# Bioactive Vivarium Help and Advice



## KatieSpikey (Aug 11, 2017)

Hi. 


I have recently purchased a bioactive kit online for my new crested gecko. 


I got her three weeks before. She was in a small tank with one small log that was obviously meant for turtles/aquariums and a couple of sticks. She had a foam cup sitting in the substrate at an angle which is what the previous owner used for her cgd. That was it. 


The tank had a very foul odor. The substrate itself had some type of mites and god knows what else besides moldy poop. Needless to say, i quickly cleaned the tank out thoroughly. Though i am glad there wasn't anything that would harm her directly.


She was apparently 18 months old when i purchased her but she seemed small to me. After looking online at ideal weight for cresties her age i weighed her and she was only 16grams.


Thankfully she has put on a fair bit of weight on now. She won't eat live food though, just cgd and the occasional fruit. 


*Anyway*, i'm getting off topic. Fast forward to three weeks later, i got a bioactive kit and set that up and everything was going fine. 


I then went on vacation for two weeks and left my gecko in my friends care while i was gone. I had talked him though how to make up the food, how often to mist the tank down and all that stuff. 


He did a great job looking after her until i notice around one of the sides of my terrarium there were little trails of the substrate mixed with the hydroball layer and a few springtails were able to get past the mesh. 


I asked him if he knew what happened and he said he found a load of worms in his garden and thought they could help the bioactive system. He says he cant remember how many, but he said about ten. :bash: On the plus side, he doesn't do much gardening so he doesn't use pesticides and such.


That was two weeks ago. I haven't even seen the worms much myself. I don't really want to dig the substrate up and disturb the plants and custodians, which still seem to be thriving. And my crestie is still doing great.


I know he meant well but now there is substrate that has mixed with the hydroballs. Would it be ok to stay like this? I will probably end up setting it up again at some point, but will it be ok as is for a while?


If anyone has any advice or anything, it'd be greatly appreciated as i can't find any other help. 
Thankyou in advance.


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## FishForLife2001 (Sep 23, 2014)

Realistically it will be fine, but the drainage efficiency will have been compromised. It is possible to have bioactive substrate with no drainage, although the margin for error in over-watering is much narrower.

Basically if only a small mix has occurred it may not be worth fixing. If it compromises aesthetics then I would start again, or if a significant mix has occurred.

The lizard is at no risk so yes, there is no urgency in starting again.

Sent from my 9001X using Tapatalk


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## Arcadiajohn (Jan 30, 2011)

This totally free resource and the next episode will help you understand.

Ep 72: Bio-Active Environments, Pt 1 with John Courteney-Smith, MRSB - Chameleon Breeder Podcast


You can listen on demand or download and keep for free, no sign up, no fee.

John


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## Tarron (May 30, 2010)

As Fish says, its not a massive cause for concern. Certainly not in a Crestie setup that won't be so heavily sprayed for the drainage layer to be overly used. It's mainly there as a back up in these situations.

I use worms in a lot of my setups, most of the time they aren't much of a hinderance, however, just be aware that whilst in the drainage layer, if they happen to die, there is an increased risk of the dead worm moulding, which can be an issue if the springtails etc can't fight it quickly enough.

That's just something to keep an eye on more than anything though.


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