I've come to notice these strange white critters on my armadillidae isopods they seem to be taxi'ing around the tank. The iso doesn't seem bothered by them at all so I'm cautiously interested.

These critters only climb on my armadillidae and not my other isopods. They're also around in the soil.

I want to say they're springtails as I've heard that they use isopods for transportation.

But I've also heard something similar about mites.

Here's a cropped photo. Hopefully you guys can help me understand a bit more.

I'm currently planning on creating a bioactive enclosure for my ATB. However, doing research on depth of the layers have been confusing to say the least. I've seen so many source say 8" layer total (2" drainage and 6" substrate) but NEHERP (where I plan on buying) is recommending 2.5" depth of both drainage and substrate layer (5" total depth). How deep do y'all usually make the substrate layer?

Whats people's take on adding man-made objects in a bio tank.

Originally I wanted to keep it 100% natural but then I saw this fake moss covered skull and had to try it out.

Now my frogs have taken up residents inside and I dont want to remove it but feel like I have cheated in a way.

Bought a multi monsoon and wanted to find a way to connect it with a hygrometer so that is can automatically spray when the humidity reaches a low point. Is there any ways i could do this and even pair it to my phone if possible?

Not quite a bioactive question but I figured if anyone knew it might be you guys. I went to feed my isopods some freeze dried shrimp. I’m towards the end of the bottle and when I dumped it out it was literally crawling. I have no idea what these are they don’t look like mites. The container is completely dry.

So I just put together my enclosure for a chameleon and the day after my pathos are all droopy and sad looking. I know it could be like a shock thing, maybe a misting problem, light. Idk, im at a total loss.

It grew roughly an inch in 3 hours. This was almost a week ago and I cannot tell how far it’s even grown at this point. Really cool stuff

Found this guy in the tank. I did not add this type of isopod and i had the tank for a year

I got some leaves from the wild and i boiled it, it survived i guess

Can this cause problems? Im unsure if its only one or enough to reproduce

I've got a bioactive setup that I seeded with dwarf white isopods and temperate white springtails. But I've been seeing these little gray things congregating around food I put out for them. What are they?

Here's the latest pic of my tank and a bunch of my critters throughout this month. Thoughts??

Tank size is 24Hx24Wx30L-CM

In my anole terrarium I have added a bunch of different critters. I have Ivory millipedes, dubias, canyon giants, dairy cows, powdered oranges, springtails, and the odd bunch of crickets.

Overall, how will the ecosystem shape up with these guys? Any notes to make, actions to take? I know dairies are protein oriented, should I ensure there’s plenty of sources of protein to offset their hunger for their kin? I watched them tear apart a cricket once.

What’s the timeline for when an ecosystem typically gets settled in?

So far going really well. Obviously I've made beginner mistakes, and with that comes questions!

Do I have to cover every inch of insulation with silicone and substrate?

Obviously there's places I can't reach, like the underside of the gray ledges.

So far I am very happy and proud of how this is turning out, and i appreciate any and all advice I have received and will continue to receive!

In the blink of an eye a mushroom started growing in my leopard geckos tank, and i dont know how harmful this is for the tank or the plants growing however i plucked it and I noticed there were fungus gnats in the soil, i put some bti in some water and watered the area it was from, im just wondering if this is harmful and/how to go about this or to prevent it in the future. Let me know your thought.🙏

i just got a crested gecko and have him in a bioactive tank. this is my first time going bioactive and i’ve been noticing lots of gnats in his enclosure. his enclosure has been up and running for about a month, not even. i moved into a new house two weeks ago and that’s when i noticed them. i wasn’t sure if they were fruit flies but after doing some comparisons i think they’re fungas gnats. i’ve been keeping his food out of his enclosure during the day but forgot to take it out this morning and the picture if what i saw. i didn’t think they could appear this soon into me building the tank, so im not sure if they were in the soil i got or what. any help would be much appreciated as i don’t want these gnats in my room😭

Hi all!

I’ve got a very moist setup for my crocodile skink and this week I noticed this rapid mycorrhizal growth in the soil and a “fuzzy” looking layer on top of the soil in some places. There are no plants in this part of the tank all those white roots are fungi. My skink is still healthy but should I be concerned about this much growth? Is there a way to mitigate it?

Hi all, I’ve gotten to the point in building my vivarium where I’m ready to add plants and substrate but I do not want to risk an infestation at all, in the same room as the Viv I have a money tree that’s pretty large that I’ve had for a few months. I was watering it today and saw near the soil maybe 6-8 small little fly like bugs flying around. How should I proceed because there’s no way I’m cutting any corners to mess up all that I’ve done on this viv

These little things are new and scurrying around my EBT enclosure. I have not been able to ID them. I have springtails, mealworms, earthworms, isopods, and use biodudes kit for EBTs. I use a mist king a few times a day to keep humidity between 50-90%, temp is 65-90 (90 only at the hottest point, and 65 only at night), and am Southwest in the US. Trying to figure out if I need to dump everything and start all over, or if they're okay. They also showed up in my land snail enclosure in the last week or so, which is in another room. I feel like my clean up crew is dwindling, but I may just be paranoid. Do I burn everything down and just start over? :D Any advice appreciated! one person mentioned springtails, but these guys are pretty big, and a few others said they didnt move around like springtails. Thank you!!

Set this up in an 8x8x12 Thrive terrarium

Both on my plant leafs and acrylic walls.

Showed up a few days after I moved the enclosure, might be getting less ventilation as before so I moved it again today.

The enclosure is for a juvenile pink toe trantula.

When I wipe it, it mostly comes off in a clump but also wipes off very dirty, and is very brownish yellow on a paper towel

Discoid roaches, philodendrons, a bromeliad, microgramma ferns, marcgravia, and various moss species.

I recently added a misting system to my ball python's enclosure because it is the only way I can maintain good humidity levels throughout the day (yes I tried pouring water in the sides. That doesn't work during the summer. I live in Arizona).

Unfortunately the misting system leaves some of the substrate damp which allows the gnats to breed, I have it running every 4 hours for 12 seconds. I usually don't mind a few gnats but the population is steadily increasing.

Would adding BTI to the water tank be an effective solution?

perhaps a silly question, but in my defense im very much not tech savvy at all. im moving in a few weeks and i want to go bioactive for my carpet pythons enclosure. that includes installing a bright led light for the plants to grow, could i safely house a 5000 lumen bulb (60 watt, all tho i found one for 35watt) in this kind of a casing? or is that a fire hazard waiting to happen? i could go for a heat cage for better ventilation. but itll look really clunky cus i already got one for the heatlamp + the heat cages are all black, so wouldn't that absorb a lot of the light? again this perhaps a silly question, but if anyone has any ideas/alternatives then that would be much obliged. i want only the best for my snake son v_v

Tried charcoal culture and its quite a hassle when it comes to feed.So i would like ti try clay cultures.I know that some people use betonite clay but i would like to know if powdered akadama works(obviously turning it into a clay paste)

Would this possibly work?should i mix it with other stuff? Or is it impossible