# 8 gallon bio-orb



## Jaymz Bedell (Sep 13, 2011)

Been wanting to set one of these up for awhile...finally got one when it went on super clearance...$32 instead of $150. brand new. 2 inch layer of fine gravel for drainage, then a nice thick layer of succulent potting mix without fertilizer. jade plant (Crassula sp.) and Birds nest Sansevieria (S. trifasciata hahni). forgive the glare, spheres are hard to photograph and i have no photography talent.

Before







after







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right







and full again....with flash


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## xhexdx (Sep 13, 2011)

Looks great!  Are you going to put any animals in it?


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## Jaymz Bedell (Sep 13, 2011)

Thank you! I'm planning on a small Myg. of some sort. something more arid loving since its technically an arid land theme.


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## Crysta (Sep 13, 2011)

where did you get it? i've been wanting one of these for awhile!~ looks amazin' jaymz!


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## Endagr8 (Sep 13, 2011)

Looks great! But won't the _Sansevieria_ outgrow it? And the bulb appears to be the wrong color temp.?


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## Jaymz Bedell (Sep 13, 2011)

crysta i got it at petco. we had it on clearance for ages and then they super clearanced it. so i bought it. thank you.

endangr8, thank you, the birds nest varieties stay pretty small, and will eventually have to be thinned out, but they dont grow all that fast so it shouldnt be an issue for some time. the color temp of the bulb is 6700K...should do just fine, but id actually prefer something bluer as its more pleasing to my eyes.  this particular set up does get a limited amount of natural light too.  thank you.


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## Shrike (Sep 13, 2011)

I'm curious to see how the _Crassula_ does in there.  This genus needs good drainage and high light to really thrive.  Using a biorb as a vivarium is a cool idea.  If you add any additional plants/animals, please post some more pics.


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## Jaymz Bedell (Sep 14, 2011)

the Crassula might not thrive, in which case i can always add more light...I'm a bit of a plant geek so ive got fixtures and bulbs lying around lol. one of the options for "upgrading" the lighting is to swap out the stock fixture for a 5.5 inch clamp lamp with a 27 watt cfl. as for drainage...I've got it! aside from using a succulent potting mix over 2 inches of gravel the bio-orbs built in "filter" acts as a drain. i can simply remove the check valve thats on it and extend a piece of airline tubing to a small hidden bucket. As much as i really hate these things for fish they really do have a ton of things that can make them work very well as a terrarium/vivarium. i will take some more pics of my other viv and my orchid collection sometime today and post them...also time for some updated pics of my ferrets. thanks for all the comments so far!


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## AzJohn (Sep 15, 2011)

I'd say throw some desert Centruroides scorpions in their. But if you had a pair you'd have them coming out your ears in a few years. I'd hate to seperate them with a planted tank. That would still make a great home for a smallish desert scorpion. Maybe a single imature bark scorpion that you could gaurantee won't have babies.


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