1st Bioactive Setup, Any Suggestions?

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.
 

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You could use aquarium grade silicone or g1 silicone to waterproof. I'm not sure about the flex seal but I know that those 2 silicones are safe.
 
Here's the completed setup so far. I'm hoping the pothos will grow out enough in the next few weeks to cover the top branches some. Right now i just have the LED bulbs on my ZooMed hood running but will add the T5 Acadia 6% bulb and a basking bulb once I get the cage moved to its permanent spot...
 

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You could use aquarium grade silicone or g1 silicone to waterproof. I'm not sure about the flex seal but I know that those 2 silicones are safe.

Thanks and you're right about those ones being safe. I used the DAP aquarium grade silicone to attach the cork pieces to the back if the cage as well as attaching the plastic threaded coupling to the wood bottom that I'm using as my overflow. I can only find little 2.8 oz tubes of the aquarium silicone though so using it to coat the whole inside of the planter isn't really an option...

I did a bunch of reading online about Flex Seal and as long as it's the liquid version and not the aerosol version it's supposed to be completely safe after drying for 2 days. To be on the safe side, I waited a week and half before partially filling it with water for a couple days to test it out (it didn't leak at all) and then another day or two before adding the soil and plants.
 
The PlantTone you used is a starter fertilizer and more importantly; it “seeds” the planting bed with the microbes that will break down waste and fertilizer into useable forms for the plants. In 8 weeks, I’d scratch some osmocote for indoor plants into the top 2/3 of the planting mix. Other than that, if you choose the correct lighting, you’re on your way to a nice start for a healthy planting. “Bioactive” is just a buzzword and people have been creating naturalistic displays, that incorporate bacteria and other organisms to mange the nitrogen cycle, for decades. That means that your set-up does not have to have isopods to function as bioactive.
 
Thanks for the compliments guys.

@Extensionofgreen Thanks for the tip on the fertilizer I'll be sure to pick up some Osmocote so I can add that in a few weeks. So will the soil with fertilizers I'm using be able to break down the cham feces ok by itself? That might be good news for me since I'm not sure how well the springtails and isopods are doing or not in there. I have the leaf litter in there and dropped a slice of fresh fruit of veggie for them to munch on but I don't see any signs of them eating anything and I haven't really wanted to go digging around looking for them in case they're sensitive to being disturbed or something...

@Chap chams Why do you think the bugs will rot the wood? Everything I've been reading says they should stay in the soil and leaf litter so I'm not sure how/why they'd affect the wood at all?
 
Thanks for the compliments guys.

@Extensionofgreen Thanks for the tip on the fertilizer I'll be sure to pick up some Osmocote so I can add that in a few weeks. So will the soil with fertilizers I'm using be able to break down the cham feces ok by itself? That might be good news for me since I'm not sure how well the springtails and isopods are doing or not in there. I have the leaf litter in there and dropped a slice of fresh fruit of veggie for them to munch on but I don't see any signs of them eating anything and I haven't really wanted to go digging around looking for them in case they're sensitive to being disturbed or something...

@Chap chams Why do you think the bugs will rot the wood? Everything I've been reading says they should stay in the soil and leaf litter so I'm not sure how/why they'd affect the wood at all?
I agree, why would they rot wood? They aren't termites or anything.
 
The Arthropods will not rot your wood, unless they are species that consume rotting wood.
The animal waste will break down and should be odorless after a day or two from passing from the Chameleon. It will be visible for quite a while as it breaks down, but if that bothers you, you can turn it into/under the substrate. l never have to pooper scoop the parsons enclosure, but it’s much larger and waste doesn’t have an opportunity to accumulate in any one area. If the Chameleon chooses one or couple spots or your enclosure is much smaller, there may be more accumulation, but even more isopods won’t make things vanish right away.
 
wondering how your bioactive enclosure is doing - I'm in the process of building one - (7' Tall x 50" Wide x 30" Deep) for my Panther, Clyde.

The Chameleon breeder podcast featured 2 episode on bioactive setup. I found it to be very informative.
 
Dumb question, what eats the poop? is it the pill bugs, or the microbes in the dirt. Im building a tegu (4x4 1ft of dirt) and its just scorched earth with 50/50 mix of peatmoss and topsoil. I have a small tray of pill bugs im breeding, but im not sure if should seed the dirt with septic microbes. Im also not sure of any plants i can grow that would make tegu/beardie food that only gets 6" tall.
 
@Senior West It's doing great so far. The pothos has really exploded almost to the point where I'm going to have to start cutting it back. So far the soil and drainage seem to be working well and it hasn't turned in to a swampy mess like I was somewhat worried about when I was first setting everything up.
 
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