r/Vivarium

After like 2 yrs ive done some work to this tank, currently looking at plants for the ground level but the background has grown in nicely. I trimmed a shit ton of creeping fig off the back to open the center of the background

I have had my Gargoyle for almost 3 years now. I though it was about time for a complete revamp since the soil and drainage layer were all messed up, so i had to redo those anyways, so I though why not the whole thing. My garg loves to trample over delecate plants so I had to choose the right ones for the job. I also created some more climbing and hiding spots while i was at it. What are your thoughts?

just waiting for the moss and plants to grow in more

I bought this at Home Depot, the tag said Madagascar Dragon Tree. It’s meant to go in my bioactive ball python terrarium. Unfortunately I have no clue what a dragon tree looks like but I’m pretty sure this is not it. Y’all. What is it??? Let me know if more pic would be helpful.

I'm just getting started with a vivarium right now
, so if you had any advice to offer, what would it be? I haven't thought about what plants to put in or what kind of substrate to use at all. I'm planning to buy a leopard gecko and use a piece of driftwood as a shelter.

hi hi!

i'm a noob at collecting my own stuff for my bioactive builds so i'm wondering if these branches I gathered seem safe to use? can someone identify what's on the bark?

for reference I gathered the one of the left from a fallen tree and broke it off, the one on the right i'm more worried about because i gathered it off the ground near the tree and it looks more worn out.

I gathered them yesterday, just now hosed them down and scrubbed. all closeup photos are of the branch from the right, what are these black/green dots on the last photo? they don't seem to come off when scrubbing

thanks in advance!!!

My crested gecko setup is crashing a few years in and I have no idea why. A lot of the plants have died out by seemingly rotting or being too dry.

I thought it might be due to waterlogged substrate but it doesn’t seem overly wet. There’s no anaerobic smell, the clean up crew is booming, and there’s no water in the drainage layer. The substrate does seem “broken down” and less chunky and airy - perhaps it has been completely used up by the clean up crew?

Other settings: Misted 10s every 12 hours. Top is mesh screen, 1/2 covered with an acrylic panel. 1 Hygger light, set to the time of day (so turns on at dawn, off at dusk).

Any guidance would be super appreciated.

What kind of plants can I attach to cork or a fake rock background? There will be LED lighting above and cork panelling on the PVC spaces on the sides. This is a “limestone” cave enclosure I made on for some cave dwelling ratsnakes. There will also be a forest substrate. Thank you for any input

Help, not sure what this is ? Is it fine ? Any hints / clues are welcome.

Hello everyone~

As the title suggests, I'm having some problems with controlling my vivarium's humidity levels. The tank is 18"x18"x24", and if you couldn't tell by the photo, there's a lot of shit in there. Most of that shit is plants and sphagnum moss, and I think the biomass is what's keeping the moisture levels so high. I have a thermostat/hygrometer-controlled computer fan on top of the screen (behind the domed lights), and the fan is ALWAYS ON because the humidity is above 80% most of the day (goal is humidity level between 60% and 80%). The top of the tank's plant inhabitants are now starting to dry out pretty consistently due to the fan working overtime. The mister system is set to go off for five seconds every 12 hours, and there's about an inch of water in the drainage layer (2.5 inches deep total; 4 inches of substrate on top).

Short of airing out the vivarium manually (by opening the door), I'm not sure what I can do to address this. Due to the clutter, installing ventilation ducts will be nigh impossible. As such, I've kind of made my peace with the idea of the upper stratum just being a bit drier than the rest of the tank (I'm going to outfit the layer with some Tillandsia ionatha since they can stand lower humidity levels). Should I try placing two fans on top of the screen? One for intake, and one for exhaust? How should I position these fans for optimal air flow?

I'm really open to any and all suggestions and can provide extra details, if needed. Thank you in advance.

Hey friends,

I recently finished my first bioactive setup with Dubia's Reptile Habitat 6x2x2. Unfortunately, I neglected to test my silicone job on the inside of the enclosure and I've seemed to of missed a few spots. I silicones the ever living crap out of every seem on the inside after building the cage, but it just wasn't good enough.

Does anyone have any tricks or solutions other than tearing apart everything? I've heard of marine epoxy or some form of PVC adherent.

It appears to be barely leaking and the drainage layer probably doesn't need to have any standing water in it since I only need about 65% humidity for my future super dwarf retic... So perhaps it's something that I can just deal with and slap some flex tape or something.

Any input or thoughts are welcome - including if you see anything ridiculous for my initial setup! Attached are photos of the setup and the outside seams that are leaking.

Thanks!

Hey everyone!

I wanted to share the story of my dart frog terrarium. Hopefully someone can learn from my mistakes and maybe get some inspiration from the rebuild.

About five months ago, I built my first serious dart frog terrarium. I spent countless hours researching, planning, building, and planting it. The first photos show what the original terrarium looked like.

After finishing it, I purchased a pair of dart frogs. Unfortunately, they arrived carrying parasites, and my biggest mistake was not quarantining them before introducing them to the enclosure.

At first, my frogs started losing weight even though they were eating. I couldn't understand what was happening. Eventually, after having fecal tests done, the results confirmed parasites.

Of course, my first concern was getting the frogs healthy again. Thankfully, parasites can be treated with proper medication. The difficult part was realizing that I would have to completely tear down the entire terrarium, disinfect everything, and start over from scratch.

The next photos show the dismantling process.

Honestly, when I first got the news, it was pretty devastating. I was incredibly proud of that terrarium. But after the initial frustration, I started thinking about all the things I would have changed if I had the opportunity. Suddenly, this disaster became a chance to improve everything.

I removed absolutely everything.

Every piece of wood, every coconut hide, every hardscape element that I wanted to reuse had to be boiled. Every plant was removed individually, treated, disinfected, and quarantined separately. It was a massive amount of work. Tearing everything apart was hard, but rebuilding it took even more time.

As I rebuilt, I focused on correcting the things that had always bothered me.

One of the biggest issues was the large trunk structure in the center. The upper level and lower level felt too separated visually. To fix that, I removed roughly 30% of the trunk by cutting it down and reshaping it.

Another thing I wanted to change was the waterfall. In the original build, the waterfall was on the left side, and I felt like it wasted a lot of usable ground space. During the rebuild, I moved the waterfall completely to the right side and added a large branch that acts as a natural pathway to the second level.

Now the frogs can use the entire lower area much more effectively. There are multiple hides, coconut huts, and a lot more usable territory underneath the structure.

Basically, I took everything I didn't like about the original terrarium and replaced it with something better.

The final photos show the result.

Today is literally Day 1 of the new parasite-free terrarium.

My frogs are currently still in quarantine, and I won't introduce them until they have tested negative multiple times. I want at least three or four clean fecal exams before they go back into the enclosure.

The terrarium isn't completely finished yet. I still want to add more climbing vines and several patches of different moss species.

Interestingly, while the silicone was curing, I took a trip to Costa Rica and spent time hiking through the rainforest. I took hundreds of photos and paid close attention to how plants, vines, roots, and epiphytes naturally grew in the jungle. When I came back, I used that experience as inspiration for the rebuild.

A lot of the vine placement and plant arrangement in this terrarium was directly inspired by what I saw in Costa Rican rainforests.

I honestly love the result. If I liked the original version, I think this one is a million times better.

Now I'm just excited for the day my frogs can finally move in.

For now, this is Day 1, and we'll see how the terrarium matures over time. Right now it looks very full, but as most terrarium keepers know, not every plant will thrive. Some will die, others will take over, and eventually the plants and microclimate will find their own balance.

You could say this is only the second terrarium I've ever built, and I'm extremely proud of it.

In about a year, I'm planning to start a giant paludarium project, and I honestly can't wait for that challenge. But until then, I'm going to enjoy watching this terrarium grow and evolve.

And if there's one lesson I learned from all of this:

Always quarantine new frogs. It can save you—and your terrarium—a lot of heartbreak.

Thanks for reading!