NorCalAnthony
Avid Member
Hey guys,
So I'm getting ready to get a new cham and have decided I'd try to go bioactive with this next setup. I've read a bunch of threads on here and some other places online and I'm hoping I'm on the right track but I wanted to show you guys what I'm working with in case there's anything I should change.
To start, I made a wood planter box that's about a foot tall and made to fit around the base of the 24x18x36 Exo Terra cage I'll be using. I used liquid Flex Seal to coat and water proof the inside. The can says it's safe for plants and animals once dry and there were people using it to build custom koi ponds and wood aquariums online so I'm pretty sure it'll work for this too.
There's about 2-1/2" to 3" of clay balls in the bottom for the drainage layer with an overflow that's about 2-1/4" high and piped to a bucket under the cage. Then I've got around 8" of Sunshine Mix #4 fast draining soil (recommended in a couple threads on here) with a plastic window screen separating the 2 layers. In the soil I have 2 pothos and a baby schflerra (only size I could find this time of year) that were washed and cleaned prior to planting. I also used some Plant-Tone fertilizer (also recommended on here) that was mixed in with the top layer of soil before the leaf litter was added.
Besides that I have a cork background that was siliconed to the back wall and several branches in different sizes that were all scrubbed clean before being added. For the cleanup crew I got a variety pack of springtails (tropical, temperate, and silver) and a bunch of different isopods (giant canyon, dwarf gray, Dalmatian, and orange) since I had no idea which ones would be best suites for the new setup lol.
Here's a picture of the new setup and a couple of the planter box as I was building it. Let me know what you think and if there's anything that I should add or change.
ps Please ignore the mess in the background, we're trying to wrap up a remodel and I had the cage next to the only unburried outlet available lol.
So I'm getting ready to get a new cham and have decided I'd try to go bioactive with this next setup. I've read a bunch of threads on here and some other places online and I'm hoping I'm on the right track but I wanted to show you guys what I'm working with in case there's anything I should change.
To start, I made a wood planter box that's about a foot tall and made to fit around the base of the 24x18x36 Exo Terra cage I'll be using. I used liquid Flex Seal to coat and water proof the inside. The can says it's safe for plants and animals once dry and there were people using it to build custom koi ponds and wood aquariums online so I'm pretty sure it'll work for this too.
There's about 2-1/2" to 3" of clay balls in the bottom for the drainage layer with an overflow that's about 2-1/4" high and piped to a bucket under the cage. Then I've got around 8" of Sunshine Mix #4 fast draining soil (recommended in a couple threads on here) with a plastic window screen separating the 2 layers. In the soil I have 2 pothos and a baby schflerra (only size I could find this time of year) that were washed and cleaned prior to planting. I also used some Plant-Tone fertilizer (also recommended on here) that was mixed in with the top layer of soil before the leaf litter was added.
Besides that I have a cork background that was siliconed to the back wall and several branches in different sizes that were all scrubbed clean before being added. For the cleanup crew I got a variety pack of springtails (tropical, temperate, and silver) and a bunch of different isopods (giant canyon, dwarf gray, Dalmatian, and orange) since I had no idea which ones would be best suites for the new setup lol.
Here's a picture of the new setup and a couple of the planter box as I was building it. Let me know what you think and if there's anything that I should add or change.
ps Please ignore the mess in the background, we're trying to wrap up a remodel and I had the cage next to the only unburried outlet available lol.
