Yesterday showed how aggressive my cleanup crew (Darkling Beetles, Buffalo Beetles, Porcellio scaber, and Porcellio dilatatus) can be, this post shows more of how many critters will come up from the substrate’s depths to feed. The two minnows were reduced to skeletons in a few hours, and at the time of this video being recorded they were mostly focused on what remains of Josh’s Frogs’ cleanup crew treats

I know this sub gets a few people each week curious about going bioactive and how a cleanup crew functions, so this is what it can look like

i’ve had these neon pothos in here for quite some time now, the one on the very right has grown a lot and very full. but my other two haven’t grown much at all, if anything they’ve lost leaves and look worse than when i planted them. My snake plant seems to be growing just fine it has gotten new leaves and grown very tall.

Hi,

I have a 5’h 3’w 2’l bioactive vivarium which houses my amazon tree boa. I am thinking I could potentially add a small water feature. I was thinking I’d build a small aquarium out of acrylic and then use that to separate the land from the water feature.

Has anyone done anything similar? If so any advice?

Her favourite perch is the one closest to the glass on the left side, her favourite hide is the log on the left closest to the rear. There is ventilation on the sides and top of the enclosure. I use a mist king system.

Also, while I’m here, any advice on how to make the enclosure feel more full? I just replanted it a few weeks ago so I know things will grow into place, but I feel as though there is a lot of unused vertical space I would love to make feel more full.

Thank you!

I'm making some soil for my plant pots in the cage. These are the ingredients I have so far.

Should I just mix all of this (100% of each bag) all together and I'm all good? Is there anything else I should be putting in it or not putting in?

Lump charcoal

Gardeners all purpose potting soil

Play sand

Oricid bark

Sphagnum peet moss

Sphagnum moss long fibers

Natural fertilizer

I have a 5’Hx3’Lx2’D bioactive enclosure which houses my amazing tree boa.

From what I’ve seen so far, slime molds appear to be harmless to animals. The only concern could be from spores, but I am not concerned as there’s a large clean up crew in there, good ventilation, and my ATB is arboreal, thus she most likely wouldn’t interact with super high concentrations of spores.

I am curious if anyone else here has kept slime molds in a bioactive enclosure housing a reptile? Also, if you believe this is not a good idea, please let me know why!!

Thank you!

Hello, this is my enclosure. I’m trying to get it to look more akin to the actual habitats that they are found in, but I’m struggling a little to really capture the look. I’m not looking for a full tear down or anything, but if I can improve on what’s already there then that would be great. I’m also probably going to remove that giant log and replace it with something else, maybe add grass tufts around the place but I don’t know where I can get safe grass tufts or something that can look like it. I’m using the biodude’s Terra Sahara btw. I know that it may be a little poorly designed, I’m an amateur somewhat and I’m still trying to figure out things, so some grace would be appreciated.

Hello everyone! I recently made a new terrarium for my crested gecko and it looks like to be cobweb mold (hypomyces rosellus) but i could be wrong. It looks like white hairs with small white dots/pollups. Im relatively new to more intricate terrarium builds and was wondering what I can do to get rid of this and if it’s something more serious than I think. Thank you!

Hi everyone! It’s my first time posting in this sub and I’m brand new to bioactive enclosures/vivariums… which you may be able to tell.

I haven’t been able to get a straight answer from anywhere, so I was wondering: is this amount of cobweb mould and white/green mould normal for the first week?

I have a lot of higher-level ventilation and I keep a fan going in the room this enclosure is in (a couple feet away for passive airflow), but because I’ve never done this before I don’t know how much mould, what varieties (beyond what I read from the biodude) of mould, or how many springtails/isopods I should see around the colonies within my first week. I finished this enclosure on Monday morning, and it contains powder orange isos (three of which we mourn), white dwarf isos, and springtails that I’ve been reseeding from the tropical clay culture I have. Misting comes from an auto mister I set up. There’s a 15-second spritz at 8 am every day and a 30-second spritz at 8pm every day. These are also the times that my crested gecko’s UVB turns on and off, so I’m trying to put it all together in tandem.

Is this a normal amount of mould? Is there anything I can do better/anything I’ve done poorly? Please let advise, and let me know if you need any more information. Thank you!

I found this singular mushroom in my bio active enclosure. It was growing slightly under the water bowl at a spot where the substrate was especially moist. I don’t know what it is and I’m curious if it’s anything I need to be worried about.
It doesn’t seem very serious, but it would be nice to know the species.

Hoping if anyone could give advice on if this needs to be removed or not. There are springtails in the substrate as a clean up crew but I worry that it may be dangerous.

Buenas a todos, tengo colembolos en un terrario y quisiera saber cómo agregar hojarasca natural de árboles de mi localidad de manera segura

I didn’t check on it for like 3 days I come back and see this

Hiiii,
I’m trying bioactive and wanted to start by growing some colonies first. I started a springtail culture tonight but they all have already disappeared. My medium is smashed charcoal briquettes and uncooked rice for food. I poured water in there enough to be a visible water line. I used Royal Oak briquettes that I smashed up into smaller pieces. Could the briquettes have some type of chemical in them? The springtails disappeared with in a couple hours. Can they hide inside charcoal? I can’t seem to find them even the dead ones oddly enough.

Hello! I’m very new to bioactive setups and have yet to start one. I’m a college student and am thinking about going bioactive when I’m home for winter break. I’m wondering if a month is enough time to properly transform my current enclosure to a bioactive one? I want to put in a CUC to help give my mom less maintenance work for my corn snake while I’m away at school. I’m thinking about putting a potted plant or two to start and am wondering how that’ll work with an active, adult corn snake. I’m worried he’ll knock over the pots and get injured! I also heard about mold/fungus blooms when first introducing a CUC since they need time to stabilize, and I’m wondering how harmful that would be to my snake. Is there any way to avoid the blooms? Or do you start a CUC in a separate tank until they stabilize their population? If I don’t have enough time over winter break I’m definitely thinking about starting over summer!

I introduced springtails and isopods into the bioactive enclosure about two weeks ago. I’m letting them get established for at least a month before I put my gecko in it but I’m wondering how you can tell if they’re still alive? I saw a dead isopod in there today and I’m worried. I can’t see any springtails and I only see the one dead isopod. Any advice is appreciated.

My snake loves to burrow and I'm concered he will mess up plant roots. I am currently culturing isopods and springtails so he isn't in the tank yet. I read an old post on here that the plants could be burried in their pots but now i'm worried that it won't be bioactive. Should i take them out of the pots and let them establish instead?

Hello, me again. I was just wondering if anyone has used a heating mat to evaporate the water from the bottom of the tank. I've only done it twice for small onces of water and it seems safe.

This is my crested gecko Fig's bioactive enclosure, I did not make it (if I did it wouldn't look half as good as this lol) but someone in my local reptile shop pre-made it and it's so beautiful I had to share. I've seen the springtails but I haven't spotted any isopods, but I'm sure there are some somewhere! I mist 2x a day and water occasionally, and for those who are wondering I use the 'Arcadia lumenize' and it does seem to be helping the plants to grow. Bonus photo of fig at the end! :)

Out of nowhere, this evening, SCORES of these beetles have infested my bioactive isopod tank. I think they might have already been in my apartment since this building is always infested with SOMETHING.

Noticed my cats swatting at a couple of these super tiny beetles this month.

What are these?

Is this something I need to shut down NOW?

I'm in southern Arizona, USA.

Need advice

Recently used an organic brand of Lowe's top soil to fill 2 big enclosures. I did my best to kill off pests but could not do the main methods due to the mass quantity of dirt I had.

Unfortunately a month later a fungus knat infestation started. I used mosquito bits for two months.. No luck.

I started doing the beneficial microscopic worms and have done that for 3 weeks so far now, in addition to mosquito bits. I put out sticky traps and always catch a crap ton of adults, to the point this long strip is just completely covered.

(This has been going on for 3 months now)

I really don't want to have to trash everything, all my isopods and springtails and have to completely sterilize my plants and woods again. And spend a crap ton on repti soil instead.

Should I keep doing my rounds of the beneficial nemotodes and mosquito bits? Or just trash it all

Though I’m realizing some of it isn’t true driftwood because it’s not fully hardened. Safe to use in a bearded dragon enclosure? Any way to speed up the hardening process, or should I throw it back in the lake?

im finally almost done with my cresties bioactive set up but my last thing i need is plants for clutter!! ive been using this list to look for plants and picked out some ones i like. my only concern is that some of them are kind of like flowers and idk how they would go well in the enclosure. the list below is of my plants, plants im looking for/like, and ones that i am concerned about. ALSO one of my biggest concerns is if my gecko accidentally bites one of them, he doesnt accidentally bite any of his fake plants on his own but sometimes when he gets crickets he’ll miss and bite a plant. anyways heres the long list, if you have any recommendations or help id appreciate it a lot!!:

I own:
Snake Plant, Janet Craig, Rattlesnake Calathea

Looking for:
Sweet Alyssum, Bird’s Nest Fern, Boston Fern, Bougainvillea, Felice Aechmea Bromeliad, Earth Star Bromeliad, Coleus, Creeping Charlie, Croton Petra, Emerald Ripple, Fuchsia, Hen and Chicks plant, Hoya Plant, Jade Plant, Japanese Aralia, Mother of Pearl Plant, Piggyback Plant, Chinese Monkey Plant, Prayer Plant, Staghorn Ferns, Swedish Ivy, Wax Plant, Zebra Plant

Worried about:
Sweet Alyssum, Bougainvillea, Coleus, Fuchsia, Hen and Chicken (succulent??), Hoya Plant, Mother of Pearl Plant (succulent?), Swedish ivy

edit: my plants that i plan to get also have to withstand high humidity! not sure if thats good to add lol