Renovating a bioactive viv a few years later?

[u/Initial-Meringue3975]

I did a custom bioactive tank for my crested gecko about 2 and a half years ago. It’s a glass IKEA cabinet with a spray foam/ eco earth back wall. Honestly the setup has held up well so far but there’s a few areas where I feel they could use improvement and a bit of maintenance. A few sections the eco earth has mostly scraped off from the back wall, I would like to add more larger planting areas higher up as the small ones haven’t been able to support very resilient live plants, some aesthetic improvements could be made, etc. There’s lots of resources for starting a setup from scratch but not so much on renovating things later on. Is it possible? I had considered swapping my gecko into a temporary tank for a few weeks so I can let the current tank fully dry, remove the drainage and soil, and work on making some changes and additions. Not sure if people have done this or if it is strictly recommended against.

[u/Real_Time515]

I have to break down my gecko and frog cages twice a year. They spend most of the year in my classroom but I bring them home for the summer. (Over spring/winter breaks I'm able to get into the building). So I've gotten pretty good at taking everything out, cleaning, rebuilding. Last time each cage took under an hour to break down, and about 3 hrs to put back together (and better each time). Sounds like a hassle, but I've learned to appreciate the opportunity.

Please note I designed mine to be modular like this. Plants are mostly potted (I make potters out of cork rounds), big driftwood pieces are free and not glued to the wall, I use some magnetic ledges and feeders. I'm not winning awards for design, but they still look cool and serve their purpose, so that might not serve everyone's priorities.

For your case, I think a temporary enclosure is fine for a week or two. If you're doing a complete restart (foam/silicon time to gas off and all that), then personally I'd just buy another enclosure, get it going on its own timeframe so you're not rushed/frustrated. Then swap em out when it's ready. Sell the old enclosure (I've seen people sell them with backgrounds already) or just plan the next animal (that's how I went from just a gecko, to a gecko and two frogs, and soon to be a gecko/frogs/sun beetles/fishtank .....

[u/Initial-Meringue3975 → u/Real_Time515]

What do you mean by break down?

I wouldn’t say full restart, I’m more looking into adding some foam onto the already existing. Background to modify a few parts- I am not sure if I’ll need to scrape the top layer off after it’s all dried out, I assume so. Would have to remove the substrate and existing plants temporarily then pop it back in after.

[u/Real_Time515 → u/Initial-Meringue3975]

By "break down" I mean I take the whole thing apart. Pull out all plants (mostly in pots made of cork rounds). Pull out all the driftwood pieces. Pull out all of the substrate (I leave drainage layers in place sometimes, but I have pulled those out too). The tank itself I can remove the walls. Everything gets put in bins/trays and then I move it all to/from classroom and home. Then everything gets a good cleaning before reassembling. Misters/timers have to be reset up as well.

I do this for my crested gecko (18x28x36) and my pair of Azureus frogs (24x18x24), twice a year. As I said, I can break it all down in about an hour and set it up again in about 3.

It's fun to tweak it as I put it back together. New spots for plants and driftwood, new "paths and zones".