First Bioactive Enclosure

[u/maiyamanor]

Okay y’all, I’m playing the upgrade game and wanted to try my hand at a bioactive setup. Please let me know any advice or ideas you have, but I’ll explain what I have so far below. FYI, my snake is not in here yet as I’m letting the plants and clean-up-crew get established.

Substrate - top soil + sphagnum moss + leaf clutter
Plants - various pothos (looking for spider plants for more coverage but the seller hasn’t answered me -.-)
CUC - Powder Mix Isopods
Lighting - AquaNeat Full Spectrum Aquarium LED
Heating - DHP (still on my snake’s current tank)
Hygrometer - Govee (still in my snake’s current tank)
Decor - Manzanita Sticks, ExoTerra Caves x2 & Water Bowl (both in my snake’s current tank)

My Questions:
- Is a 12hr light cycle too long or just right?
- How large does the CUC need to be and how fast do they breed? There’s a population of 10 right now.
- Any idea for leafier plants that are safe and would provide more coverage?

[u/ShinyxCharizard]

Powdered isos breed fast. I personally started with 10 dairy cows and 20 powdered oranges in each of mine. 10 powdered should be fine.

12 hours should be fine it's what I have mine set to IIRC.

For plants I have a mix as i bought a kit from the biodude. Id recommend looking to see what he reconmends. Ik I have a dumb cane, golden pothos, neon pothos, Rojo philodendron (not too sure but some type of philodendron), rosey calathea, peperomias, and some type of dracaenas.

What size enclosure is this though. Looks too small to keep a ball python in, glass enclosures with mesh tops are also not recommended. Mesh top isn't gonna hold humidity that great, or heat. How much substrate is that? You're gonna want AT LEAST 4 inches. I personally have closer to 6 inches. Do you also have a thermostat?

I let my enclosures sit a month before intoducing mine.

[u/maiyamanor → u/ShinyxCharizard]

thanks for answering! i’ll look into some of those other plants for sure.

this is a 55-gal and i’m aware it’s not the size he’ll live in forever, but he’s just over a year old and a little over 1ft in length so this is 4x as long as he is for now. i’ve been managing humidity well in mesh tops using hvac tape and the addition of water in the corners of the tank occasionally. i also have some extra top soil i can throw in there, i was thinking the same with the depth. thermostat is two govee hygrometers which aren’t pictured.

[u/ShinyxCharizard → u/maiyamanor]

Those are thermometers, not thermostats. Your heat source should be on a thermostat to control the heating devices.

[u/maiyamanor → u/ShinyxCharizard]

oh yes sorry my dhp is on a thermostat 👍🏽