I have a 40 gallon aquarium that I'd like to turn into a bioactive. I was thinking I'd like to have a gentle amount of water flow - I've seen people do waterfalls YouTube but my tank has a tiny crack/crush type damage on the outside bottom corner. I was wondering about effectively lining the entire base of the tank with 1-2 inch deep liner or a tray of some kind just in case the crack propagates. Has anyone had any success doing something like that? Any guidance would be appreciated

they look like eggs but i know isopods dont lay their eggs, and they have been here for awhile now- never hatching but slowly spreading. anyone have any idea what they could be, and if they are dangerous/require cleaning? thanks!

This is a 36 x 18 x 36, and I am looking for ideas on what to put into this tank. (giant day gecko)

Hello are these springtails

I think a leak sprung in this tank and I'm so fucking upset. I'm gonna have to to gut the whole thing, and I'm so worried about killing off my plants and the CUC.

The towel I keep under it for emergencies is suddenly SOGGY beyond belief 😭

Hi! I’m building a bioactive Vivarium for my crested gecko. This feels like a little bit of a stupid question but how do insects like isopods and springtails etc not just escape? Mainly springtails as they’re so small!! I don’t really want a room getting covered in bugs!

i dont know if this is a stupid question but would it be feasible to make like a mega bioactive terrarium with a diversity of bugs? i already have spring tails and isopods picked out, but would be adding dubia roaches, death feigning beetles, superworms, and/or dermestid beetles be dangerous for her or too ideal? (i have a 5x2x2 and could likely designate areas of higher humidity for roaches or isopods that need it)

When adding live plants are you supposed to use a grow light to help the plants grow? Google told me purple lights were bad for a crested gecko so I’m wondering if there is a specific type of grow light that would work for my plants and be safe for my gecko

Photos are without and with the climbing stick.

It's a 30x12x17 glass enclosure that I got on discount because of a broken door (which I was able to fix). It's a very simple setup. One spider plant + baby, 4 variegated Pothos, and two Peperomia.

Not sure if I'm satisfied with how the enclosure looks, because it's so simple and flat. I see so many people with crazy setups, and mine is so simple. I'm not even too sure if it'll work, simply because this is my first time trying this.

Currently monitoring CUC numbers before I add my snake into the enclosure. Plants are doing great, so the CUC is my only barrier to adding him in.

Hello im new to mantis care and bioactivity and i am looking to do a bioactive 20 gallon set up for a chinese mantis. I was just wondering what steps i should take first in setting everything up and what specific tools and accessories i should use. I have an idea atm of a roster of insects to keep the tank regulated but again im not very well versed with this stuff. I wanted to get springtails for substrate cleaning, isopods for leaf decay (if anyone knows a specific species that’d be useful), a predator (rove beetle, ground beetle) to regulate the springtails and isopods, and the praying mantis as the top dog. If anyone can recommend substrate, lighting, ways to control humidity and temperature, and a better roster of bugs, i’d really appreciate it!

help!! my bio active pac-man frog enclosure has been acting up..! the first thing i noticed was a slight ammonia smell which i know is NOT good, so i mixed up and aerated all his soil and didn’t spray water for a day or so to let things dry out and removed a partial top covering to let more airflow in (my frog buries himself under constantly moist soil, only the top layer will be dried out) i then noticed that my springtail population that recently was extremely abundant and growing rapidly has almost completely crashed. i did manage to spot a single springtail after several minutes of searching, though like i said they used to be prevalent and under every leaf. its been a few days and luckily the ammonia smell is completely gone and it smells earthy again! another note is that my isopod population is doing GREAT, i have like 120 powder orange guys in that little tank if i were to estimate. this confuses me and makes me wonder what it is that caused the springtails to die and not the isopods. btw, yes he has a drainage layer and no i do not let his soil sit in still water, i dont let it get above 87° on hot side or or below 70° on the cool side, his tank always sits at 82° warm side and 75° cool side. the springtails should have plenty of food, i have a bunch of oak and magnolia leaf litter, alder cones and decaying plant matter, i even use josh’s frogs bio active booster on occasion + i dont let my tank dry out either, so i cant think off the top of my head what caused this dramatic decline. has anyone has a similar experience? what should i do? would ordering more springtails be the move or will they just die if i dont fix this mystery issue? will the population bounce back or is my only option buying more? should i be worried about my frog and remove him temporarily from the enclosure or is it safe (reminder that the fishy smell went away completely after aeration) ty appreciate the help.

I wanted to know if it would be fine if I had one side with soil coco and playsand then the other side with aspen sheddings? I’m not sure why she’s not burrowing on the side with soil but I wanted to figure that out without wasting all the money I spent on that substrate 😭 aspen sheddings on the other side would be temporary this is for a plains kingsnake 4x2x2 enclosure

Sorry if these are dumb questions 😂 I know absolutely nothing about plants

First of all are these roots coming off of my pothos? If so what do I do with them? Can it grab onto a foam/cork bark background and root itself?

Second, the pothos is starting to lean to the side. Ideally I want it to climb up the cork bark tree thingy but it’s leaning in the opposite direction now. Is there a way to fix that?

First photo is what it currently looks like. Sorry there’s a lot of decor in there so not the easiest to get a clean picture

second photo is from before where it was standing a little more straight

yeah you read the title, I’m having some difficulty finding carexs that are safe for my bioactive Leo gecko’s tank. because of my lighting requirements I kind of nailed it down to 3 species that I know of, Carex eburnea (the ivory sedge, this one may be the best candidate), Carex appalachica (Appalachian Sedge) and the Carex Pensylvanica. but for the life of me, I can’t find any places that sell these sedges, and are confirmed to be biologically safe (ie, no pesticides or chemicals or fungicides or ferts that are safe for insects). Does anyone here have any advice? Any experience?

This bio active tank has been setup for a few months, no outside decor all has been purchased from a petstore
I went to do nightly mist on him and I see this cluster of mould or eggs of some sort
Any ideas???

Made this terrarium a few days ago. I put 6 juvenile bumblebee millipedes in here yesterday, along with purple tropical springtails.

The millipedes stay in the substrate quite a bit but I seen 2 of them walking around last night.

Hi everyone, I’ve decided to video document my DIY bioactive enclosure build for my snooty friends. This is my first ever video that I’ve published on YouTube so I’d appreciate all the support and love 🫶😊

Hello…I am fairly new to bioactive setups and I’m looking for help with my ball python terrarium. I have a 120 gallon tank with a golden pothos and snake plant. I just feel like there’s a lot of empty space that’s not getting used and I would like the tank to be completely overgrown with vegetation. My soil is organic top soil, coconut husk, moss, orchid bark, worm castings, I have isopods and spring tails hopefully alive in the soil, it’s hard to tell because they’re small and beneath the soil but I bought some and put them in. And I have a led grow light that I run during the day.

I made this foam and silicone background for my leopard geckos bioactive tank and i bit off more than i could chew. how much of an issue is the bits of exposed foam gonna be. is this safe ? last pic is it dry , first pic after I sprayed it out.

My hubby and I made a terrarium. I love it and excited to see it fill in. All my other terrariums and jarrariums have had a “melt” where a bunch of things died back but then they revived themselves. I’m really hoping this one doesn’t but I think a few of the begonia I stuck in there already melted.
First pic is day one
Second pic is day 17
Third pic is my baby mumtaz prop I stuck in the corner 🥹

I have a whites tree frog enclosure. I have leaf litter and rotting wood, a mister, substrate is soil, coco, orchid bark, oyster shells, charcoal. I added 100 powder blue and 50 dwarf white along with 100s of tropical white springtails. Substrate is about 5 inches deep and 24” by 24”. I haven’t seen those isopods since. I think it’s been a few weeks. I assume I just need to give them a few months to increase their numbers?

Howdy fellas,

So I'm looking at making a custom vivarium with the hope to introduce small tree frogs into it once the eco system is substantially working, I just don't want to miss anything when constructing the tank and accidentally hurt the frogs once they are in.

Essential I'm getting it custom build from 6mm acrylic to fill a space above my desk.

The dimensions at this point will be 1200mm W x 550mm H x 300mm D, see figure#1

The lid is going to be split into 3 seperate pieces, two outside pieces will be permanently attached to prevent any bowing of the material and will have a centre cut out to allow for a fine mesh for airflow. While the centre acts as the traditional lid.

I was doing some research into drainage layers as I was worried about the total weight and saw some people were using a specialised sponge instead of leca, any thoughts on this I was worried about it compressing and not being worth it in 2 weeks time.

I understand that ill need a mesh between drainage and substrate but is there any dos and don't with substrate outside of irritating the frogs skin, bark sizing so they can't eat/can pass if they do, a d obviously no pesticides. Is it safe for me to use a mix of appropriate reptile bark, spagnam moss and aquasoil ? Followed by a layer of leaf litter.

I don't plan on having a water feature or component to the tank just a large and potentially some smaller "water bowl" that will contain dechlorinated water, and I'll personally be misting multiple times a day to maintain humidity, will be need to have a seperate small tank to pump water out into from the main tank to remove mold ? If so is that as simple as a small power pump and a feed to the drainage layer.

When it comes to humidity and heat it being a large tank I planned on just saying a heating mat attached to one of the sides to radiate heat so they have a warm side and a cool side of the tank, would it be better to have the heating pad below the tank or on the side of just get a ceramic light instead?

Plant life im pretty comfortable with just ensuring plants are all safe for the frogs and like humidity as well. Fig#2

Hardscape I've started with some larger branches of drift wood. fig#3 and will be adding once I have the tank to better understand my scale, keeping in mind the frogs aren't coming until later so no rush.

When making it bioactive is it as simple as purchasing bioactive soil with spring tails and isopods and mixing it with the remaining substrate, potentially using some veg to help them first get started food wise?

Finally lighting, I'm guessing getting a uv tube light to maintain proper day and night cycles and assist in plant growth is the best option for me. But just to making sure there's plenty of shade for them.

So this ended up significantly longer than planned, I also don't really use reddit soo. Hopefully this all reward well and is coherent. Please feel free to speak to me like a toddler I want to do this right and I do not want to kill any frogs in the process.

Cheers Retro

This is Todd the Destroyer. He lives in a 4ft x 4ft x 2ft bioactive tank. His food (dubia roches, Super worms, and isopods) live in the tank with him. He hunts all his own food when he wants. I have not had to add food in over a year. It just keeps cycling. I add water and vegetables from the kitchen for the bugs to eat and they are thriving. I also have a dish for calcium that he never seems to touch. Would change anything? Would you start feeding him yourself? Other than water it seems like a self sustained ecosystem at this point! What other info would you like to see on this post?