ZacharyLeesWife
Avid Member
I have 3 bioactive vivs going, but they aren't housing any chams. I'd go with creeping fig over baby tears, they seem to be much sturdier.
Anyone experienced with bioactives?
- Thread starter jamest0o0
- Start date
Davecameos
Avid Member
My favourite are hibiscus, blue ginger, asparagus plumosus and dracaena punctulata. My spelling may be wrong.
ZacharyLeesWife
Avid Member
My crestie seems to favor this one bromiliad. I find him sleeping in it every morning! I struggled with the baby tears, for some reason. And I am not doing well with ferns either, but I but I think it's because I have 5.0 bulbs in the vivs and they are burning them.
Davecameos
Avid Member
Maybe the ferns get too much water. If you try a jungle dawn it make help.
ZacharyLeesWife
Avid Member
I have to run uvb bulbs for the inhabitants, I don't think that LED lights have enough uvb. I could be mistaken, though. They're all super high humidity enclosures so if moisture is the problem for my ferns that makes sense.
Davecameos
Avid Member
Yes of course the uv is needed. But you can add the jungle dawn in addition to the uv tubes. . It is the best light for plants growth.
jamest0o0
Chameleon Enthusiast
I was just thinking of something for ground cover, unless you mean using creeping fig for that. What type of soil do you use btw?
ZacharyLeesWife
Avid Member
I have a false bottom in the 55, egg crate to create the bottom and that's full of bio balls. Then I have screen, straight coco fiber, followed by top soil. I have just bioball covered with top soil in the grandis tank. And I tried to run a wet bottom in the crestie tank, with a waterfall feature but the water quality was a constant problem so I removed it. Now it's similar to the grandis tank.
ZacharyLeesWife
Avid Member
The baby tears get abused even by my retf, they seem super sensitive. I put the creeping fig in the tank to cover the background, but it's doing a great job on the substrate, too
jamest0o0
Chameleon Enthusiast
So I figured I'd bump this instead of making anymore threads
Sooo anyway this may be a dumb question, but do I need the hydroballs if I have the entire bioactive bin draining into another bin? What I'm thinking is a plastic tub with the substrate/plants/etc in it as my cage floor with holes at the bottom of that and another bin underneath where the excess water will go.
Sooo anyway this may be a dumb question, but do I need the hydroballs if I have the entire bioactive bin draining into another bin? What I'm thinking is a plastic tub with the substrate/plants/etc in it as my cage floor with holes at the bottom of that and another bin underneath where the excess water will go.
Davecameos
Avid Member
You may not need the hydroballs if if it is draining the water. However the clay balls may help to keep the plants roots moist.
Davecameos
Avid Member
I have a plastic pipe connected to the base and a tap.
Davecameos
Avid Member
It depends on what you are housing in
My females need at least 6 inches of soil to dig.
Davecameos
Avid Member
That is fine. Just check how big the plant pots are. Maybe 3 inches is not enough to cover the roots.
jamest0o0
Chameleon Enthusiast
Good point thanks, maybe i'll go with 2" of hydroballs and like 4-6" substrate depending on plants.
So organic topsoil plain or mix with cocofiber, sand, etc? Was going to put leaf litter and river rocks on the top i think with a good ground cover you guys recommended to me above.
So organic topsoil plain or mix with cocofiber, sand, etc? Was going to put leaf litter and river rocks on the top i think with a good ground cover you guys recommended to me above.
Davecameos
Avid Member
I use plain soil mixed with arcadia earthmix soil. I do not use coco fibers. Because I think chams can eat them by mistake.
I use leaf litter and moss on top of it.
I use leaf litter and moss on top of it.
Similar threads
