Bioactive vivarium for tarantulas

Eli02

Arachnopeon
Joined
Apr 1, 2017
Messages
18
So far for all my tarantulas i have done plain tanks and am wanting to try something new. I want to try a bioactive vivarium but dont really know how, or what tarantula I'd put in it. Do you guys have any tips for bioactive setups or any suggestions for tarantulas i could put in it? (Terrestial or aboreal)
 

Tyler187

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jun 14, 2017
Messages
3
There are a lot of good vivarium builds on YouTube. One in specific was by "The Dark Den " check it out & maybe you can steal some ideas from it.
 

photographer11

Arachnopeon
Joined
Jan 25, 2011
Messages
12
I've put isopods and springtails in my Dart Frog enclosures. Is this something I can do in my Ts enclosure?
 

Josh215

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 14, 2016
Messages
5
Isopods definitely, but they (generally) need high moisture. I have a couple colonies of dwarf whites and they struggle if the soil gets dry and thrive when it's extremely moist (to the point that if you take a handful of dirt and squeeze, water will drip out). Which is all just to say that they would do great in a high humidity spider enclosure with moist soil but would likely die in a dry enclosure. I seed my pokie tanks with dwarf whites and they do well. Arboreal spiders don't leave a whole lot of waste on the ground (unlike frogs) but the isopods take care of anything they do as well as potential mold. Especially if you have live plants, the isopods are great. They'll eat any dead plant matter and aerate the soil... Pic attached of an enclosure for an adult female P. regalis. The clean up crew keep everything tidy. (And yes, I recognize the size of the tank is overkill for the spider.)... Anywho, long story short, isopods are nice in high humidity enclosures. P. regalis tank3.jpeg
 

jaycied

Arachnoknight
Joined
Mar 2, 2017
Messages
224
Bioactive enclosure are great, but isopods and springtails really only thrive in moist enclosures. I don't keep any in with Ts for now, that will probably change soon. I do keep them in my crested gecko enclosure as a cleanup crew, and the isopods are a great source of calcium for Tyran(osaurus)
 

PetrZ

Arachnopeon
Joined
Nov 16, 2017
Messages
21
Isopods definitely, but they (generally) need high moisture. I have a couple colonies of dwarf whites and they struggle if the soil gets dry and thrive when it's extremely moist (to the point that if you take a handful of dirt and squeeze, water will drip out). Which is all just to say that they would do great in a high humidity spider enclosure with moist soil but would likely die in a dry enclosure. I seed my pokie tanks with dwarf whites and they do well. Arboreal spiders don't leave a whole lot of waste on the ground (unlike frogs) but the isopods take care of anything they do as well as potential mold. Especially if you have live plants, the isopods are great. They'll eat any dead plant matter and aerate the soil... Pic attached of an enclosure for an adult female P. regalis. The clean up crew keep everything tidy. (And yes, I recognize the size of the tank is overkill for the spider.)... Anywho, long story short, isopods are nice in high humidity enclosures. View attachment 244340
Hallo, enclosure is fine. Can I ask you about lightning? What are you using? I am experiencing a lot, but I can not find proper mix of led lights. Under light spectrum for plants looks averything odd, when I add white led, plants are growing, but in a bad way (they are short, small leaves), so I am adding one or two red... It could be ok, but plants need also near IR spectrum and it seems to be a problem. How long do you have plants in your viarium and how do they thrive in long term? Thank you.
 

Josh215

Arachnopeon
Joined
Oct 14, 2016
Messages
5
Hallo, enclosure is fine. Can I ask you about lightning? What are you using? I am experiencing a lot, but I can not find proper mix of led lights. Under light spectrum for plants looks averything odd, when I add white led, plants are growing, but in a bad way (they are short, small leaves), so I am adding one or two red... It could be ok, but plants need also near IR spectrum and it seems to be a problem. How long do you have plants in your viarium and how do they thrive in long term? Thank you.
I don't use any artificial lighting for the plants. I have an LED strip on top just for display, but it's off most of the time. The pic I posted above is a bit old and the ferns didn't make it... Now I only have low light plants in that tank (and most of my other T vivs as well). My T room has a couple windows which provide more than enough light for pothos. I use a ton of pothos. It's pretty, hardy, grows well, and doesn't need a ton of light.

I'm not a big plant guy. I just stick to low light plants and don't worry about the lighting.
 

Dennis Nedry

Arachnodemon
Joined
Oct 21, 2017
Messages
672
Let the enclosure develop a good population of bacteria and fungi before adding springtails and Isopods, that way it'll be a more stable environment for them. I'd also add some dead leaves and stuff for them to munch on
 

PetrZ

Arachnopeon
Joined
Nov 16, 2017
Messages
21
I don't use any artificial lighting for the plants. I have an LED strip on top just for display, but it's off most of the time. The pic I posted above is a bit old and the ferns didn't make it... Now I only have low light plants in that tank (and most of my other T vivs as well). My T room has a couple windows which provide more than enough light for pothos. I use a ton of pothos. It's pretty, hardy, grows well, and doesn't need a ton of light.

I'm not a big plant guy. I just stick to low light plants and don't worry about the lighting.
Thank you :)
 

pirminiamac

Arachnosquire
Joined
Dec 18, 2017
Messages
89
With those LED's you want blue light to make the plants stockier but a strong white light should give good results for most plants, up your lumens or look for LED's for horticultural use or marine aquariums with a mix of colours, red light will help with flowering btw
 

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