The begining of the biosoil tank

[DadCoy]

Well we went for a walk through the woods today, and gathered up some soil and leaves and decomposing wood. I know it is to cold to be able to get isopods and springtails, but I am going to buy some of them, and hopefully they can be here mid next week if I order tomorrow. (anyone know of a good site to get them from?)

mixed in a small bag of natural play sand. have the 2 bigger pieces of wood waiting till I completely mixed up the soil/sand combo. I like the wood I found because the "y" shaped bigger piece will allow for 3 different burrow hide spots for them, and the smaller piece will accommodate 2 hide burrows. may cut the bigger piece back some so I can have a flat rock in the middle, will also be putting some other flats rocks in there for some instant hides.
Tell me what you guys think, stay with the big piece of wood(half the cage floor) or look further for smaller pieces.

 

[acpart]

Looks like a good start. Some people will advise against picking up stuff from outside without sterilizing it, but I've done it with no problem (from a property that I was sure does not use pesticides). You won't be able to have isopods in there and probably not springtails because the soil will need to be too dry for them. For my lower humidity enclosures I use dermastid beetles which don't need moist soil. I keep a jar lid of gut load in there for them to eat in addition to the gecko droppings.

Aliza

 

[DadCoy]

the point of bio tank is non-sterile...but I know I have gotten the PM's...I have lived on this property for years and only people ever back there are me and the boys. springtails don't do well in gecko tanks? I will do some research on the beetles you speak of. never even heard of them...lol

here are some pics of the wood finds in the tank...need some flat rocks now...

 

[indyana]

You'll to specifically set up a humid area in order to maintain springtails in a desert species enclosure. I know a couple folks on the RABS Facebook group who have desert enclosures and keep a damp area under a water dish or similar where the springtails and isopods live. If you're able to get on that group, do a search for Sheri Bokhari's posts. His uromastyx's desert bioactive setup is inspirational.

I like the big wood piece. I think it would be cool to have a bit of a centerpiece in there, if you are able to design in enough hides and still fit it.

 

[DadCoy]

I was trying to find something as a center piece, was thinking maybe a rock formatin with the 2 wood pieces on the side

 

[DadCoy]

These are pics with a couple rocks thrown in, still searching for a centerpiece, was thinking a rock pile, or a larger, tall rock.......also, advice on what size water dish to use? does it have to be more than 4x4 and 1" deep, there will be 4 maybe 5 leo's in tank. what bulbs do you guys use for heat, I have read some just use standard household bulb, but with the bigger tank thought I might have to go with a small heat bulb, maybe a smaller basking bulb......thoughts? I will have the side with the smaller wood be the hot side.

 

[DadCoy]

was thinking I might need a little more soil on the righ side....thoughts

 

[indyana]

I think 4x4 would be fine for the actual dish, but you might want the humid area to extend a little beyond it for such a large tank, maybe provide some leaf litter or similar to protect it from drying out? I heard someone else mention that they used a piece of slate for the custodian refuge and sprayed underneath the slate, so that could be another option without adding a huge water bowl or a ton of humid surface.

And yeah, maybe a little more soil, although if that's the warm side, you don't need to worry so much about maintaining custodians over there.

For they daytime, you should be able to find the correct wattage to only need one bulb on, but you might need supplemental heat at night depending how cool your room gets and whether the geckos seem to utilize the heat during the day for digestion. I know some folks only provide a basking spot with success, but it's difficult to get the right temperatures. I assume you'd basically want the hiding areas on the warm side to get up around 85-90 F during the day so the geckos could hide there to digest.

I'd recommend a UTH or ceramic heat emitter if you decide you need supplemental heat at night, as they emit no light.

You should also consider whether you want to provide UVB or not, which would require either a specialty basking bulb or an additional fluorescent fixture.

 

[DadCoy]

I was looking into the UVB bulb, and I believe what I might do is have 2 bulbs hang from the lid about 10" from top of hides/décor. 1 being a basking bulb and the other being a uvb. and regulate the temps from that and see what I get. if I need to add a small ceramic heat emitter than I can. I have a 4' fluorescent aquarium hood that will be my basic "light the enclosure" was thinking to get a uvb in that, but seems it will be 16-18" from the ground of the enclosure, and should only be 12" away right? so I will stick with the 2 bulbs at the warm end.

so if I use say an 8x8 pice of slate under the waterdish, and kept some gravel under it and daily when I canged out the water I could lift slate and spray, this would be in the middle of the tank...think that would work to keep springtails and isopods in?

aalso a question about the humid hide for shedding, does it need to be in the tank at all times? or just when it seems ttime to shed?
and is it best on warm side or cool side.

 

[indyana]

I leave it in all the time because you'd have to been really on the ball to only add it when the gecko was preparing to shed, especially with multiple animals in the enclosure. Plus, one of my males actually likes hanging out in the humid hide.

I keep mine in the middle, closer to the warm end, but I don't think it will matter much unless the spot is uncomfortable for the geckos.

 

[indyana]

Whoops, forgot the other points.

For UVB, they manufacture various types of bulbs that can reach up past 20 inches, so it's up to you what you want to do. Either plan would work.

And the slate idea sounds good as far as I can tell.

 

[Herbiebug]

Regarding humid hide, some leopard geckos don't drink standing water and will prefer to lick the sides of the humid hide for moisture. For this species it's generally a good idea to have one in the tank at all times to avoid any issues with dehydration.

Cool tank by the way! Keep us updated going forward. Looking forward to seeing the whole thing come together.

 

[DadCoy]

brought home a male and female today, cleanup crew in place. under the water dish is some gravel, and moss that I will spray as needed to keep that little humid area for the springtails and isopods,
got both geckos for $65 they are from davids finest, got them at the reptile show today.

 

[DadCoy]

 

[Cwaller]

That's an awesome tank man gives me some great ideas lol hope you don't mind

 

[stager]

Is the idea that the isopods and springtails will live off the decaying mater, and the geckos will live off them? It's a really cool idea can't wait to see how it works down the road. Keep us updated.

 

[DadCoy]

That's an awesome tank man gives me some great ideas lol hope you don't mind

Not at al...any questions just ask, I don't claim to be an expert but I like to a lot of research

Is the idea that the isopods and springtails will live off the decaying mater, and the geckos will live off them? It's a really cool idea can't wait to see how it works down the road. Keep us updated.

I am sure they will eat some of the isopods which isn't a bad thing they are high in calcium. they are mostly for the cleanup crew....have several night crawlers digging around as well.... I feed all my guys dubia as a staple because I breed them myself and feed the my own "roach Chow" which I use dry milk in the recipe so they get a great amount of calcium...no need for calcium dusting, I do however leave a small dish of calcium dust incase they wanna lick it....

 

[geckolabs]

Great looking tank :main_thumbsup:

If you notice them continually trying to burrow without much luck, I would suggest mixing in a fair amount of clay based soil as well, to give more structural durability

Keep us updated on how the isopods and springtails do! I've been contemplating switching all of mine over to bioactive subs as well.

 

[DadCoy]

so happy to see they love the wood I found in the woods behind my house...when I dug this pc up I was super exited, and they love it as well...lol

 

[DadCoy]

Great looking tank :main_thumbsup:

If you notice them continually trying to burrow without much luck, I would suggest mixing in a fair amount of clay based soil as well, to give more structural durability

Keep us updated on how the isopods and springtails do! I've been contemplating switching all of mine over to bioactive subs as well.

I was going to try that, but I couldn't find any when I was out digging(I really didn't know what I was looking for either so)