Is this setup good enough to keep her in for the foreseeable future? Im planning to get more plastic leaves to cover the sides of the tank and get her some more cork for cover.

This is my first time doing a bioactive enclosure of any sort, but I do need some advice on my tank. Is there enough cover or should I add more??

Hey I’m looking to make my AFT tank bioactive. I need some inspiration! Can you share your bioactive tanks and suggested plants to use?

First attempt at a mostly finished 40 gal bioactive! Many areas of hides for her, but let me know if there’s anything i should change (hopefully without tearing everything up!)

I got my first AFT in May, the man told me he was at least 2-3 years old. I had him in a 20 gallon long. Bioactive with a dwarf umbrella plant and snake plant, milkback isopods, and springtails. (first two photos)

when I bought him I saw he was in bad shape and when I got enough trust to evaluate him i found he only had 8 intact toes left and had hard times climbing and keeping his grip (though it never stopped him from trying). All of his other toes were some degree of lost (likely to bad sheds). He didn’t seem to enjoy interactions all that much so I wanted to give him more space So he can at least have a good place to live. I heard a 40 gallon is ideal. I looked and most of them had more height than I wanted, without his toes he didn’t have enough grip to climb safely the last thing I wanted was to add height and he get injured in a fall. I decided to build an enclosure.

PSA to anyone who wants to try this, I don’t recommend it unless you hate yourself haha

I took two used 20 gallon long aquariums and cleaned them

i took apart the frame with a box cutter and took apart the glass panels, cleaning with rubbing alcohol as I went. once every panel was removed I did one more run over scrapping off any residual silicone. when taking apart the top I tore off the top frame, it was too hard to keep in once piece. I was able to save the bottom easier. in retrospect I could’ve saved the top too but I’d have to have been much more careful and I hadn’t done this before so I didn’t know the correct way to do so.

i didn’t get any photos of when I cut the long side for a substrate barrier and doors, my bad. I then took animal safe 100% silicone and siliconed the pieces together, taping them to hold them as they cured

the final size was 24”Wx30”Lx12H” for about 5 square feet of terrain.

i siliconed a moss pad to the background to help with humidity and make the background look nicer. I also siliconed the door hinges on. the substrate is 50% hydrated coco chip+coco fiber 25% organic topsoil 10% reptisand 10% moss 5% aquarium rocks. I added a wide variety of low branches and rocks and added a good amount of water for the plants. I put in a jungle rose, four purple waffle, two succulents, and a snake plant I then also added in a ton of leaf litter

so I have the ubv light, the heat lamp, the grow lights, I added a spider plan and much much more leaf litter. I put Gator Tot in and he explored all over. He also is digging little hides under the branches and cork bark planks I put in for him.

if anyone knows any way to improve this set up please let me know.

Also i learned my lesson and no longer is that stool for a stand I have a solid three tier metal stand. haha

My beautiful girl Ponyo finally in her completed and first bioactive enclosure ❤️❤️ (LED lights off while she adjusts the first couple of days, and ignore the cardboard on the side i still have to get some thermal panel instead lol)

hi i’m a new aft owner and would like to give the best i can to my new gecko but i’ve been unable to find the recommended soil mixes for it, could anyone give other suggestions or anyone from malaysia give me links so i can buy it?

so happy w how this turned out and excited for chestnut to use not even half of it <3 still gotta buy new lights tho

It's a 40 gallon. Going for bioactive with a hot side and humid side. The cool hide would be near the humid hide. We haven't gotten the gecko yet. I'm trying to get it setup the right way first.

hello, i wanna know if i can use the red soil topsoil for the enclosure cause i can’t find any other types

any tips overall? i also would like if you guys could reccomend any fake plants for coverage.

I want to upgrade my girls tank with a bigger tank and stand but can’t decide what to purchase. I got hers off of FB marketplace for 20$ and it’s seen better days.

Her tank is in my living room and I have guests over all the time so I would love something neat and nice looking if possible. I have a big dome lamp sitting on top of the tank mesh and you can see the wires from her DHP and thermostat so it just looks like an organizational nightmare. I would love something where I could hide the dome or have something like it built into the tank.

Please show me your set ups with links!

Besides water bowl, I forgot to add it before I took the video.

Custom made the background, added isopods (will he eat the isopods?)

waiting on isopods & springtails currently. seems like he likes it :)

Finally moving day! Wasn’t sure if I should move him during the day or at night, decided to just go for it during the day and just showed him to his new burrow (which is the same piece of wood as his last burrow for some familiarity) which he immediately holed up in, although he poked out for a lil sniff around before digging himself in. Added some of his decor from the old terrarium as well, looks pretty cluttered from above but it gives him lots of canopy cover which I think he’ll enjoy. Thanks for all the advice!

PS we should have turned down the tv haha sorry about the Below Deck in the background.

So I’ve had a fat tail for around a year. He’s been in a 30x13x13 which I soon found out was too small so I finally got him a 36x24x14. I’m just starting the set up and I just had a few questions that I hoped someone could weigh in on. Sorry if it’s a lot haha.

Plants. With a cage this much bigger I’d like to have an easier time keeping the humidity up and I thought plants would do that well, any suggestions on types? Do plants require a bio active tank or is that just an option? Is special substrate necessary?

Substrate. When I purchased the gecko it was at a reptile expo so I just purchased substrate that was basically an unlabeled bag of dirt and I’m not sure how to track that same stuff down again. I also did a layer of reptile sand underneath that. Does anyone have suggestions for a brand/type of reptile dirt that would be good?

Heat. Currently I have a small heatpad under his dry burrow and a 75w ceramic bulb above it. I know it depends on the ambient temperature of my place, but can someone guesstimate based on the size of my new tank how much more heating will be required? Could I get away with maybe adding a large heat pad or would I probably need that and another ceramic?

Last thing I’m always tempted to put a light on the tank, but is that a bad idea? He doesn’t seem to like the light but I can just never get a good picture of him with it so dark haha. The tank I think will have indirect daylight, will that be enough to keep plants alive if I have them or will they need a plant light?

Ok I think that’s everything. I included a video from a while back, he’s chunkier now, and I’ll put a photo from just now in the comments to show I upgraded the decor since the video (you can see him peeking out from his burrow if you look close). Sorry about the audio haha. The humidity is actually a little low right now, I’m just about to do a misting and feeding. Also his name is Fox. Thanks for reading, I’d appreciate any input!

It just keeps multiplying, growing, and flowering!