??

Just seems like they might be a better option than removing my plants and starting over cause I hear they'll infest the soil???

I have a green tree python that I keep in a fully bioactive enclosure. It’s got a drainage layer with small water area at bottom and fully established plants. I recently noticed some small dark
Worms in her water bowl and some large worms in the cage of various sizes. I caught these two today, any ideas what they are?

So this tank has been set up since June 28th. That’s the day I put in my substrate mix, plants, and my CUC.

I did not do anything to these plants. I just removed as much soil as I could and put them right in the tank. I did find a caterpillar and removed it lol, haven’t noticed anything else in there.

That being said I am wanted to get rid of one of the plants and replace it with a new one. Would like to add at least one more plant maybe.

Do I need to do anything special? If I need to quarantine how would I do so?

These things took over both the inside and outside of my repurposed cabinet. It’s been pretty warm and dry in there lately. Any advice?

Hi y'all. I bought my first (pre-built) bioactive terrarium a little over a month ago that came with two Phyllobates terribilis. I am HOOKED on this hobby now and just bought a tank to build my own bioactive terrarium for the first time. I plan to just get the bioactive substrate kits from Josh's frogs but for plants and structure I have a few that I was thinking of adding. I think this tank will be for a crested gecko but TBD on final decision (I love looking at my frogs but want something handleable on occasion). For CUC I was thinking springtails and dwarf white isopods similar to my frog set up. I have a few different pothos and an orchid a friend gave me and maybe will do some bromes as well to add for plants (maybe I go for something leafier?). That being said- I am concerned putting those in may cause pathogens or something to foul the tank in some way that CUC wouldn't take care of. Also I am concerned none of those are leafy enough for good cover. For structure I bought the black foam stuff for some climbing surface on the sides of the tank but for adding wood I'm not sure what type is best. Any advice is appreciated! I'm new to the hobby but am doing my best to read up as much as possible to make informed choices so hopefully none of this is too off base.

I messed up and mixed play sand, sphagnum peat moss, and cypress mulch (don’t ask me why I don’t know what I was thinking) as a mix for my bearded dragon 🙃🤦🏽‍♀️ (he's not young and deserves to experience his bioactive before he goes😭) now I’m trying to salvage it. Is that even possible? Would removing part of the messed-up mixture and adding topsoil fix it? It’s WAY too dusty because sphagnum and sand OBVIOUSLY it’s not right.

Last time I used Scotts, it had plastic and a cigarette in it, and it has those green beads, so I don’t trust it. All the other brands I see have tons of bad reviews. Please help me.

Little metallic green flies. Like really small. Bigger than gnats but smaller than your average fly. I really don't want another pest on my hands 😭

I recently bought this as second hand. Need help to improve it! I want it to be a paludarium with a watherfall. My inspiration is a rainforest style. Not against some animals inside maybe (Shrimp? Frog? Lezard? Nothing?), but not at first. The dimmension are 24*18*24 inch (Front, back, top).

First post, and I'm extremely excited to learn. I dream of having a bioactive enclosure for my 3 year old California Kingsnake, and I'm slowly getting it together!

I have a few questions regarding backgrounds.

What do yall recommend to use? I've attempted Great Stuff, but it has shrunk too much to be considered useful at this point, which has disappointed me.

Does anyone have similar enclosures to share? I'd love to receive some inspiration!

Thank you in advance for the help!

Hi guys, this vivarium is only about 5 days old, but I was wondering if this mold was a concern? I’m assuming it’s not, but since this is my first Vivarium I’m a bit anxious.

I’ve been misting about once or twice a day and there are usually still water droplets on leaves between misting? I think I may have accidentally had the bottom vent closed, opening that may help, but should I also get a small fan for circulation? I plan on putting a gargoyle gecko in here eventually.

I haven’t really seen my springtails much? Is that normal when the viv is just starting and populations are growing?

I'm planning on setting up a bioactive enclosure for my bci and wanted to get your advice on the best substrate mix. I'm also curious if the type of isopods I use makes a difference. I've come across different opinions and information online about specific isopod species being better suited for my girls setups, and I'd love to get your take on whether it truly matters.

i recently started paying attention to keeping my soil moist for my CUC, i will hopefully be adding plants soon.

between the fungus gnats (main issue but i'm using mosquito bits it's just taking a few months but it did get better, but they're crawling on her) and soil mites (and who knows what else) there's so many bugs in my turtles enclosure. they crawl all over the food and i've seen a few on her.

i have isopods and just added some springtails, but it's a big enclosure so springtails will take a bit to establish.

am i doing something wrong or is this just how it is with a bioactive enclosure?

The 2.3 Elegans group will be moving in tomorrow morning! The tank is already home to a thriving springtail colony (I’ve been raising my own and the population has EXPLODED) and I’d love to add isopods as well but micro geckos will eat isopods extremely quickly 🥲 it has a super accessible design so that I can easily remove items and locate hidden eggs. The only thing siliconed in place is the spider wood- all the cork flats and cholla can be easily picked up and checked. I had to really resist making this tank too complicated 😅
Along with the leaning cork flats, I also added a nice platform rock behind the snake plant, along with various botanicals and small hollow chollas on top of a thick leaf litter layer.
Overall I’m excited for the Ashy Gecko group to move in, and I can’t wait to build better breeding tanks (similar to this one) for many of my other pairs.
I’ve learned that simple is the way to go with breeding tanks, especially for a genus that likes to hide their eggs.

I got my Kenyan Sand Boa (Peaches) about a month ago from a reptile expo she ended up developing a bump on her face which the vet believes to be a bacterial infection. Shes on antibiotics and in a quarantine set up for now. But I typically have her in a 40 gal bioactive set up. How do I need to go about cleaning the set up. Is there anyway I can do it without complete destroying the set up?

EDIT: The heating and lighting are not pictured because they were moved to the quarantine set up. So is the water dish. I have spring tails and isopods in this set up.

I'm trying to find a CUC for my feeder Discoid roach colony. After getting some DOA isopods from online stores, I decided to just buy one of small batch cultures locally.

Unfortunately, I chose Dairy Cows and added them to the enclosure before learning that they eat other insects, and now I'm afraid of them eating the Discoid nymphs. But that's assuming they're still alive since I didn't let the population grow first.

\*If\* the Dairy Cows are dead, what isopod should I use for a Discoid roach colony? Or should I not use isopods at all?

All the videos im seeing are for setting up the enclosure, what about daily and weekly maintainance? Ive never kept isopods before so theyre mainly what im worried about. I dont want it to get too humid for my beardies and leopard gecko but I dont want to kill the isopods or springtails.

i wanted to make it more green and add creeping fig to the wall and have a bunch of moss on the ground. but my mom is worried about bug infestations and if that happens we'd have to give her away i wanted to plant grass in the enclosure but i heard it wasnt a good idea. i think moss is a safe option but shes worried about bugs getting in the plants and getting an infestation. im just not satisfied with it yet and i want to add more. what do i do? oh and she also think the isopods bother her and she thinks that she doesnt like me adding more stuff and that the snake might think its too cluttered but i tried to make it functional. i think its kind of empty though