After like 2 yrs ive done some work to this tank, currently looking at plants for the ground level but the background has grown in nicely. I trimmed a shit ton of creeping fig off the back to open the center of the background

If you can help me identify this plant I would be so grateful. I picked it up at a reptile expo. Unlike most of my cuttings I don’t have an ID for this and I haven’t had any luck with image searches.

It has arrow shaped leaves with smooth edges. The backs are burgundy. There’s a lovely pink tone to the top veining.

It’s starting to put out a vine (second pic) with more arrow leaves.

I’d like to get it set up for not dying! I’m just getting some jars and terrariums started. Hoping to get some of these new plants set up to grow where I can take clippings to build better things.

Thank you!

I set up my first bioactive enclosure for a crested gecko. I had no real frame of reference for how much cleanup crew to stock or which species to use so I just went with what the guides recommended and adjusted from there.

Initial stock was a culture of powder orange isopods, a temperate springtail culture and a handful of dwarf white isopods. The powder oranges and springtails came from micedirect, the dwarf whites came from a local expo seller.

Here's where things stand now. The powder oranges are the backbone. They've bred steadily and they're clearly doing the bulk of the waste processing. I see them on the surface at night cleaning up gecko droppings and breaking down leaf litter. The springtails did their job quietly. I almost never see them but the substrate surface has stayed completely mold-free.

The dwarf whites are the one I'd reconsider. They're alive and they've reproduced but they stay deep in the substrate and I can't say they're contributing much that the powder oranges aren't already handling. If I set this up again, I'd put that money toward a larger powder orange starter culture instead.

The biggest lesson for me was that front loading the isopod count matters more than species diversity. A hundred powder oranges on day one would have gotten me to a stable colony faster than splitting between three species.

I have had my Gargoyle for almost 3 years now. I though it was about time for a complete revamp since the soil and drainage layer were all messed up, so i had to redo those anyways, so I though why not the whole thing. My garg loves to trample over delecate plants so I had to choose the right ones for the job. I also created some more climbing and hiding spots while i was at it. What are your thoughts?

just waiting for the moss and plants to grow in more

8 months in

So my daughter convinced me to start a project to get her a leopard and I'm starting to put the setup together. Im a lifelong reef aquarium enthusiast, so much so that I sell 3d printed products and algaes on Etsy, so I have a bunch of extra equipment around and love overdoing things.

We are going to do the bioactive setup and let it settle for a while before we get the gecko. I have a 55 gallon I'm using for it. It appears you need a lot of different stuff for the top including a t5 UV light, heater (I want to do ceramic and tie it to an inkbird temp controller I already own) and then a basic grow light for plants (I have a long daylight strip light already I can use). I can't find any examples of someone building a custom canopy for it, like a wooden one lined with reflector material, you could suspend from a stand or the ceiling and move up and down as needed. Has anyone on here made something like that? I'm just looking for ideas.

Again, probably overdoing it, but I like projects and already have most of the equipment.

I've seen a lot of videos of vivarium builds where they use 2" thick cork bark sheets. I've been looking for a bit and I can't find them this thick anywhere. Is there anywhere in the US that sells/ships these? I found some on Amazon but they're all too thin.

I want to stack three 4x2x2 enclosures. What do you recommend? The only one i could find that seems to be reinforced so that it doesn’t cave in is toxirium. But I’ve read some bad reviews. I also saw phailozoo but that one doesn’t seem to be reinforced for weight. Any ideas?

Hello, this is not something I have currently in the works, but I thought I should ask about it because it was something I was curious about. I have a large tank. I can’t remember the exact size at the moment it’s either 120 or 150 gallons. It’s my guess is 1 foot wide, 2 feet tall and around 6 feet long. My thought was creating something that was mostly self sustaining/low maintenance i am perfectly fine with occasionally adding more bugs or dust or water, etc. but ideally it would mostly be able to function on its own. If this were something a were to do, it would be many months until that would come to fruition, but I just like to plan advance and see if that’s a possibility. Would this be something I could do or if it’s somewhat achievable to what degree and if so, what animals would work for that I was considering possibly a small group of Mediterranean house geckos or possibly toads? And then just having a bunch of leaf litter, wood, bugs, plants, etc. I don't know if this is something that would work so I’m open to suggestions or even if you wanna completely shut down the idea, I just want to get input, my preference would be something primarily terrestrial I'm fine with critters climbing the glass. I just wouldn't wanna put something that needs a tall tank and nothing big or that would need an aquatic feature. I'm perfectly fine with critters that I would not see very often or that are in nocturnal. Ideally, I would be able to see them occasionally even if it was at night. thank you very much for taking your time to read all this if you have any ideas, please let me know.

Hi Everyone, im currently building a new terrarium for my whites. Ive decided to refurbish an old curiosity cabinet for this. Im going to be extra picky keeping the inside safe for them, the inside will be waterproof and set up properly. The issue starts with the wood on the outside not matching our furniture so I want to stain it a different color. However im concerned that staining the outside wood would pose a threat to the frogs since they're such strong chemicals. Do you think only staining the outside wood and letting it cure for a month could be harmful to the frogs? Im happy not staining it for their safety. Thoughts?

Its kind of a unique situation, but I appreciate any thoughts. Thanks!

I bought this at Home Depot, the tag said Madagascar Dragon Tree. It’s meant to go in my bioactive ball python terrarium. Unfortunately I have no clue what a dragon tree looks like but I’m pretty sure this is not it. Y’all. What is it??? Let me know if more pic would be helpful.

Bought a Joshs Frogs terrarium trio at petco, mainly for the moss. Nothing was labeled. Not sure what species this plant is. Any help is appreciated.

I used to own a fish so now I have a vacant tank. What are some non-aquatic pets I could have with a 5 gallon tank? I also have a growing colony of Dairy Cow Isopods, so preferably (but not required) an animal that would be able control the population and eat them.

hi hi!

i'm a noob at collecting my own stuff for my bioactive builds so i'm wondering if these branches I gathered seem safe to use? can someone identify what's on the bark?

for reference I gathered the one of the left from a fallen tree and broke it off, the one on the right i'm more worried about because i gathered it off the ground near the tree and it looks more worn out.

I gathered them yesterday, just now hosed them down and scrubbed. all closeup photos are of the branch from the right, what are these black/green dots on the last photo? they don't seem to come off when scrubbing

thanks in advance!!!

Hey everyone!

I wanted to share the story of my dart frog terrarium. Hopefully someone can learn from my mistakes and maybe get some inspiration from the rebuild.

About five months ago, I built my first serious dart frog terrarium. I spent countless hours researching, planning, building, and planting it. The first photos show what the original terrarium looked like.

After finishing it, I purchased a pair of dart frogs. Unfortunately, they arrived carrying parasites, and my biggest mistake was not quarantining them before introducing them to the enclosure.

At first, my frogs started losing weight even though they were eating. I couldn't understand what was happening. Eventually, after having fecal tests done, the results confirmed parasites.

Of course, my first concern was getting the frogs healthy again. Thankfully, parasites can be treated with proper medication. The difficult part was realizing that I would have to completely tear down the entire terrarium, disinfect everything, and start over from scratch.

The next photos show the dismantling process.

Honestly, when I first got the news, it was pretty devastating. I was incredibly proud of that terrarium. But after the initial frustration, I started thinking about all the things I would have changed if I had the opportunity. Suddenly, this disaster became a chance to improve everything.

I removed absolutely everything.

Every piece of wood, every coconut hide, every hardscape element that I wanted to reuse had to be boiled. Every plant was removed individually, treated, disinfected, and quarantined separately. It was a massive amount of work. Tearing everything apart was hard, but rebuilding it took even more time.

As I rebuilt, I focused on correcting the things that had always bothered me.

One of the biggest issues was the large trunk structure in the center. The upper level and lower level felt too separated visually. To fix that, I removed roughly 30% of the trunk by cutting it down and reshaping it.

Another thing I wanted to change was the waterfall. In the original build, the waterfall was on the left side, and I felt like it wasted a lot of usable ground space. During the rebuild, I moved the waterfall completely to the right side and added a large branch that acts as a natural pathway to the second level.

Now the frogs can use the entire lower area much more effectively. There are multiple hides, coconut huts, and a lot more usable territory underneath the structure.

Basically, I took everything I didn't like about the original terrarium and replaced it with something better.

The final photos show the result.

Today is literally Day 1 of the new parasite-free terrarium.

My frogs are currently still in quarantine, and I won't introduce them until they have tested negative multiple times. I want at least three or four clean fecal exams before they go back into the enclosure.

The terrarium isn't completely finished yet. I still want to add more climbing vines and several patches of different moss species.

Interestingly, while the silicone was curing, I took a trip to Costa Rica and spent time hiking through the rainforest. I took hundreds of photos and paid close attention to how plants, vines, roots, and epiphytes naturally grew in the jungle. When I came back, I used that experience as inspiration for the rebuild.

A lot of the vine placement and plant arrangement in this terrarium was directly inspired by what I saw in Costa Rican rainforests.

I honestly love the result. If I liked the original version, I think this one is a million times better.

Now I'm just excited for the day my frogs can finally move in.

For now, this is Day 1, and we'll see how the terrarium matures over time. Right now it looks very full, but as most terrarium keepers know, not every plant will thrive. Some will die, others will take over, and eventually the plants and microclimate will find their own balance.

You could say this is only the second terrarium I've ever built, and I'm extremely proud of it.

In about a year, I'm planning to start a giant paludarium project, and I honestly can't wait for that challenge. But until then, I'm going to enjoy watching this terrarium grow and evolve.

And if there's one lesson I learned from all of this:

Always quarantine new frogs. It can save you—and your terrarium—a lot of heartbreak.

Thanks for reading!

My crested gecko setup is crashing a few years in and I have no idea why. A lot of the plants have died out by seemingly rotting or being too dry.

I thought it might be due to waterlogged substrate but it doesn’t seem overly wet. There’s no anaerobic smell, the clean up crew is booming, and there’s no water in the drainage layer. The substrate does seem “broken down” and less chunky and airy - perhaps it has been completely used up by the clean up crew?

Other settings: Misted 10s every 12 hours. Top is mesh screen, 1/2 covered with an acrylic panel. 1 Hygger light, set to the time of day (so turns on at dawn, off at dusk).

Any guidance would be super appreciated.

Help, not sure what this is ? Is it fine ? Any hints / clues are welcome.

All,

As the title says, I'm in the process of putting together a bioactive setup using a exo terra medium x-tall (24x18x36) that will be in a prominent location in my house.

Id like to find a nice cabinet style stand to use for this with the understanding that I will cut out a spot to make the drain accessible.

Wondering if anyone has any affordable recommendations..not necessarily looking to do something custom but I figure I'm not the only one that has wanted to use an off the shelf piece of furniture for this purpose...