u/sandvikson

I’ve been having some issues with my plants but I’ve adjusted my watering schedule so fingers crossed that will help.

That being said I learned sphagnum moss isn’t the best which is what I currently have my pots filled with. I saw these at target on clearance the other day and grabbed them.

Would these be a good growing medium for my built in plotted pants in a gecko tank?

The soil itself does say it’s pesticide free.

The enrich powder honestly just seems like it’s earthworm castings so I figure that should be safe but wanted a second opinion.

I’m not sure if I would actually need the grow liquid plant food or not but just incase I need to use it I wanna be sure that it’s also reptile safe

Prefacing by saying I have whatever the opposite of a green thumb is. I’ve never had good luck with plants.

The substrate and plants were put in on Sunday, June 28th. The first two pictures are from when I got the plants. I did switch the two higher up plants after I took the first photo but did not take a photo after switching them.

Today, July 4th, I noticed some leaves are dying and turning brown/yellow. That’s what the rest of the photos are. I tried googling but it seems like both overwatering and underwatering can cause them to turn the same color so I just don’t really understand. I seriously mean it when I say im terrible with plants 😂 I just wanna try and figure this out before the plants are too far gone.

In order I believe it’s a sword fern, spiderwort, creeping fig, and an emerald ripple.

All plants except the fern are potted in sphagnum moss. That’s what my local reptile shop recommended. They have all their plants that are built into their backgrounds potted in sphagnum moss.

The fern is planted in the substrate which is that same shops tropical blend substrate. It doesn’t list the exact ingredients used but from what I can tell it’s some sort of coco coir type substrate, sphagnum (?) moss, charcoal bits, and repti bark.

I’ve been spraying the tank at least once a day, either at night or in the morning it just depends on my schedule for the day. Some days it’s gotten sprayed twice, once in the morning and again at night. I really couldn’t tell you exactly how much I’ve been watering. The sphagnum moss in the pots is a little bit wet but it’s not soaked. If I tried i don’t think I could squeeze any excess water out. Same goes for the soil. It’s slightly damp to the touch.

The light is a 24 watt jungle dawn LED from Arcadia which is on for a little over 12 hours a day. I’ve been turning it on when I leave in the morning around 5-5:30 AM. Then it gets turned off before I go to bed which varies from 7-9 PM.

Tank will be for a gargoyle gecko but he is not in there yet.

Prefacing by saying I have whatever the opposite of a green thumb is. I’ve never had good luck with plants.

This is for a reptile (gecko) tank if that matters?

The substrate and plants were put in on Sunday, June 28th. The first two pictures are from when I got the plants. I did switch the two higher up plants after I took the first photo but did not take a photo after switching them.

Today, July 4th, I noticed some leaves are dying and turning brown/yellow. That’s what the rest of the photos are. I tried googling but it seems like both overwatering and underwatering can cause them to turn the same color so I just don’t really understand. I seriously mean it when I say im terrible with plants 😂 I just wanna try and figure this out before the plants are too far gone.

In order I believe it’s a sword fern, spiderwort, creeping fig, and an emerald ripple.

All plants except the fern are potted in sphagnum moss. That’s what my local reptile shop recommended. They have all their plants that are built into their backgrounds potted in sphagnum moss.

The fern is planted in the substrate which is that same shops tropical blend substrate. It doesn’t list the exact ingredients used but from what I can tell it’s some sort of coco coir type substrate, sphagnum (?) moss, charcoal bits, and repti bark.

I’ve been spraying the tank at least once a day, either at night or in the morning it just depends on my schedule for the day. Some days it’s gotten sprayed twice, once in the morning and again at night. I really couldn’t tell you exactly how much I’ve been watering. The sphagnum moss in the pots is a little bit wet but it’s not soaked. If I tried i don’t think I could squeeze any excess water out. Same goes for the soil. It’s slightly damp to the touch.

The light is a 24 watt jungle dawn LED from Arcadia which is on for a little over 12 hours a day. I’ve been turning it on when I leave in the morning around 5-5:30 AM. Then it gets turned off before I go to bed which varies from 7-9 PM.

Tank will be for a gargoyle gecko but he is not in there yet.

I have terrible luck with plants lol so I’d appreciate any advice on how to keep these guys in good shape!

I went to my local reptile shop and asked a worker for help picking out plants. I showed him my background and told him what I was kinda wanting. He was actually the guy who orders the plants so he said he mainly orders plants that are hardy and made for tropical setups. He showed me a ton but I just can’t remember the names of any of them.

Last night saw my girl sitting like this with her front legs perched on the water bowl. This morning, over 12 hours later, she was still in the same exact position.

I tapped on the glass to make sure she was alright and she didn’t move. I gently touched her front legs with a soft paint brush and she still didn’t move.

I moved the cage a little and she backed up a bit so I know she’s alive

Sorry the photos aren’t great but those are from after she backed up just a tiny bit.

Prefacing by saying this tank is not done!!!

I still need to silicone and add coco coir to the background. I also plan on adding some rock wall climbing pieces in some of the open space on the side walls. 

There will be some plants going into the cups built into the background - not sure what kind though so would love suggestions if anyone has some!! Also plants (again not sure what kind) that I’ll plant into the substrate. I also have two hides that’ll go on top of the substrate. 

Just looking for some thoughts on this setup so far!! 

I apologize in advance if this is all over the place but I made a previous post with more info about how my background is peeling from the glass in some spots

I foamed the back panel of glass and part of the side panels. It’s a 36 inch tall repti zoo tank so the side panels come in two pieces. It’s two pieces of glass connected by a plastic channel piece. I siliconed the back and the side piece of glass but not the plastic piece. There’s some gaps where the foam is not sticking to the glass/plastic along the edges. It’s not the entirety of the edges but just a few spots here and there. It’s not super noticeable unless you kinda try pulling the foam away.

The biggest gap was probably about 2 inches or so and I tried piping some silicone in between the foam and glass. It did help adhere it but I feel like it pushed the foam outward and made the gap even worse.

How do I go about properly sealing the edges? I really dont want to have to redo the background.

The tank is for a gargoyle gecko so im not too worried about him pulling on it but very worried about how to go about properly sealing it. I’m worried that with having an automatic mister and spraying down the tank that water will get behind it and somehow eventually cause the entire background to separate.

Steps: cleaned glass with isopropyl alcohol, smeared silicone all over, let silicone dry for multiple days, sprayed foam, carved foam, next step is siliconing the carved foam and covering with dry substrate.

Hopefully these photos are helpful and here is a video (https://imgur.com/a/iegmYby) showing some of the details of the background if that’s also helpful