Quote Originally Posted by Momokahn View Post
And please before the flames get thrown, lets just cut to the chase. Substrates made of wood and coconut allows some keepers to not have to work (clean a cage) for 30 days. That 30 days then easily slips to 60 days then 90 days and after that it becomes a new term....bioactive setup. Am I old school? You bet I am. But I knew what this hobby demanded when I got into it.
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...Bioactive setups have never been used as terminology for something made of just uncleaned cocofiber or wood. It is specifically a mixture of dirt, sand, sometimes coco-fiber and peat moss that needs to be appropriately balanced for the species needs. It also MUST have an appropriate selection of invertebrates established as a population that eat fungus and any other potentially detrimental invaders. It also requires a drainage layer to maintain the appropriate amount of moisture without allowing the substrate to get soggy or stagnant. Bioactive setups are carefully balanced to replicate the natural environment more closely and can be MORE work than other substrates (watering plants, ensuring invert populations are good) and are certainly far more work to set up.