Oh, I should mention that I'm using a guide intended for dart frogs, but I'm diverging from bioactive dogma in two major ways:
1) no drainage layer. This terrarium isn't going to be nearly as wet as one holding amphibians and I want to actively avoid having any standing water around. Additionally all my plants are either mosses or epiphytes, so none of them will be sending roots down to drain any such layer. This just seemed like a lot of extra work for no benefit and possibly a vector for pests.
2) no disinfectants. Amphibians seem very delicate so everything going into a frog tank must be fully cleaned and disinfected, sometimes with dilute bleach or similar. Tarantulas are actually really resistant to any kind of germ or bacteria, etc, so this isn't as much of a concern. Most tarantula furnishings are rinsed off in clean water and maybe some Dawn dish soap. Much more dangerous to them would be even a tiny trace of cleaning solution or chemicals, which can permanently damage their very sensitive nervous systems. Even something like simple Green I consider too dangerous to have around them. There are rumors that just spraying too much febreze in the room where your tarantulas are can severely impact them. So I washed the terrarium itself in warm water and dish soap, and furnishings have been at least rinsed with clean rainwater but that's about it.
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