7 Top Tips To Having A Successful Bioactive Reptile Tank | Watch Before Building!!
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- Äas pĆidĂĄn 27. 05. 2024
- Today I will be looking at 7 Top Tips on how to keep a bioactive tank going, how to maintain plant life, and promote new growth in your reptile or amphibian setups. I will be using my Crested Gecko and Chahoua terrariums as examples.
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#BioactiveTank #TopTips #CrestedGecko
Another fairly inexpensive fertilizer option is worm castings, naturally pretty slow releasing, plants love them, and itâs just worm poop so it is natural :)
The best advice I have gotten is look up what plants would be in their natural environment. I have a box turtle bioactive and because they live in more woodland areas plants like ferns do great in his enclosure because they get enough watering but the temperature doesnât get too hot.
Wish me luck Iâm about to set up my leo in a new bioactive enclosure.
Ah very nice! You managed to get a fern to grown in a tank đđ»đđ»đđ» I love the look of them but I always end up killing them đ Good luck with your leo tank.
Your turtle doesn't dig up or trample the fern?
@@evolving_dore He has dug up one or two but I try to get ones that are big with a lot of roots to help. He mostly loves to crawl right through them though đ€ŠđŒââïž
I was watching you channel for a week straight planning on getting a leopard gecko and then i realize the humidity in my area is in the 70s so im getting a white tree frog instead
I find that best substrate is by mixing coco fibre and spagnum moss with lump wood charcoal and sand
Ah interesting :)
Yeh I use this mix as well got it from serpa design
i lost my gekko i am can't stop crying
Ya I get it from sepa design too haha also bat so sorry to hear that
Now that sounds like some nice substrate
Well this video is good timing for me seeing I have just put plants into my leopard gecko enclosure.
Ah good luck :D
You were right about peperomia, some species are semi succulents (not full succulents, but they do store some amount of moisture in their leaves), the most common one that comes to mind is peperomia obtusifolia
Ah yeah, because I bought one years ago for lyra's tank and it turns out to be more succulent like, and it got over watered đ
@@leopardgeckotalk yea, overwatering can definitely be an issue, I'm not 100% sure how well an obtusifolia would handle being in an arid tank, as they do seem to like quite a bit of water(at least mine does, although they may just be used to my watering habits, although if you're just careful watering it's area I'm sure it'd be fine, they're also really easy to propagate, you just need to cut a leaf neat the main stem and put the leaf+stem in water), I believe the peperomia you had in the video was a pilea peperomioide, I think they require a bit higher humidity, so that might've been part of the issue too.
That round-leaved plant is a Pilea Peperomioides, i think what you were thinking of is a Peperomia Polybotrya, which looks similar and is a succulent :)
I so wish it didn't cost me $80 for two bags of Earthmix where I live đ I did that for my first bioactive and it wasn't even enough, so I added Jungle Mix. With the other bioactives I did Reptisoil, Jungle Mix, sphagnum moss, and charcoal. My tanks are very happy!
$80 đłđł omg, I didn't realise they were that much in Canada đȘ. I can kind of see why people make their own soil lol
Have you checked out any reptile expos? A lot of stuff is cheaper in an expo than online (due to shipping) or at a pet store in my area (texas USA)
For the fans, I used a left over computer fan from my pc build with a 3 pin to USB adapter! They take up so little space and work so well!
I use a large pressure sprayer to water my tanks. It can definitely work but you really need to drench the soil. I water my bullsnake's 75 gal only about once a week but I usually use at least a gallon of water when I do.
Oh wow đź yeah see I use my pressure sprayer, and it was like holding it down for like 10-20 secs on one area, was about as much as I would water, thinking that was enough đ
Also add moss and some earthworms. One adds moisture and the other helps aerate the soil.
Yes! Though I must admit when I emptied drogo's tank I couldn't find any of the earthworms I added in. I'm sure they're amongst the dirt, but I didn't see any đŹ
This was really helpful! Thanks!
Thank you :)
@@leopardgeckotalk no problem :) I rlly enjoy your videos and they are so helpful to me and helping my gecko live the best life it can!
A tip I learned is to quarantine your plants before adding them. Be SUPER SURE there are no spider mites lol
For how long should we quarantine them for? Mine has been quarantined for 1 week
@@bulbasaurhimself8914 I'd say at least a month is good. That way you can be sure the plant is healthy. Especially if you see new growth
@@miyukiwynter885 ok thank you
You helped me a lot
aww thank you :)
Every tip covered well, well done
That fan is an awesome idea!
Thank you. Your videos are so helpful. I got out first crestie today x
Great tips!! Especially the watering can tip to keep the soil hydrated!
wow them vivariums look amazing :)
Just build my first ever bioactive enclosure for my crestie. Thanks for the tips!
Also, the fan i added is very similar to the one you showed her and it has helped SOOOOO much.
Great vid so far! Going bioactive for my leo soon and this is a huge help for it!!
Aww no problem :) Thanks! Good luck with your build :D
I love you!!! TYSM for the advise !
Thank you :D
@@leopardgeckotalk np! đ
I was literally looking for a video exactly like this just yesterday! thanks!
Ah perfect timing :D
Thanks really useful guide!
Thanks :D
Love your vid
Thank you :)
Great video thanks for the tips
Thanks :D
LeopardGecko I love ur Videos and they are very helpful
Thank you :D
My gecko is 4 months no and Iâm thinking about going bioactive and your vids have helped so much thank you đ€
aw that's awesome! :D No problem :D
Omg thank for replying Iâm so happy I love your videos you are my ideal and one day I want to to have lots of geckos aswell đ
Nice to see you do a video like this finally. My personal substrate recipe is - Coco fiber/EcoEarth, sphagnum moss, crushed lump charcoal, orchid bark, Coast of Maine lobster compost and good organic potting soil that is low in fertilizer and contains *no* perlite.
Attention needs to be paid to how far lighting is to certain plants. I almost killed my African Violet because it was too close and receiving too much light. Now, I'm not sure, but I've heard plants respond differently to red and blue light. One color aids in growth, the other promotes flowering. I added a small fan (actually the same one) on top, blowing in, and have noticed improvement in my plants as well.
Where did you get the rock background? Its fabulous
I inoculated my arid tarantula vivarium with Bio Dude's bio shot and omg I will ALWAYS use it. My colonies are more than thriving. I've lost a couple of plants due to damage caused by my tarantula climbing them (lesson learned... sturdy plants are necessary!) But the rest are so happy. I haven't cleaned the tank at all in 4 months now and there isn't a single bad smell. My clean up crew so happily devours all the forgotten bugs that my tarantula either doesn't eat or that I place in there for them.
U could use an aquarium bladed flow pump...
With ferns quite often they will completely die and then revive themselves when they acclimatise.
Awesome tips, love your content
I'm glad I'm not just going mad about the peperomia lol, I literally must have picked up the one non-succulent one đ€Ł
Ty for all the tips! And no need to be embarrassed this stuff happens! đđ€Š For the last 3yrs I was doing a lot of gardening in planter boxes, this year we moved into an apartment so all the plants are in pots & we didn't buy the usual fertilizers we mix in at the beginning of the season. We planted in April and by July they were all looking scrawny, so I finally went to the store and bought fertilizer. Everyone started growing again, flowering đ€Š like omg how did we not realize we needed to fertilize lol đ
I respect people who can deal with isopods and springtails, like i'm fine with crickets, but i don't know the isopods and springtails creep me out just a bit.
Awesome video, since my leopard gecko is a little over 6 months should I just stop feeding him for a day and feed the next day? Or a more gradual process like feed half the amount of the food when feeding for a bit.
Thank you so much! Would this work for snakes?
I love your videos my gecko is 4 months old and when you got Maui I was so happy because our geckos are similar in age
thank you :D aww sweet!
Very informative video! I also found the watering tip a bit adorable, yet understandable đ Iâm about to do a bioactive tank for my lg, so I will definitely use this video to take care of it!
A little side note, I noticed what you wrote on Facebook about the success of this video. As a non-youtuber I canât imagine the stress, but I just want to say, I hope you wonât stress too much about the views. Idk if this is your livelihood or more like a hobby, but I really really hope you will continue doing videos that YOU enjoy making. Of course it might be disappointing if the result isnât what you expected, because these videos are so good, that I bet you have used a lot of energy and put a lot of effort to them. But I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate these videos, and you!
Aww thank you Emmi, I really appreciate it. I love making videos, and I love to share things, it just can feel a bit disappointing when it feels like nobody cares đ„ș But I'm glad the videos are helping.
Don't undersell yourself, your tanks are amazing!!
aw thank you :)
I've lost two Nerve Plants to my clean up crew. Next one I get I'm letting it get bigger outside the tank first....
Don't feel bad about the watering thing! I also only just realized like 2 weeks ago I needed to be doing this too haha
Ah I love nerve plants. Mine survived the clean up crew but they got kind of leggy towards the end.
What kind of light cycle do you use for your crested bios? I have a uvb and plant light. Do you think 12 hours of plant light is too much for the crested? Right now I'm doing 12 plant light hours and in the middle of the day there's also 6 hours of uvb. Not sure if both being on is stress inducing? Thanks for the videos.
Iâm using top soil with a little play 70 to 30 ratio and it works great !
dont
why would you do that. please learn about what the animal needs before getting them miss horse girl
@@zzzskye6676 coco fiber with top soil and play sand mixed makes the perfect substrate for them âŠ
@@zzzskye6676 gonna say something back ?
Ah yeah I know people use that for their leos :)
Can you do a video on watering and misting the arid tank? I just made bioactive tanks for my leos, but the humidity is a bit high, however, to me they seem so dry so I mist them anyway for the isopods, which really spikes up the humidity again. I don't have a drainage layer and have a bunch of succulents. Any suggestions?
where do you get your leaf litter ? â€ïžâ€ïžâ€ïž
I have the 57cm jungle dawn led bar as well but it heats up a lot very quickly, is that meant to happen?
Hello !
What is the name of the plant we can see at 06:56 ?
Thank you for all those tips ! I'm struggling to find cool and easy plants to use for my crestie :( All the plants keeps dying.
Cheers !
Hi, May i know is that umbrella plant on the left vivarium?i hear a lot of people said that have toxic for animal,is that true??
Thanks for the tip with the clean-up-crew. I will start feeding them tomorrow.
Any tips for keeping my springtails alive. I never see them in my tank and I'm afraid they are dead :(
Mine are on every surface, like tiny white ants. You probably need a hardier batch. I bred some that survive quite low humidity and anything from 10-28°C. If your tank is dry, springtails aren't the right choice. They're for humid warm tanks.
I find that the springtails appear the most when I take an old food bowl with a bit of dried pangea in, and face it down. They also love it if you get a leaf litter and dry it out in the oven. I've never actually manually added springtails in my tank. I think they must have come in with a plant or isopods.
Why not do the snake plants in the leopard geckos' tanks? Good luck. Great vid!
With the watering, Iâm kinda scared itâs not gonna go so well for my isopods & springtails, will they be fine even if I water the dirt that much?
Springtails float on water so you donât need to worry about them. Isopods need high humidity but if you water to the point that itâs pooling you could potentially drown them.
The dislike is from the fake plant squad!
haha :)
Can the springtails and isopods get out and into other things like house plants?
They need humidity to survive. So most likely will die if you donât live in a humid environment
Hi, your videos really helped me with the process of getting a Leo! But itâs come to my realization that I think Iâm over feeding my Leo. Iâve tried to do some researching for what to feed them, but all the answers are different. Since your the expert, how much and how often should I feed an adult male Leo?
Hi! Fellow leo owner here! Leopard geckos will usually stop eating before it gets to be too much, but iâve found my leo is pretty greedy. i will usually feed her 7 large bugs every other day, but i will occasionally give her a calciworm or waxworm on the off days.
I got my albino baby leopard gecko, Gizmo almost a week ago now, your videos have helped sooo much! And he is starting to warm up to me now and Iâm going to start the taming process soon. I am feeding him around 6/7 small locusts a day, is this enough??
Congrats! And yes that seems good to me, just keep in mind you will need to cut down on feedings more once he gets older :)
Yep, every other day isnât it when theyâre adults? :)
Aww congrats! Yes, I aim for 5-8, so you're in the right area :)
Ok thank you! :)
I had and still do have a green anole and his for him I have one plant that did horrible I can not recall the name but it was his favorite place to sleep because it was like the succulent you showed in the video that the video but it was doing bad and it was in there for a year and I went to a reptile convention and I did not have a clean up crew like spring tails and I asked a guy about the plant and he asked about the substrate I used and it is not very nutrient filled and he recommend adding a clean up crew and I brought some spring tails and it was literally a night and day which the plant is doing amazing I would say if you have live plants in nutrient lacking substrate get a clean up crew it really helps the enclosure thrive also research the plants it happens all the time a person put a plant in the enclosure that does not suit it and it dies.
If anyone wants a cheap option for lights led floodlights from Amazon have worked rlly well for me.
Any particular brand in mind, and what kind of fixture do you use?
Hi! Do you know if 3D printed hides are safe to use in the tank?? Would it affect the plants or more importantly, the gecko??
I mean if its made from a safe substans than yea
You don't even have to use specific growth lights. Troy Goldberg's Tropical Garage has some of the very best dart frog tanks on yt and he just uses shop lights from the hardware store. I need to go back and find out the brand though. He said they're about 20 bucks.
does anyone know where i can get isopods and springtails theyâre always sold out on joshâs frogs
Pangea reptile!
Living in the US trying to get the earth mix is impossible. What would be a good substitute for a lp? I just ordered my girls upgrade tank and planned on doing a bioactive and would LOVE to use real plants from the start.
I live in the US and ordered Biodudes terra Sahara for my leopard gecko.
Great vid but can you do another crested gecko video soon ?
Thanks :D Maybe, though if you want more info on Cresties, I have a playlist :D
I have a question about crested geckos. So I live in the US and I want to make a bio active tank. I donât wanna over do the d3 but Arcadia foods donât ship here and so far thatâs the only crested food Iâve found that doesnât contain d3. Does anyone know any good foods without artificial d3 that also ship in the US?
can u give me tips how to make a leopardgecko place
Heyy I was wondering if itâs safe to light scented candles in a room where thereâs reptiles
No.
Does anyone have any products that you would recommend for a good bio active substrate and growth light because I was thinking about the bio dudes Terra Sahara Bioactive Substrate along with the growth light for my 36 in tank (which size would be recommended the 16 in or the 36 in growth light for a 36 in tank) I need people from the US though because most of her products that she recommends arenât available here
Itâs for my 3 year old leopard gecko
im getting a crested gecko soon, so can u make some videos on that
She has entire playlist on crested geckos!
I have 100+ videos in the Crested Gecko playlist :D I hope they will help :)
@@leopardgeckotalk Okay thank you I shouldve looked before asking, my bad!
@@andreamichelle2721 k
Hi I have a question my crested gecko has a white patch on his nose is that normal?
Is it part of the geckos pattern? or has it taken too many scales off during a shed?
What bio substrate do you recommend for a bio active tank?
For what species?
Can anyone tell me if its a good idea to buy a humidifier for my leachianu its really dry where I live
Yeah it can certainly help :) Of course still spray down the tank too :)
I love your channel great job
Can I just ask you to pray over my leopard gecko that just passed away she wasnât growing and she was wiggling but her head wasnât thank you so much đđą
Can you use airplants in crested gecko tank?
I tried and a lot of them died, however, the one that survived was hung upside down - you know how people will put them in shells and make 'jelly fish air plants', well I did that with half a coconut đ and it worked.
I kind of messed up, I bought a snake plant as my first plant, but the people that I got the snake plant from were nice and gave me an air plant (and I also have a bromeliad)
I put 2 snake plants in my crestie viv and they're growing more than anything else. Both have sent out new plants that are now as large as the originals and reach the screen at the top. I thought they were supposed to be slow growing.
My gecko doesn't even sleep on mine though lol. It sleeps on its feeding ledge every day.
Feeding ledge is suction cupped to the upper left viv door.
So the peperomia is a different type of plant than succulents, that particular plant is a pilea peperomoides, which is a bit different, peperomia are similar to succulents (but not identical) in that they store water in their leaves so they can handle a dry spell, however they need to be watered more than most succulents in my experience. Also snake plants hate being overwatered so that is why it doesnât like the creature enclosure much! Mine gets watered like twice a year personally đ
I was under the impression that Croton Petra was poisonous to geckos, you know, the one with big leaves that have red orange and yellow colors? Even though I love the look of the plant, I have been avoiding adding it in because I can't be sure if it's safe, different online sources are telling me different things.
Are room LED lights bad for leopard geckos?
Not if you only have them on some of the time
I barely saw this video right after making my first ever bioactive tank
Iâm thinking of getting a gecko can anyone give me advise on substrates and Iâm not thinking of doing a bio active tank. Also whatâs your experience with eco earth ? And is there a specific substrate for the shedding hide
Iâm sorry Iâm asking a this question and Iâve been doing research and ngl it only confused me
Well if your not doing a bioactive I would suggest as a beginner substrate eco earth would work best. Another substrate (something that would work as a substrate) would be carpet. The only problem with carpet is you have to clean it very often and so ether their teeth/nails canât stuck. But I use carpet for my leopard gecko and she has gotten used to it. She is very happy with her tank her teeth/nails donât get stuck anymore since I hand feed her, but carpet also helps a lot with the temperature.
For the shedding hide you could just make your own (thereâs a bunch of tutorials on it) but if you donât want to make your own you could also get a hide and much moss under it. (Make sure to get a hide were they can easily take off their shed.)
@@melodyanaya7971 I strongly recommend switching to a suitable loose substrate. Carpet is not suitable for any reptile. Itâs unnatural, harbours bacteria, and doesnât offer any digging enrichment whatsoever. Digging enrichment is extremely beneficial. Good options include zoo medâs reptisoil, a mix thatâs 60% top/potting soil and 40% playsand (or a soil/sand/clay mix), Arcadia earth mix arid, or Terra Sahara from the bio dude. Eco earth is not a good substrate since itâs unnatural, tends to be dusty, and can be hard on their joints.
Quarantine on paper towel for the first six weeks to monitor their health. After, good options include zoo medâs reptisoil, a mix thatâs 60% top/potting soil and 40% playsand (or a soil/sand/clay mix), Arcadia earth mix arid, or Terra Sahara from the bio dude. Eco earth is not a good option because itâs unnatural, dusty, and hard on their joints.
Soil is the best option for the humid hide.
I lost my leapord gekko, what should i do? đ
This has happened to me too. Dont worry theyre probably somewhere in the room where your terrarium is. Search the whole thing. Behind furniture under carpet and basically anywhere amd everywhere it is most likely still in that room,but if it isnt then check the whole house. Also you should try and understand hiw your gecko escaped
I find him! :D
i use your tips
and he's was under my bed
Thank you for the helping
Only plants I've managed to keep alive in my crested geckos terrarium is a wandering jew and a golden pothos.
I have had great experiences with pothos! I'm thinking about trimming it back a little and adding a wandering Jew plant as well.
@@salamannader I've had my wandering jew plant a few months and it's already flowered 5x since I put it in the terrarium
Yeah they're super hardy plants :)
My leopard geckos name is tango and she ate a meal worm in front of me for the first time yesterday!
Aww sweet! :D
I just got a leopard gecko heâs my profile pic his name is oscurro taking any tips
Yâall Iâll be getting 2 leopard geckoâs of 6 months old in a week, does anyone have some name suggs? Theyâre girlies! :)
Oh and also, does anyone have a really good tip for lowering the humidity in the tank/a room? Because where I live the humidity is always around 60%/70% and ofc I need to lower those percentages.. Iâve already put in 4 socks with rice in it in the tank and the humidity dropped around 5% so far (in one night) but I still have 25% to go! đźâđš I also canât really add extra ventilation since the terrarium glass with ventilation on the entire top of the terrarium. Unless it would help to add another ventilation thing on top of the top?? đ§
Also, please tell me if humidity eaters (vochtvreters in Dutch) are terrarium/reptile safe! Thank you all a lot in advance! â€ïžâ€ïž
Make sure the geckos are housed separately, not together. Regarding humidity: first, make sure the hygrometer youâre using is digital, not an analog/dial (theyâre inaccurate). 30-55% is good for the humidity. Heat lamps will help lower the humidity.
@@nightinggale6470 thanks for the tips! And sadly I won't be getting them anymore since they developed some issues in the guts (tbh it was probably the sand because they were kept on sand which already kind of worried me, especially at such a young age), but I'll make sure to buy only one leopard gecko! :) It would probably be easier for me to look after one too haha. âș
Your channel makes me want to get a leopard gecko just so I can fully enjoy all of your videos.
The nutrients a plant needs?
So, youâre saying water the plants in your enclosure with Brawndo. Itâs got electrolytes. Thatâs what plants crave.
Those clay balls look like coco puffs.
Eco earth will grow plants if you have other components in the soil coco is used to grow 85% of house plants and yk whatđ
I meant on its own đ maybe I should have specified that lol, but its certainly more of a bulking ingredient.
If you plan to make an only fans account for your reptile I can see why someone would choose a purple lightđđĄđ
Do u need to use real plants
Thanks this is definitely helpful!
Thank you :D