Why are Bio-Active setups "controversial"?

[The Snark]

Physics and metaphysics bioactivity defined in a chart. Anything that is between the two diametrically opposed ends of the spectrum.

Creation, raw chaos, absolute primal energy, the big bang. <-- Potential Bioactivity --> Absolute stasis.

And the earth, a somewhat fertile environment, lies somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. Though the industrial age has given it a good firm shove in the stasis direction.
But on the whole, darned difficult to not find bioactivity in every square meter.

Practical example, Mercury, chaos, zilch bioactivity - in any form that we can relate to. Neptune, doing pretty good on the stasis end, unilkely e2 bioactivity.

Welcome to the Goldilocks zone.

Physiophilosopher: I think therefore I am.
Homoerectus, late instar: I eat, therefore I fart.

 

[catboyeuthanasia]

A bioactive enclosure itself takes more maintenance than a tarantula does . And for frogs most t care sheets are so far off on the internet you’d think they’re written for amphibians not Ts . I have one tank with a pothos plant in it . That’s the closest I’ll go to bio. Any pics of your bio active enclosures?

Here's what I keep my frogs in,

There's a peanut plant in there because a couple months ago, I asked my partner to feed my frogs when I was out of town, and she dumped a whole peanut with peanut beetles into the tank it just sorta grew in and hasn't been bothering anything else, so I let it stay

And two velvet worm colonies.


These still need some time for the moss to grow in

 

[Introvertebrate]

Here's what I keep my frogs in,
View attachment 453281
There's a peanut plant in there because a couple months ago, I asked my partner to feed my frogs when I was out of town, and she dumped a whole peanut with peanut beetles into the tank it just sorta grew in and hasn't been bothering anything else, so I let it stay

And two velvet worm colonies.
View attachment 453279 View attachment 453280

These still need some time for the moss to grow in

The first pic is really nice. What lights are you using?

 

[catboyeuthanasia]

The first pic is really nice. What lights are you using?

I'm using an exo-terra terrasky light on default setting:

Amazon.ca

 

[Dorifto]

What’s a Good example of one of these enclosures? I don’t Keep even plants in my t enclosures let alone isopods and all sorts of little organisms. With my luck the whole thing would die off and I’d have to clean it up and put the spider in-another tank.

Mine, if it helps

original_250afeb4-3cee-4ff4-b5ce-6fa193dbb5d0_IMG_20211118_141027.jpg

• Dorifto
• Jul 18, 2022
• 3

Personally, the hardest part of creating a bioactive setup, it's to choose the right plants and soil, as simple as that. And it's not very difficult being honest.

Starting from a good enclosure (euro style) makes things much easier, as you can dial the amount of ventilation easily. This is where most people fail. You need to have a good ventilation, but at the same time you need to adjust it in order to maintain the enclosure stable. Imagine an open enclosure, it will have a ton of ventilation, but it will dry too quickly if your climatic conditions are dry enough, so won't work. The opposite neither too, little ventilation in a humid environment. Both ends will end in disaster.

Maintenance wise, they have zero maintenance, literally zero, aside from watering and an anual trimming. One can automatize those tasks like I did, or just water the plants using a cheap misting bottle.

 

[Dandrobates]

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

View attachment 453680

Spectacular set up !! Frogs must love it !!!

 

[Smotzer]

Second bioactive has become a trend. It's gone viral if you will. Mostly promoted by vendors that make more profit by you buying more supplies. So from that standpoint it's a marketing gimmick.

Exactly this ^^
"Bioactive" itself has been coined by folks who are/were uneducated in the reality of what that even means, and it transformed into a key word that could be used very easily to generate supplemental sales. Modern social media has driven this and propagated its incorrect use.

Beginners should concentrate on basic husbandry skills without complicating matters with plants, lighting, micro fauna etc. The simpler the enclosure the more success a beginner keeper is likely to have. By going bioactive you are introducing more opportunities for things to go wrong, more parameters to worry about. Beginners don't need that.

And this is exactly my point as well! @Frogdaddy knows like him I do extensive planted tanks too, but I almost never recommend it to others or promote it because a: its not truly needed to succusfully keep tarantulas that live long lives, and b: its is way too complicated for new keepers who more often than not neither have experience with keeping tarantulas or plants even separately let alone combined, and c: it is an unnecessary expense that a new person to the hobby should have to consider. They're money is better spent elsewhere than wasting it on "premium soil", overpriced "rare" terrarium plants, lights, etc.