Bioactive enclosure maitenenc

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MrChenMan

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If I could get a list of the maintenance I need for my new bio active enclosure, that would be fantastic

Last time I looked at my enclosure the substrate was very dry. I do water occasionally but probably not as much as I should. I also noticed that the isopods were missing and there was a dead one. Is there a way to fix the soil or do I need to start over? I’m assuming I will need to buy new bugs
 

CooperDragon

BD.org Sicko
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Are the lower layers retaining any moisture? Have you been monitoring the humidity levels in the enclosure? If the humidity is consistently too low you may want to develop some sort of system to simulate rain to keep the soil from drying out. There are a few folks on here who maintain bioactive setups so they may be able to help with more specifics regarding how to keep the substrate from drying too much. What do you have in place for your layers?
 

MrChenMan

Member
Original Poster
CooperDragon":2m52evc1 said:
Are the lower layers retaining any moisture? Have you been monitoring the humidity levels in the enclosure? If the humidity is consistently too low you may want to develop some sort of system to simulate rain to keep the soil from drying out. There are a few folks on here who maintain bioactive setups so they may be able to help with more specifics regarding how to keep the substrate from drying too much. What do you have in place for your layers?

No the soil is completely dry, I’ve not been checking humidity, my soil is a succulent mix which I’ve added coconut husk, a bit of sand, and sphagum moss to. I do not have a drainage layer
 

williamk34

Hatchling Member
Hello there I'm sorry to hear that you're having some trouble with your bioactive enclosure. I will say I do notice a couple of problems just from what you have already mentioned when you mentioned send what type are you using and coconut fiber is pretty decent depending on what kind of saying you might have to just toss it out how often have you been watering it honestly if you have it set up good you should only really have to give it at 1 good watering every week depending where you live. I have a Mist King so I have it set to spray once in the morning once in the evening with a very small spray talking with in the seconds it only spikes the humidity for about 5 minutes but it's enough for the plants to absorb water for the morning and evening doses that they require it's not necessary to give them a little water in the morning and evening it just makes it look a little more natural. So whatever you use to measure humidity as soon as it gets down to 30 for humidity for 25 at the absolute lowest before it needs watered could you post some photos of your enclosure depending on what kind of sand it can be harmful to your animal clean up crew and the plants. Sorry for the long message
102593-9530311524.jpg
my bioactive enclosure
 

MrChenMan

Member
Original Poster
williamk34":1l6uhq15 said:
Hello there I'm sorry to hear that you're having some trouble with your bioactive enclosure. I will say I do notice a couple of problems just from what you have already mentioned when you mentioned send what type are you using and coconut fiber is pretty decent depending on what kind of saying you might have to just toss it out how often have you been watering it honestly if you have it set up good you should only really have to give it at 1 good watering every week depending where you live. I have a Mist King so I have it set to spray once in the morning once in the evening with a very small spray talking with in the seconds it only spikes the humidity for about 5 minutes but it's enough for the plants to absorb water for the morning and evening doses that they require it's not necessary to give them a little water in the morning and evening it just makes it look a little more natural. So whatever you use to measure humidity as soon as it gets down to 30 for humidity for 25 at the absolute lowest before it needs watered could you post some photos of your enclosure depending on what kind of sand it can be harmful to your animal clean up crew and the plants. Sorry for the long message
Im using a very small amount of sand that i found at a garden store and i made sure it was safe for him but like i said its a very minimal amount.

For coco fiber im using Eco-Earth.

honestly i only watered it when i remembered, which wasnt very often. Luckily my little guy is currently not housed in it yet

91824-5821723440.jpg
this is his enclosure. there is still a lot of decorating needed, and the basil plant is not longer.
this picture was taken when the soil was still moist and i could see insects everywhere but now its dry and i believe all the clean up crew is dead.
 

williamk34

Hatchling Member
It should be doing okay for drainage I would try taking the plants and everything out remix up the soil apply your appropriate amount of water you want to aim for that 40 to 45 percent humidity it can hold at 50% and it still won't bother them that much when the rain is going on outside mine usually will Spike up to about 50% even with a dehumidifier running so don't worry if it's spikes for a day it can even be a pretty high Spike and as long as it doesn't last for more than a day everything will be okay when your barometer stabilizes between 40 and 45 then you have found the amount mine is a 48 by 24 by 24 enclosure so it usually takes one of the flower garden watering cans just one once every 7 to 14 days and I have a Mist King connected to one of the large jugs of water that does a little micro Burst of water not necessary I'm just weird in like 2 replicate climate as well LOL. But after you have the humidity level back to where you want it and ideally you should only have to give it a big water once a week just give a little light water every couple of days for your plants and just to the plants nothing else the big water is for everything else. I don't know how old your bearded dragon is but you can go ahead and add your springtails but if you still have a baby or a smaller juvenile they will actually go after your isopods but once your dragon gets to a certain size it will ignore them for larger prey. Ideally you would like to get giant white springtails dwarf purple isopods and powder blues and remember to add some superworms you don't have to start with superworm beetles they will pupate into the Beatles they're part of your clean up crew and a snack for Your Dragon. But once the humidity and the isopods have taken hold it will be good to introduce Your Dragon it takes a little bit of messing around if the moisture it's still not where you like it you might want to think about switching it out when making your own it can be tricky I personally use the Tera Sahara from the bio dude it also comes with BioShock which is another important thing you're going to need it's a blend of beneficial fungus and bacteria good for the health of your plants soil and ultimately Your Dragon it will keep away the bad fungus mold and bacteria also if you can get your hands on a mint plant it just makes it smell better when your dragon decides to do a really big poop LOL I hope that helps if you're still having trouble just give us another message.
 
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