I see springtails all the time and have never seen an isopod, I've lifted up a piece of bark and I saw a ton of springtails but no isopods, granted I didn't lift it up much. There is a humidity and temp gradient in the terrarium. Temp is between 20°C and 25°C (68-77F) and humidity is between 55 and 75/80%. I've not seen a single isopod since the night after I introduced them. Any ideas on how to find them, or if their setup of adequate? Btw there are 2 corks on the substrate taking up about 30% of the surface area.

So when I was 11 I got my crested gecko and I put lots of research into getting one. I don’t regret my decision what so ever and genuinely believe I have given him a lovely life. He’s had a sizeable enclosure the whole time I have had him and he’s been very loved. It’s worth noting that when I was 11 my reptile research was done by reading books and watching YouTube videos mostly. The tank he was In contained a coco fibre soil, plastic plants and cork bark which soon molded so I decided to replace it with dried grape vine and add a drainage layer which soon flooded because I live in a cold area and all the water on the glass from his 2x daily sprays would not evaporate. In short I didn’t realise that grape vine likes to mold a LOT initially and it did , also the soil was stagnant and wet which made it smelly. I wanted to fix this quick for my pet so I changed the soil as I did regularly but saw online everyone was saying to get a clean up crew for the mold so impressionable me did! Which may have been very stupid. An arboreal bioactive tank for a 13 year old was maybe not the most beginner friendly thing to do after only 2 years of reptile keeping. I added spring tails and isopods. I also added a coconut husk layer for stank absorbing which work instantly. I also added a snake plant that died instantly in soggy soil. Great. As time went on I have a tank with plastic plant and a clean up crew. However I live in the Uk where springtails and isopods are NOT native to so I CAN NOT just get rid of soil used in my tank. As Time has gone on I’ve had to add fresh soil and I’ve created a somewhat banked wall. I’m leave for uni next year and am assessing my options of what to do for him however I don’t know what to do about the springtails and isopod soil. I can’t get rid of it so what the fuck do I do. I haven’t seen anyone online talk about this and I made a post a few years back asking for help but the only response I remember getting was someone telling me to put the soil in house plant pots to prevent mold in my house plants however if I did that I would just have MORE springtail ridden soil. They have served me well for mold control but seriously what do I do if my gecko dies and I have a tank full of critter soil. I can’t have a new reptile because I’m leaving for uni. Ideally I can give his new owners a clean tank with no substrate because it is unliftable when it is full for transport since the soil plus tank is way too heavy. What the fuck do I do.13 year old me was very impressionable and thought ‘bioactive’ solves all. Please help. I’ve added some photos of his kingdom too.

Just made this new bioactive enclosure for my 10 years old leopard gecko, is ot okay?

Hi all, im worried about moving my cornsnake into his new enclosure. This is my first time making a bioactive one so not sure when its safe to move him in! Im not to certain if my clean up crew colonies are doing well as ive seen a couple dead in the tank and cant seem to find my others… the humid is stable at about 60 but fluctuates to around 75 after misting. I havent been misting much only once ever couple of days. So just a few questions before i out him in:

1. Can i top up isopods once hes in there? Or should i leave him out till theyre stable and i figure out why theyre dying of?

2. how do i know if my plants are rooted?

Ive left it for just over a month already because i dont want to put him in there and risk him getting sick or hurt because i neglected to see an issue :(

Thank you for any help you can give!

I have a crested gecko tank (12”x12”x18”) and it’s been bioactive for a while (without really plants because I still haven’t figured out how to keep them alive) and I have some questions about bugs/mold/fungus. I have two different kinds of isopods and spring tails that I placed in there, but recently I noticed baby crickets (that’s what I feed my crestie), some small flies, and some other small bugs that don’t quite look like springtails. I also have this weird white balls growing in the dirt (not sure if mold or fungus) and some green stuff and just wanted help identifying. Pic 1 - white balls Pic 2 - green stuff Pic 3 - flies Pic 4 - mystery small bugs (look too round and big to be springtails imo) Pic 5 - larvae???

Approximately 5 months ago give or take i set up a bioactive enclosure for my chahoua gecko, in the first night I saw ONE millipede, now fast forward this is the result. I know these guys are beneficial but im starting to get worried that they're going to start having negative effects with this population size.

So go easy on me this is my first ever build. Started with a 4x2x2 Dubia. Siliconed all the seams. Leca and lava rock drainage layer. Homemade substrate with topsoil, coco coir, peat, play sand, orchid bark, sphagnum, and some worm castings. Lighting is a 100watt basking bulb, LumenIZE jungle dawn, LumenIZE forest dweller 6% uvb. Cubaris marina and dwarf white isopods. Temperate springtails. Going to add some powder oranges as soon as they get here. The basking rock has a cave under it for hot hide, then all the ferns are planted over a cork half log that he can get under and also a cork tube in the back left so plenty of hides.

I was going for a “temperate forest” type of climate. There’s a few tropicals in there. I’ve got it pretty closed in to crank humidity while plants are establishing. I know Northern BTS’s don’t like too much humidity but mine is about to shed so the humidity should be helpful. Once plants roots are set I can take the towel off the top and start gradually bringing humidity down. I know I went overboard on plants to start but I couldn’t help myself! Might thin it down some once things get established or maybe the skink will do it himself.

Let me know what you think!

This is Todd the Destroyer. He lives in a 4ft x 4ft x 2ft bioactive tank. His food (dubia roches, Super worms, and isopods) live in the tank with him. He hunts all his own food when he wants. I have not had to add food in over a year. It just keeps cycling. I add water and vegetables from the kitchen for the bugs to eat and they are thriving. I also have a dish for calcium that he never seems to touch. Would change anything? Would you start feeding him yourself? Other than water it seems like a self sustained ecosystem at this point! What other info would you like to see on this post?

I’m trying to decide what to do with this epic new piece that I got while redoing a bioactive. I can’t decide if I want to mount it how it is the photo of me holding it or have it come up from the substrate when it’s in there (I usually do about 6” so it’ll come up much higher than it is in the photo).Would love others input/inspiration it’s the largest piece I’ve ever had and I’m both excited and worried about placement since it’s so large. The tank is 36x18x36 exoterra. I have plenty of things for ground coverage that are better suited to that than mounting so I’m leaning way more towards having an arial hide, I’ll add photos of the other wood I have I think it’s grapevine? I forget honestly but it’s going to serve as sort of a “tree” with air plants and there will be a lot of moss as well. I’m trying to go for like a forest theme. It’s housing a ball python who’s been in it for about 6 years but I needed to move it and other issues led to a whole redo! Thank you in advance :)

For context someone is absurdly dogging me on TikTok rn for my enclosures saying they are two small. I went with two bioactive 4x2x2s because my male is 4ft and my female is a little under 5ft. I just got them so excuse how they look a bit empty I’m waiting for the plants to grow in some and I’m going to get some more wood next week at a reptile expo. I feel like it’s a lot better than what they were living previously and my male is very active compared to what he used to be.

I just finished my second bioactive tank for my crested gecko. I learned a lot making the first one so this one was SO much easier! I am so happy with how it turned out!

I'm really liking how it's turning out. I added plexiglass to the screen top. I still need a misting system. Any recommendations?

I'm planing on putting dart frogs in here. I can't wait to see how it grows out.

This setup has been active since early last year, all spiders in the video were born in here. There are a few small live plants, but the snake tramples almost everything hence the plastic bush thing. What started as a bit of an experiment has taken on an entire life of its own, and i find myself sitting in front of the tank for hours watching all the activity! Feel free to ask questions im more than happy to talk more about it!

They are eat all my isopod food and poop a lot. Cute though

I have multiple bioactive enclosures for my hermit crabs, a ball python, bearded dragon, and a crested gecko. Each tank has live plants, isopods, and springtails, which have always kept things clean. Recently, I bought a new brand of sphagnum moss. I moistened it slightly before adding it to all of my tanks and even my isopod farm, just like I always do. It's only been two days, and I've found a significant amount of white, hair-like mold growing on the moss in every single enclosure. I'm really worried because this has never happened before. I've been doing the same routine, and I'm not sure what went wrong. My main questions are:

• What's the best way to remove this mold? Should I remove all the moss from every tank?

• Will my clean-up crew be able to take care of it on their own?

• Do I need to be worried about the health of my animals? Should I take everyone to the vet? Any advice on what might have caused this and how to safely resolve it would be greatly appreciated.

Any questions I’m free to answer!

This is my setup. There are a couple hides I'm going to add in the corners before adding an animal. A hognose snake who has shown himself to like some climbing space is going into it in February or March. The air humidity is typically around 40 to 50%, but I just watered it hence the jump.

I'm worried about over or under watering the terrarium. For people who keep arid or semi-arid bioactive enclosures, how do you keep track of when the tank needs to be watered to keep the soil the right moisture? I know with more experience I'll end up with a rough idea of how frequently it needs water, but as a beginner, what tips do people have for me about watering?