How To Make Tropical Bioactive Substrate 2020 DIY Bioactive Soil
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- čas přidán 12. 08. 2020
- This is the best diy bioactive substrate by the things we add into this.how to make bioactive soil How to make a bioactive tropical Substrate ideal for high humidity , tropical reptiles like crested geckos, mourning geckos and dart frogs. This can also come under how to make a bioactive substrate
This DIY tropical bioactive substrate mix has everything in it to make it the best for both animal and plant species.
We work in layers and explain all the layers through the video. Just like in nature the ground is made up of layers .
This is perfect for those people building a new bioactive terrarium, or bioactive exo terra or bioactive vivarium.
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Little question, did you get the sand from the beach?
I’m loving this. Not only shows what you put, explain why you add those ingredients!!
Thank you for being straightforward about what I needed. There are several videos out in this genre, this here was hands down the best. Thank you
Straight to the point love your commentary great video💪🏽
Doing some research for my first ever terrarium setup, decided to go bioactive and I will house a praying mantis in there once it's all done and ready - this was a super helpful video!
Great video once again Richard.
Thank you buddy
Love all the videos, watch all of them! Just about to receive my first ball/royal python down in Devon uk 🤙 keep the videos up!
Oooo good luck . There amazing animals
Thank you for the great information
Great video
Planning out a bioactive for my crestie muffin!
Hi Richard , I got my free give away sachets of nutrients Tuesday , thank you very much, I'm chuffed to bits. The stickers are on my bearded dragon and corn snake vivs . 👍🙂 Xx
Awww that's amazing thank you
Thats really good info ive got a layer of stones on the bottom on mine with some fabric between the stone layer and dirt layer so I have good drainage but i didn't put charcoal in so I'm gonna add that as didn't realise u needed it lol xxx
If your clean up crew is okay. Your plants are doing well then no need to fix what's not broken. Just consider it if you re do the setup. What animal do you have in the set up
@@NORTHERNEXOTICS I have a golden gecko in there at the moment and everything seems to be doing good so far xxx
I love watching a bioactive setup mature over time. Great to look back on photos from when it was first setup
Great video which was very helpful to me, what I would add though is that not all sand is the same, for instance play sand usually is a very fine grade of sand, and won't actually help with the drainage, in fact it could do the exact opposite, and block water from draining. You want at least a medium to a coarse grade of sand, I'd also say probably not sharp sand because (from my fish keeping experience) it might be a bit too coarse and not be as suitable for species that spend time on the substrate. Basically sharp sand has the potential to irritate their skin.
Thanks, I have a 40 gallon and I didn’t know what bioactive substrate to use
Depends on the species
Lovely bio active setup, I’ve put some of my dubia roachs into mine along with isopods and springtails
I've never thought of using dubia roaches tbh
I have wonder about letting dubias live in the viv as part of the clean up crew but have not seen anyone on youtube do this. I have Giant Orange Isopods, (super prolific and very efficient cleaners), they are so much better than Tropical Greys. Also Springtails. ( I have backup colonies in large pickle jars so I do not have to buy any). I also have Darkling Beetles from Morio and meal worms that escaped being eaten and have colonised the substrate they do an excellent job cleaning up too. Anything that drops to the vivarium floor vanishes within a minute. I do remove the Darkling Beetles to keep the numbers down as they can annoy my Cresties. I also wash and then add lettuce leaves to the floor so that there is always plant matter that can be eaten as the Isopods get so numerous they will eat my live plants. Also a milkbottle lid full of buggrub keeps them going and is a handy way to catch and remove to a separate colony when the numbers get too high. Also Dendrobia (earth worms) to keep the soil turned over and aerated.
@@starbyray7828 do you use any of them as feeders? Or sell any? Or are you keeping the insects themselves as pet? Also how often do you have to clean up since it sounds like they'll clean themselves. Sorry, I'm just a curious person lbs.
@@SlickzyTTV Happy to answer your questions. The only cleaning I have to do in the vivarium is to clean the glass mainly from calcium deposits (I live in a very hard water area) and urites. Occasionally boil some cork bark tubes, although the darkling Beetles will climb up and clean it. That is my Leos toilet spot of choice. Anything that falls to the viv floor is gone very quickly. Any poop that is stuck on plants or glass usually gets removed by the Darkling Beetles or dislodged when I mist. I have a colony of meal worms (and their Beetles), one of morio worms (and their Beetles). These are in plastic terrariums of varying sizes. The Morio and Meal worms are fed off to my reptiles. I hand pick various sizes and put them into a separate box where they are fed fresh veg, fruit and powdered repashy of various flavours that my Cresties won't eat, to ensure they are all fully gut loaded before being fed to my Cresties and Leos. I keep Pickle jars with springtails colonies in as back ups in case of die off in the vivariums. I have a small colony of Dubias, they need their tub upgraded now their numbers have recently increased (it took a long time to get males but finally I have 3 full grown).
I also have a large plastic storage bin that contains the overflow of Darkling Beetles, Giant Orange Isopods (of which there are loads) and Morios, that I remove from my vivs. I also put clean up crew into my Cricket tank and my Locust tank (i.e. meal worms,morios and isopods. Keeps the floor of both clean. So again there is not too much clean up needed. I still buy Crickets and Locusts these I transfer from the plastic boxes they come in making sure none of the bran gets transferred. I usually clean those tanks out once the current batch of insects has been fed off. It keeps them from smelling too. The locusts are messy insects as they poop all over the sides so that tank needs cleaning more intensely. Everything gets cleaned with F10 solution The Crickets and Locust get Swells bug grub and fresh fruit and veg. I don't give them water as they either drown in it or poo in it but they get lettuce leaves daily that are rinsed and shaken but left wet. This works well to keep them hydrated. I even had a colony of Fruit Bug Beetles as my Geckos would not eat the grubs and they ended up in a plastic terrarium of their own. After while they began building an egg shaped cocoon each out of the substrate they came in. That was fascinating especially when they emerged.
No I do not sell any of them, so yes they are kind of additional pets as well as a food supply. I wish I could breed Crickets and Locusts then i could be self sufficient :0)
One thing I have noticed is my Geckos prefer home raised meal and morio worms and these don't smell like the bought ones do. Hope this reply was not too long winded lol
@@starbyray7828 thank you, this helped out quite a bit. What types of insects do you have all in 1 terrieram? (With the dubia roaches) I'm new to all of this bug stuff lol. I'm trying to figure out a way to have my dubia roaches cleaned up after, without any flying bugs, or escape artist bugs.
Great video :) i may try this mix just as a fine top layer in new year as brumation is looming soon. Its a bit tricky with tegus but great idea how to managed humidity.
i currently using top soil n play sand n did get some peat moss (dont recommend) i adding in some coco coir hopefjlly that will help. i noticed my soil seems quite sandy. u mentioned worms eat? the soil. could this be the reason? i got worms n they r doing great n tegus dont seem interested in snacking on them for some reason lol I recently sifted out i duno how mucb soil as wasnt happy with bark that mixed in n noticed my isopods finally established well, even the odd orange :) my springtails have died off tho, so need more. i do throw some leaves n spag moss in but gets mixed up quite fast. i also generally do a once per wk soak n soil turn to try keep things healthy.
what charcol are u using? i seen some are using standard lumpwood but not sure if its toxic or not?
My boy tegu is Zonda after the car and infact its a hot wind in argentina aswell according to google lol And my girl is Valentina from argentina coz she a madam but sweet so sounded nice but LONG to say lol my little beardie is lil Astrid from How To Train Your Dragon coz they are epic films lol
They eat the soil which makes compost :) I love the little story about your tegu
Do you need drainage system for Bioactive setup?
Can you use eco earth instead of coco coir
Great video, my only question is would this substrate work for an Irian Blue Tongue?
I wouldn't say so.
I've got Humphrey, Hermie and Hercules the hermit crabs in a 30 gallon tank. Looking to plant some tropical plants inside
I have a question, am I supposed to only add charcoal to the bottom layer or does it go in both layers?
I love this mixture as it’s as close to the natural habitat as possible! I’m currently building my first bioactive viv for my pacman frog. I’ve wondered about using orchid bark and with burrowing animals? They don’t really like chunkier substrates. Would it work okay without it?
The pack man frog will choke on loose moss
@@jacobrentfro8282 my pacman has never invested any substrate. If you cut the moss small enough it doesn’t matter. They would have to eat a substantial amount. I don’t feed my pacman in her tank and it’s never been a problem.
Hey man, doing the same with my pacman frog. How did it go? You have some tips?
Hi Richard, I have bearded dragon named Michelangelo and a leopard gecko named Jake and they live in arid bioactive setups!!
Could this be use for dubia roaches? If so would it help/hurt if you're unsure of,might be alot to ask, (really) but it would be awesome if you tested this out to see if they thrive in this or if they die off.
I don't see why not
What is a clean up crew?
Hello subbed recently I may or may not post videos on CZcams I'm not sure yet. Great video anyway thanks
Welcome to the family
Thanks for replying
That's exactly the system that I have arrived at. I have Amazon tree boas in bioactive enclosures... they are called 'the red one' the 'yellow one' and 'the garden one' :0)
Haha there awesome names
@@NORTHERNEXOTICS It's hard to name snakes... I did have a male green iguana called 'Colin' for 18+ years. He was like my dog. Only reptile I've ever named.
Hi Richard, where did you buy the charcoal?. Also where did you source the dead wood and how did you prep it before adding it in?. regards, Starby
Charcoal was from an aquarium shop. Wood was from my local forest. Hard wood. I cooked it for an hour then left it for a month before using it
@@NORTHERNEXOTICS Thanks Richard, I have often seen good pieces of fallen wood in my local woodland and thought "now that would look good in a vivarium", but not used it because of a fear of contamination with bacteria or parasites etcetera
Hello i just wantted to know if this would be good for a leopoard gecko ?
would active carbon work in place of the charcoal?
Question: I have a 24X24X48 repti screen cage for my pather chameleon. He has a 4ft Bejamina Ficus plus other plants. His Ficus is in a 9" pot. Do i plant his tree and plants in the subtrate or leave them in the pots? Also how deep does my subtrate need to be? Do I need some kind of edging around the enclosure to keep the dirt from falling out. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Ta
why he only liked the comment and not answering :(
lucada32 I know. Kinda sad
I seen your video on breeding dubia roaches and I was wondering if 3 males and 16 female's would be enough to get them to breed and I also have 25 XL dubia roaches they are 1.25" on the way to put some in with the adults would that start a good colony?
Yes that's a great ratio
Why couldn't you use activated charcoal as the drainage layer instead of Hydroballs ?
When I made my substrate I think I added too much sphagnum moss, I dont think there is enough soil for plants to thrive, how could I fix this without throwing away springtails and isopods
How do I know what charcoal is safe to use? Or is all charcoal safe?
Which bioactive substrate for argentine tegu
What was that colorful plant
I made my first bioactive enclosure for my male Leopard Gecko, Banana. I plan to do many more over time. Starting with my other male Leopard Gecko and my toad
Did you use this method ?
@@fishingwithliam2460 I live in the US so it's not exactly the same. I have done a similar mixture and I have also used a premixed bioactive substrate. I like both in the tanks I have them in.
Ever Any issues with impaction with crested geckos
I have two an arid and a tropical leopard gecko named Carmelo and crested gecko and a 12 x 12 x 18 maybe a month old at this point it’s name Yoda the third tank I’m working on is a 18 x 18 x 36 for the crested gecko when it gets older and bigger
Will this be a good mix for a ball python
Wot suggestions would you have for a good substrate mix for tarantulas I've got a lot of moisture dependent species and I keep getting mold sprouting up I made my own mix off westland top soil vermiculite and exo terra forest moss and quite a bit off mold is starting too sprout up im spot cleaning it away I think it's the exo terra forest moss thats causing the mold knew I should off used sphagnum moss any help would be much appreciated thanks.
I've added springtails a few days ago so just got too see if they help keep the mold dwn now.
I was about to say springtails sort out the mould. That and good ventalation
@@NORTHERNEXOTICS I've got good ventilation in my enclosures there exo terra's mesh tops so plenty ventilation when I 1st mixed the mixture off top soil vermiculite and exo terra forest moss I think I wetted it too much and that's what as caused the mold out break or the exo terra forest moss cause I've noticed that there's mold growing on the forest moss white fury mold nothing worse I hate it lol 😂
hi this is ok for a pacman frog?
Great video but why oak leafs if i am richt the got acid in them?
Tannings and they don't break down to easy either. Slow break down mean better substrate firtalier and healthier for the clean up crew
@@NORTHERNEXOTICS ty
Eventually the leaf litter will break down and provide nutrients. Especially as the Isopods eat the leaf litter. But this takes time. I don't see any source of nutrients for plants to use when the vivarium is first set up. One would think that you would add some worm castings to this mix.
Can I use this for a bearded dragon bio active enclosure
No, you can't use a tropical base for bearded dragons. It'll hold way too much humidity. You need much more sand (about 30%), much less sphagnum (maybe 10% or less), and more soil. Actual organic topsoil is better than coconut coir for that. No orchid bark. You still need about the same amount of the charcoal.
Hey, how deep do you generally make the substrate?
Depends on the species and plants. Burrowing species deeper. Bigger plants deeper. Bigger bodied animals deeper
@@NORTHERNEXOTICS okay thank you 😁
No drainage layer? Does this work without it?
Depends on how heavy you mist and the animals
Wünderbar
I have a bioactive for my female eyelash crested gecko, Nanners. It'll be getting a remodel soon.
I also have a bioactive enclosure for my female bearded dragon, Valyria. The plan is to also make one for my male bearded dragon, Sunfyre.
Love the names ❤🔥
hi, is it ok to reuse bioactive substrate? thanks.
I have done in the past
I have a chahoua gecko in a bio active tank his name is ned
I want to make bioactive terrariums in jars and have spiders housed in them, but I always find that my plants grow moldy and brown really quickly and the terrarium falls apart.
I don't really know how to fix it..
Clean up crew. Springtails will eat the mould
@@NORTHERNEXOTICS I have springtails in there.
The isopods just eat everything up together with the living plants in there.
That was a quick reply huh
Probably not enough ventilation.
I need help. My mix smells like ammonia. What should i do?
Add charcoal and a clean up crew. Your pH levels are to high and the charcoal will neutralise it
@@NORTHERNEXOTICS somewhat the ammonia smell has lessen after the charcoal has been added. Do i need to ferment the soil for a few days before using it right?
Hunidity, humility? Let's go with humidity!
I got two chinese water dragons named patches and Lucile.
hi. what kind of sand did you use?
thanks!
i think that aint enough nutrients for the plants