# Vivarium substrate



## Jaap (13 Aug 2015)

Hi,

I would like to turn my aquarium tank into a vivarium, a small piece of jungle looking nature. 

I have some JBL Manado left. Should I mix it with plant soil, use plant soil by itself, use a thin layer of Manado above the soil?

Thanks


----------



## parotet (13 Aug 2015)

Hi Jaap

I've used AquaSoil, AS mixed with Manado, AS mixed with cosmetic sand... or whatever I had for my nano vivarium and other small setups. I've seen people using leaves, charcoal, wood bits, Spahgnum or any combination of the mentioned materials. IME you can use whatever you want but I would make sure it has a good drainage performance (basically substrate with good grain size) and also that you can drain the whole volume of water if you want (if you don't want to drill the tank there are other systems). These setups are very low maintenance but a monthly WC works very well

Jordi


----------



## TOO (13 Aug 2015)

In this vivarium http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/terrascaping-poison-dart-frog-vivarium.36534 I used Amazonia. Works very well and does not smell like other more earthy substrates will. On top of it you can place leaves and twigs to create the sense of a forest floor.

Thomas


----------



## Jaap (13 Aug 2015)

That looks like potting soil  I didn't know that Amazonia looked like that...

Can I use potting soil?

Is the vivarium fully sealed on top?



TOO said:


> In this vivarium http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/terrascaping-poison-dart-frog-vivarium.36534 I used Amazonia. Works very well and does not smell like other more earthy substrates will. On top of it you can place leaves and twigs to create the sense of a forest floor.
> 
> Thomas


----------



## TOO (13 Aug 2015)

There is some normal potting soil here and there, which is from the plants as they were potted before being introduced to the viv. But the basis is Amazonia. Basically, you can use any kind of soil, but I would always use some kind of aquarium soil as it is much easier and tidier to work with. 

The top of the viv are two pieces of glass lying in a pvc frame, i.e. they can be taken off for maintenance etc. If you use an aquarium you need to think about proper ventilation unless you want the full jungle feel with constantly misty windows . In my case a computer fan over one of the holes drilled in the glass did the trick.

Thomas


----------



## Jaap (13 Aug 2015)

My glass lid sits on clips and the lid has a gap between the walls of the tank....I don't think it can keep alot of humidity in there. Will this be a problem especialy if I use aquatic plants?




 

Thanks



TOO said:


> There is some normal potting soil here and there, which is from the plants as they were potted before being introduced to the viv. But the basis is Amazonia. Basically, you can use any kind of soil, but I would always use some kind of aquarium soil as it is much easier and tidier to work with.
> 
> The top of the viv are two pieces of glass lying in a pvc frame, i.e. they can be taken off for maintenance etc. If you use an aquarium you need to think about proper ventilation unless you want the full jungle feel with constantly misty windows . In my case a computer fan over one of the holes drilled in the glass did the trick.
> 
> Thomas


----------



## TOO (13 Aug 2015)

I don't think you will have problems keeping high humidity - or keeping aquarium plants (which are mostly bog plants anyway). Rather, I think you will get a lot of condensation on the glass, but this can easily be wiped off when you want to sit and have your zen moment.

T


----------



## parotet (14 Aug 2015)

Hi all

I agree with Thomas that you won't have any problem to keep humidity levels high and personally I think you won't need a sealed top unless you want to keep critters such as dart frogs or smaller ones (insects).

IME (http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/new-nano-vivarium.33490/) you don't actually need too much. Condensation was never a problem to me and fans were not finally needed. Although ventilation (active or passive) is one of the important 'secrets' after vivarium keepers.

The only important thing IMO is using rainwater or RO water (mosses prefer it and you won't have to scrape the scale all the time). The amount used is very small, if you don't have a water feature, so not expensive at all if you have to buy it. In the (Mediterranean) winter one spray every other day was more than enough, and in summer once or twice a day.

Sorry, another important aspect: light. Here there are no problems with algae. And the aquatic plants you are going to use grow directly under the sun or shaded... But this generally means high light. I found that some species do well but other grow leggy (and not so nice) if you don't have enough light.

Jordi


----------



## TOO (14 Aug 2015)

I will definitely second Jordi on RO. There is nothing worse in my view than vivaria or paludaria with white stripes and lines from hard water on glass and plants.

Thomas


----------

