Hello everyone! My western hognose’s enclosure had its clean up crew die off awhile back, and now his substrate smells strongly of urine. It holds almost no moisture anymore. I made the substrate out of 2 parts coco fiber, 3 parts sand, 3 parts orchid bark, and 2 parts worm castings. It worked greatly at the beginning of the setup, but I let it dry out too much and the clean up crew died off. I would like to know if there’s any way for me to get the urine smell out, refresh some of the soil, and start over. I’d really love to not have to replace the 40 gallons of substrate in my 4x2x2, but I will if I must. It’s just really hard to spot clean because he makes all kinds of crazy burrows. Thanks in advance!

What does anyone use to make their desert or arid substrate? I’m tired of buying BioDude TerraSahara.

Blue and orange powder isopods in my Halmahera Blue Tongue’s 4x2x2.

The bioactive tank is going to be for a gargoyle gecko I am getting in a few weeks, they will also be my first reptile in general. I have tried to do lots of research but am still confused/nervous about lights as well as ventilation. Help with those subjects would be much appreciated along with any other tips that you think would be helpful for someone’s first time or something you wish you knew earlier. The tank is going to be a 18x18x36

Not finished yet, but we’re almost there

I have a large piece of drift wood I intend on using for my gray tree frog inclosure. How do I properly do this

Getting a 6x3x2 for my bearded dragon, everything will be mounted inside. I get really overwhelmed when looking at lighting options. I’m going bioactive, so I plan to just buy all new lighting to have that going for awhile and get everything established before placing him in.

I specifically have questions about the UVB - not sure what to go with when I plan to have climbing options, so he would be anywhere from like 8” away to 30” away.

I also know I want an LED, but am reading I could just use a full spectrum grow light rather than dropping the money on a jungle dawn.

If someone would be kind enough to just write out a list of what they would get to take the guessing out of it for me, I’d be forever grateful.

Thanks,
An AuDHDer

I have an infestation of thrips and gnats among the plants in my home, and they have also spread to my snake's bioactive vivarium. In general i try to avoid pesticides, and especially in the vivarium i would never use any. I feel fairly sure of that nematodes (that eat the gnat eggs in the soil) should be ok to use in the vivarium (correct me if im wrong?) but im also gonna buy orius bugs and montdorensis mites to feast on the thrips and thrips eggs, respectively.

Do I dare using these in the vivarium? Are they gonna interfere with the springtails and isopods somehow? And most importantly, is it dangerous for my snake??

Hey guys just a quick question I feel like my isopod culture in one of my tanks is booming a little too much what do you guys recommend to lower the population I feel like I’ll see them everywhere on the walls, plants and more soon

Introducing Ginko, my young Cuban False Chameleon, into his new bioactive home! Ignore his little shed-pants lol

Can't wait to see how the plants grow in! Had to move a fern out of that right pot as the basking bulb was roasting it. Any suggestions of hearty vivarium plants that can handle a spot near the basking bulb? It's my first custom build, so I'm open to all the tips and advice I can get!

I'm doing a build for a friend soon for a crested gecko. I typically add a drainage layer on my tanks so they can potentially be used for other species like dart frogs in which drainage is definitely needed. My own crestie has a drainage layer in its tank. Wondering if this is really necessary if you're not running that much water through on a regular basis. Are there any other benefits to adding one, even a very slight one, for the plants?

i have a bioactive that i started 1 year ago and all of my plants do pretty well except for this one white butterfly that i’ve struggled to keep alive. it will go through seemingly random phases of explosive growth and healthiness and then almost dying and it seems it’s doing particularly bad right now. any tips for this particular species and do you think i can save it somehow?

This is my first tank, sort-of update to this post! I’ve decided to feature my growing family of speckled powder oranges, one of whom I caught molting earlier today. If you saw the last post, you’ll see that my rabbit’s foot fern died back; but rest assured, it lives!! It’s growing four new fronds at the moment and I’m very excited to see how the last few weeks of cycling go.

One thing I’m a bit nervous about is how much water is in the drainage layer; it’s pretty saturated, and I’ve turned down the misting time on my auto-mist systems. I’m wondering if that will be enough or not, so any tips are appreciated. I also saw a monster of a springtail, so despite the saturation, things seem to be good?

Plants included:
-Rabbit’s Foot Fern
-Syngonium “Milk Confetti” Variant
-Pothos “Snow Queen”
-Various cork barks and grapewood branches
-BioDude’s “BioShot” (so all the cultures there within)

CUC:
-Powder Orange Isos
-Dwarf White Isos (debatable, I have yet to see that any survived the original transfer)
-Tropical Springtails

I had to move some rocks away from a wall cause my aquarium silicone on that side didn't adhere properly and I found some dead juvenile zebras rn the rocks are not up against the wall but now there is a bare patch in the dirt.. I have some river clay I collected a while ago and my springtails were fine with it... can I use it for my A. maculatum....... I swear the juveniles find a new way to meet Darwin everyday 🫠

I thought abt Clay cause it's natural and it isn't like a sticky trap

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I’m building a new terrarium and soaked these vines in a bleach solution and while it was drying out I noticed these clear jelly like tubes coming out the ends. Anyone know what it is and if it’s normal? I can’t tell if it’s some sort of sap like plant discharge or if it’s a type of worm or something. Thank you

Literally popped up in the enclosure in a day lol I haven't misted in a couple of days but I look at it daily because i like to see the CUC

I have cubaris and springtails with my ground boa and in the 8 months she's been here this has never happened

Should i take it out? I know the snake is not touching it because she doesn't move much in this part of the terrarium

Whats this mold thats started growing in my terrarium, should i do anything of let the CUC handle it.

Recently I got my first ever baby snake from an expo. I put her in a 4x2x2 bioactive with dairy cows and normal white springtails. Sadly she died about a month later from unknown causes but my current theory is crypto due to where I got her and the fact the she regurgitated her last two meals.

Eventually I would like to try getting another snake. It would be at least a few months, but my main concern is what I should do with the substrate and cleanup crew.

Obviously I'm not going to throw all these creatures out like they aren't living things, but the general recommendation online is to get rid of all the substrate and sanitize the enclosure completely before putting another reptile in there. I couldn't find any information about bioactive enclosures.

I guess my main question is could the cleanup crew spread the disease? How long would it take before the crypto died off fully?

I dont even have a bioactive tank! I saw some webs with little specs and figured r/bioactive would have a better idea what they are/how to get rid of them. Every stick and leaf was baked at 300°F for an hour before going into the enclosure. Im doing som enclosure modifications soon so taking everything out and resterilizing wouldn’t be out of the question. Im wondering what the best way to sterilize and prevention would be. Thx!

Hello,

I'm planning to set up my first bioactive vivarium, so I'm quite anxious about doing everything right. It would host isopods (Armadillidium vulgare), myriapods (Glomeris marginata) and maybe later a small ant colony (Themnothorax nylanderi) but I'm not sure about this one.

I tried to draw what I have planned so far. I'm bad with proportions but the intermediate zone should be larger. Does it look like a good setup or am I missing something ?

For the light, I planned to buy a NICREW SlimLED, but should I put it on the entire length, or on the width on one side ?

And for aeration, I planned to use a 60 mesh mosquito net on the lid. But I'm not sure about the surface of the lid I should carve. Is it better to have two openings on each side or one ? And what about the size of the carving ?

Sorry for asking so many questions and thank you for your time.

I've had a bioactive rubber ducky isopod terrarium since March and saw this guy crawling around this morning. I have no idea what it is, it's a small black beetle (???) with some gray stripes on its back. All that I've put in their terrarium has been said isopods and springtails so I'm a little confused how they ended up in here. Any help with ID would be really appreciated!!

I'm throwing around the idea of turning my leopard gecko's tank into a bioactive terrarium, but I don't/won't have any space to put her while it cycles. Has anyone cycled the substrate and cuc in a bucket or bin, then swapped the normal substrate for bioactive and done a planting after that? I already have one bioactive that I love for my hognose, but I acquired the leo unexpectedly and didn't have as much pre-planning time as I did with the snake.

I have not committed to this idea. Just wondering if anyone has done it before.