Finalising a bioactive viv

[ThinkSta]

Hi All,

Just for fun I have attached a pic of my nearly done bioactive setup for my royal (BP), Leo. He's about a year old, growing out of his baby viv so this should be his "forever" home (120cm x 40 x 40).

I have a 75W RHP on the left side ceiling, two 22W Jungle Dawn LEDs, and there are two air vents at the back that I'd like to grow plants up to hide if possible. The horizontal cork is filled with substrate for growing plants in for this purpose.

As I wait for the plants to establish for a bit (I'm dying to introduce Leo to his new home) I would value any thoughts people have on finishing things off:

- I have a cork "cave" on the left (under the RHP), and an exo terra cave on the right (cool side) which is slightly buried as it doesn't look so natural in the new setting. Most bioactive set ups that I have seen are for frogs and lizards that don't need caves to hide like royals do. Do people with bioactive setups for their royals have any issues with the clean up crew dealing with poop/urates in caves? I'm a little concerned that things may fester! One solution may be to introduce even more plants on the right side that Leo can hide behind/under.

- The viv is in a fairly cold room, and so I'm getting a lot of condensation on the glass (humidity iussues have flipped since the glass viv!). Does anyone have a good solution for condensation on the sliding doors?

- I suspect that keeping the plants alive is going to be the biggest challenge... do any plant experts have any reflections on my arrangement in the tank? Also, any recommendations for frequency of watering and also how many hours/day to turn LEDs on for (currently 7am-10pm).

Thanks to all the wonderful community here!

Chris

[FollowTheSun]

First of all, it's beautiful!! Good job!!

We have one for our chameleon and we had some trouble with the plants. Still working on that part. We don't have any bugs except the ones the lizard eats so I can't comment on that.

I think your biggest challenge with plants will be the snake squishing them or uprooting them. It depends on if you have a cage wrecker or not. ;-) I have tried live plants in our python enclosures and both snakes love the feel of the live plants ... too much.

Our chameleon enclosure has open sides and a glass front so I can't comment much on the condensation issue. I would be interested to see what others suggest.

[hvactechgreen]

Completely Jealous of that set up. That is awesome.

[Alex Lehner]

Wow. That is seriously cool, and very inspiring.

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[ThinkSta]

Thanks people. It is looking cool, but I'm a little concerned some of the plants may get mashed as soon as I introduce the snake... we'll see!

[Zincubus]

It looks absolutely amazing.

Looking at the plants structures I think that some will be just fine .. the tall one won't last too long I'd suggest though

Maybe a compromise will be best in the long run.. some real and some fake ..


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[spiderfreddie]

That looks awesome. Unfortunately you will probably find half of the plants won't survive your noodles roaming. All I've done is keep replacing them with stronger plants, but some of my little plants have survived for months. I find you can bury the poop and the clean up crew get it/it breaks down (I do still take out every other poop or so). With the urates though remove them. I find springtails cover fresh urates but after a day once they have dried out nothing goes near them and they aren't good for the soil. I would definitely recommend a soil moisture probe. You basically stick it in the different areas and tells you how much moisture is in there, it is useful if your worried about over watering. You will find plants may just seem to die and that won't be you more likely it's the wrong temp/humidity for that plant.
good luck

[Ax01]

that looks great!

are the current plants in there now real? and you're just looking to add more? i can't ID all the plants u have, but the hardier/heartier plants are best and of course tropical. like Bromeliads and Dracaenas. not sure of the height on your enclosure but if u wanna add a vine types to creep up the sides to ceiling, Pothos are more durable than Philodendrons.

also do u have a drainage layer or way to drain excess water? this will be helpful in adjusting humidity and prevent root rot and stagnant water. i would move the waterbowl more towards the center if u wanna avoid condensation on the glass.

lastly as someone already mentioned, remove everyother poop or excess waste. i started w/ 2 springtail and 2 isopod cultures the still cannot get everything.

please post the progress pix of your bioactive. it looks like a great start already!