Desert Bio-Active

[Prognathodon]

looks good so far, can't wait to see the finished product. I've always wondered what a sand boas bioactive viv would look like.

Thank you. The last bits and pieces were waiting on the porch for me when I got home last night, so I got to finish it up.

First, another picture I forgot - the drainage riser and litter dam extension siliconed in place, from the inside:



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[Prognathodon]

I went with the NE Herp V2 substrate, as their description says its a little softer, and so better for burrowing critters. I got three bags/gallons. I got the first one in, and realized the screened ventilation area on the side was going to be partially buried. Fortunately, the scrap material from the litter dam and shims was almost a perfect fit. A little Lexel, and we’re good to continue:

[Prognathodon]

I misted the first layer, put the second layer in, and started placing the plants. The succulents are along one side and the back, so I can keep those a little dryer. In the back right corner I put the wandering jew cuttings, in one of NE Herp’s cork bark round planters. If you’re looking at them, the diameter is the outer diameter, not the inner. I left most of the area open for Shai-Hulud to burrow.

The succulents along the back are elephant bush, which I’m either going to have to keep pruned back or move when they get too tall. The other two are the probable-aloes. I put the speckly one in front since it’s a little shorter, and prettier. I could have put the big one a little farther from the wall, but I think it’s pretty well grown and shouldn’t get much bigger.

Image isn’t in focus, but it shows the arrangement of plants:


And a front view, with glare from the open (house) door:

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[Prognathodon]

Third layer of substrate, add the isopods and springtails, then top it off with live oak leaf litter, maybe 2/3 of the gallon:



Put the top on, and set the aquarium light on top:



The leftover elephant bush and cuttings of wandering jew were put on top just to get the picture, I didn’t want the table getting bumped and things falling!
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[Prognathodon]

The drainage layer and substrate take up enough depth in the enclosure that the light doesn’t have vertical space to spread very far, so this morning I dug out another one. With one along the left and one along the back I think the lighting will be better for the plants.






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[Prognathodon]

So, now it sits for a few weeks for the buggies and plants to settle in before I turn Shai-Hulud loose to burrow and carouse. Patience is hard! It doesn’t look particularly desert-like with the leaf litter, but the isopods will feed on the leaf litter, and the gravel I use for my potted succulents might be a little hard to burrow through. I may crunch it up a little more, or see if I can find something I like better that will still feed the isopods. I’m leaving it on a table for a few days, to see if I need to make any changes or am going to immediately root-rot the succulents.

If you look back up-thread, you might notice a gap on the left side of the litter dam extension. That had to be there for the door to open. I’d ordered my screen separator over-sized, so I trimmed it to leave a tab that covers the gap to keep the substrate contained.

I know a lot of people like The BioDude, but I’m a bit dubious about the succulents. I’m also double-dubious about the idea of a viv with succulents and no drainage layer (which he says you can do with his TerraSahara/desert kits). I’ve also seen comments that his stuff can be over-priced. And finally, he’s several shipping days away, all of which are why I went with the NE Herp for substrate and other supplies.

NE Herp was great, they let me add on isopod and springtail food (Repashy BugBurger and brewer’s yeast), plus some more screen separator to use instead of gravel for my potted succulents. I only ordered one cutting of the wandering jew, but they threw in several extra.

NE Herp is low on leaf litter, only available if you buy a kit, and also low on isopods. Glass Box Tropicals is also a shipping day closer, so I got my leaf litter and bugs from them. Next time I’ll get my springtails from NE Herp, as they send springtail cultures in substrate and you can just spread it on top of your substrate layer (both ship isopods that way). Glass Box sends their springs in charcoal, so you have to add water and pour the water+isopods out, and I’d rather be lazy/get all the springs out in one go.

After I got all the materials and supplies, I think it took me about an hour, *maybe* two, each night to set things up. I mess about re-potting succulents several times a year, and I’ve read the NE Herp Vivarium Building 101 and 102 articles several times, so I was pretty confident about the process. I didn’t process the plants (per NE Herp’s article about that), since soaking succulents would be certain death. I did try to get all the soil out of their roots that I could. I also didn’t boil the leaf litter, since I like to live dangerously.

Now we get to see how I did, and if everything survives...


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[Apiratenamedjohn]

that looks and sounds awesome. good job.

I mixed in the charcoal when I add springtail cultures. it is just more carbon for the soil. speaking of, I would be a little worried about there being an over abundance of carbon. I think moisture will be held well and humidity will be high, especially inside the substrate(where tunnels are made). especially with the leaf litter capping it off. it sounds and looks like it was a good idea to add some inert matter to the substrate. if it is still holding too much moisture for too long you can add some sand or silt to the mixture. both are good for tunneling structures and silt is just a little bit better than sand. the silt structure and size are better suited for this. I used both. reading through their site info I see that you will probably want to add something since it is mostly a carbon mixture.

also their information on how viv substrate works is a little skewed . all substrates will compact over time, including theirs. but, stuff with tiny particle sizes will compact faster. as things break down they get smaller. this is the nature of the beast. theres will too, but it will take a little longer because the particle sizes are not particularly small and some of the things are resistant to breaking down( which doesn't mean much to your insects and stuff). it will take the molds, fungus, bacterias, and insects, just a little longer to break it down. also I think It is hilarious that they say coconut fiber are not great and then scroll down to their ingredients and what is listed? lmao
peat breaks down fast, especially when it is a smaller particulate, leading to faster compaction. coco fiber takes a little bit longer to break down. but the key word is "primarily".
I insist that you take my word on none of this, and if you feel motivated to, look it all up. knowledge is power.
rant over:

you did good, it looks good.
I'm interested to see how Shai-Hulud reacts to this environment.
what substrate was he kept in before?

[Prognathodon]

I had an idea this morning, to get the last of the springtails out without ending up with a lot of charcoal in the substrate: I moved the leaf litter aside in one area, put down a piece of screen separator, and poured the charcoal and springs out on it. NE Herp says their screen separator will allow springs to pass through, so it seems like it should work. This evening I’ll pull out the screen and charcoal and re-spread the leaf litter.

I started out with the sand boas on sand - not calcium sand, not slag sandblasting “sand”, I found a wholesale/industrial supplier with nice screened inert mineral sand. They did pretty well, but sand is so heavy, I switched them over to ground walnut. Sif and Danger Noodle shed pretty well, but Shai-Hulud had a series of poor sheds. A humid hide helps, and he definitely likes it, but he also manages to pull the moss out. Thus trying him with bio-active.

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[Apiratenamedjohn]

sounds like a good idea. as the charcoal dries the springtails will want to move through the screen to the moist substrate.

[Prognathodon]

I poked through the charcoal last night, and there were still a fair number of springs in it (and it was still damp). I spread the charcoal out some more, and this morning it was dry and no live springtails sighted. Looks like it worked.

Now I have to find some round tuits and instructions for the timer for the lights and get it programmed.

The leftover chunk of drainage layer media went to work with me this morning, I realized that it would be just the thing to fill up some space in the bottom of deeper containers for my potted succulents.


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