Bioactive enclosure

[Rushthezeppelin]

Figured I would go ahead and start a new thread on this. So my plan is to switch to bioactive setup when my new girls come out of QT in about 3 months. In the mean time I figured I could get my colony of cleanup crew and the substrate started up in a rub.

So I started with a 50/50 mix of Jiffy Natural & Organic Seed Starting Mix and ecoearth. This should keep the soil aired out enough to not hold a ton of moisture but enough for the cleanup crew and the Pothos plant that will also be in the enclosure.

I also topped off my soil mix with a ton of oak leaf litter to get my springtails started. There might have been a few in there but most of it was rather dry so I need to go down to the nearby creek and find some wetter ditritous that should hold more critters. I'm going to try and be all local with my cleanup crew. Will also be setting out some halved potatos to attract my isopods (pill bugs).

[Albert Clark]

Wow, looks amazing!

[Rushthezeppelin]

Well I'm currently working on my first bioactive system in a viv (last one is just going to be my bin for mass culturing the cleanup crews in case I need to replenish other tanks). This is going to house the girls together once QT is done until they are full grown and I get did done with my 6' wide viv (then this one will house males). Starting off with a 40 breeder, put a divider in as I'm going to have a very wet soil area for creekside plants along with a pond running basically underneath that soil to keep it constantly moist. There will be an open part of the pond for the girls to swim and maybe catch fish in and a waterfall feeding it.

[Rushthezeppelin]

Getting closer to done with this project.



Still need to finish my waterfall setup and pumphouse cover but the pond is basically done otherwise and I have the pump keeping things fresh. Need to also build a extension top to this thing, since I obviously have that hill built up quite a bit. Need to get a good plant light and then plant the soil up, then add my bugs and let them establish themselves. I've already added some millipedes to the setup to get those started, pill bugs and springtails I'm probably going to order as it's too dry to find any numbers of them outside.

I also have been letting the albino radix girls test things out along the way for me. I will say one thing, these snakes LOVE water but they have also enjoyed exploring all the other nooks n crannies in here.

Here's Joan enjoying the pond:


Exploring the cave:



BTW the cave is a really awesome rock I found that was literally two feeder tubes parallel to feed water to stalactites in a cave. The rock at some point sheered perfectly in the middle of the two tubes and left me with an awesome little natural hide.



I also made small burrows under each rock I put in there so there is tons of natural cover. So far they have only used the cave though. I made sure all the rock (including in the pond) were nice and secure too so they don't get crushed but so far I'm loving the look of this and can't wait to get plants in.

[guidofatherof5]

Looks good.

[Rushthezeppelin]

Also just to be clear, the mix in the first post was bupkis. I'm now using a mix that is 3 parts organic topsoil to 1 part sand with a crapton of crushed leaflitter thrown in for food for the custodians. I will also be adding some whole leaf litter on most of the tank too....it's kinda a natural mulch and helps hold moisture for the plants and the custodians in parts of the tank. It will get nice and dry at the top of the hill and up on Pride Rock there (obvious basking point is obvious). I will probably have a succulent up on top of the hill, pothos on the back wall to climb around on all that coir matting, a fern up front next to the pond and a small bushy grass species somewhere up front too.

[Eddie]

That is an awesome set up! Let us know how it works out.

[Rushthezeppelin]

Should be fully up and running in the next week or two then the radix go in. Then when their quarantine is up I'll introduce my checkered girl into there.

[Jeff B]

That is a great setup. I have a cracked 125 gal aquarium that I want to turn into a vivarium. Might be a good winter project.

[Rushthezeppelin]

Holy crap I would love to work with that. I had an idea pop in my head today to create a tank with a stream/moat going from the side to the front to the side that would be great in such a big tank. And yes, feel free to steal my idea if you want.