Setting up planted desert vivaria [Archive]

GekkoGeck0

01-10-05, 07:25 PM

I have a 15 gallon terrarium with 1 web-footed gecko. I've been wanting to add some plants to liven it up a bit, give it more of a realistic feel.

Right now, I have one habba hut (the little hollowed out half log hides), his waterbowl, and a small cap full of food for stray crickets. Pretty boring. There is approximated 4-5 inches of playsand as a substrate.

My lighting consists of two of those flourescent tubes that go into standard incandescent sockets... forget what they're called right now. But the lighting is rather intense.

Does anyone have any examples of desert vivaria or suggestions? I'm looking at having some spineless cacti and/or succulents. The plants have to stay rather short (or can be pruned back with no adverse effects) and be able to tolerate temperatures between 25C (75-77F) and 30-35C (86-95F) with 30-40% average humidity (not minding a misting every few days).

The web-footed gecko is rather small, just 10cm from nose to tail, and most likely wouldn't damage somewhat delicate plants, aside from his constant desire to dig. I plan on surrounding any plants with small smooth rocks to stop him from digging the plants up.

Any ideas from anyone or some pictures of some planted desert vivaria would be very appreciated!

tdherper

01-10-05, 07:26 PM

You can try "desert rose" or the smaller aloe vera plants. I've seen thhese often at HD

GekkoGeck0

01-10-05, 08:53 PM

Unfortunately, desert rose appears to grow to 5 feet... that's a little too tall. Aloe has sharp spines along the edge that I wouldn't want my gecko to get caught on, if he decides to climb over the plants. Thanks for the reply, though.

tdherper

01-10-05, 09:04 PM

I have a desert rose in a multi planter i've had for three years and it's 3 inches high. they grow very slowly. As for the aloe vera, the smaller variety is a dark green with white highlights and the ridges are not sharp at all.....

GekkoGeck0

01-10-05, 10:41 PM

Thanks for your suggestions, but I was looking more for information on how to set up and maintain the vivaria.

Desert rose and aloe vera are good suggestions, but I'm not sure I would want to use them, I really enjoy the look of cacti better.

Double J

01-11-05, 06:28 PM

Bird's nest Sansieveria will work really well... they look greet and stay rather small. They are fairly hearty as well. AS for price, they generally run between 2 and 5 dollars.

GekkoGeck0

01-16-05, 04:39 PM

Well, I have most of my plant choices pinned down.

Does anyone have advice on how to set up and maintain desert vivaria? Substrate choices, keeping plants potted (or not), ways to keep the animals from digging them up?

Thanks for everyone's input on the plants.

Kyle Barker

01-16-05, 06:31 PM

i liek using an all substrate type setup. then jsut palnt the plants right there. you will probably find come egg laying time they will dig into the roots cause its more moist there.

anyway if your lighting is pretty intense try out Lithops sp. they are REALLY cool looking cacti, low to teh ground and spineless. very pretty flowers on most. i got a few extra L. bella seeds if ya like. im jsut not sure how intense those bulbs are...these guys like it in-tense!

GekkoGeck0

01-16-05, 07:22 PM

I'm not sure on the lumen output of my lights, but I have two compact flourescent spiral bulbs in there, 15 watts a piece. 3000k. Brand name of Pricemark. I searched around and couldn't find much about the specific lights that I'm using.

Lithops are very strange and intriguing cacti! I'm starting a few other cacti from seed, starting Lithops as well should be no trouble, providing I can figure out how bright my lighting really is. It seems really bright to me.

Would keeping the cacti potted but still buried in the sand keep the gecko from destroying still delicate juvenile cacti? Or just plant them right in the sand and perhaps put some larger rocks around the roots to keep him from getting to them easily? I accept that at one point he might dig up something, but I'd rather avoid it, especially with some of the slower growing cacti.

Kyle Barker

01-17-05, 12:55 AM

oh kinda doubt those would be intense enough for lithops, but never know.

are you starting your cacti from seed in that cage? then i would use pots on top so they cant get at them. also many cacti prefer to have high humidity in the seedling stage. and if you got another section of house you can get those things growing like MAD with 24/7 lighting and lots of water. read up on CAM plants, interesting stuff. could also look at Gymnocalycium horstii, tehy are pretty neat looking cacti with fairly small roots. they have spines but they sorta follow the skin. or you can cut them off. they got that peyote look, but their roots wouldnt make your life difficult.

putting pots under soil would probably work, rocks too. its all preference really. i prefer plant growing in the cage freely as then they can spread easier. some dont like that though.

also lots of cactus need stronger light to germinate. sure youve read up on that, but somthing to concider if your not getting any sprouts.

GekkoGeck0

01-17-05, 01:01 AM

Unfortunately, those lights are the brightest light source I have. I plan to raise the pots off of the sand closer to the lights and slowly lower them as the seedlings mature. It's an experiment, I'm not getting my hopes up that this will be a total success, but either way, it should be a fun and interesting venture. *grins*

Humidity shouldn't be an issue, I've grown seedlings in individual pots with saran wrap held on by rubber bands.

Double J

01-17-05, 10:33 AM

Here are my lighting recommendations:

Buy a three pack of Halogen puck lights. These usually cost iun the neighborhood of 25 dollars.. and they crank out tons of light and enough heat. Plus, they are only about 20 watts per light.. so a total of 60 watts (you will be best iff using all three). On top of that, I would use an 18 inch fluorescent bulb.... at a color temperature of 6500K...many reptile fluorescent bulbs are at this color temp. The mixture of light from these two sources will give the plants plenty of intensity, as well as put out enough heat for your geckos.

Good luck.

GekkoGeck0

01-17-05, 12:00 PM

I wanted to try this with my existing setup. Using halogen puck lights and a flourescent bulb would require me to replace or dispose of my current hood.

The UTH also puts off a lot of heat, anything else that contributes more than a gentle amount of heat would overheat the tank.

VI Reptiles

01-18-05, 11:28 AM

I wouldnt grow the cactus from a seed. I would go out to a garden center and look around inside and you can find some really cool looking succulents as well as cactus. When you would plant them I would dig a hole in the sand and pour some nice garden soil and plant the cactus. Then cover the the black soil with your sand. What I would have done from the start though would be put 2 inches of potting soil at the bottom of your tank and then put your sand on the top. Then if you want to plant something you can just move the sand off the top of the soil and plant the cactus right in there. It would love it. Lots of nutrients too, to help it grow!

VI Reptiles

GekkoGeck0

01-18-05, 01:39 PM

I can't fault your logic, but unfortunately I've already ordered the seeds!

I still plan on going down to a garden centre soon to pick up some stuff, and I'll probably end up bringing home a few nice succulents, if they have them.

Like I said earlier in the thread, I will most likely be keeping them in their pots, due to my gecko's innate nature to dig everywhere.

DragnDrop

01-18-05, 03:27 PM

If you want to stay 'realistic', don't plant use cacti. They evolved exclusively New Wold plants (though one species also appears naturally in the Old World). Any cacti in the Old World were transported there, not native plants. Old World equivalents are the Spurge family, or Euphorbiaceae. The Namib Desert is so dry, most of the moisture comes from fog rolling in from the ocean, plants have a particularly hard time living there so they're alnmost foreign to the native animals. Some plants to exist there, very specialized and able withstand the extreme drought and temperature range each day. Since your gecko's instinct doesn't cover spiny, you have to really be careful what you use. I'd stick to growing softer succulents, no tough skinned or sharp edged ones like cacti and Sansevaria. Sansevaria can also have a toxic sap.... not good to use with a gecko that would be inclined to lick almost any liquid it finds.

GekkoGeck0

01-18-05, 07:59 PM

Admittedly, it's difficult to stay realistic when attempting to capture P. rangei's native habitat in captivity. I would one day like to try my hand at realistic vivaria, but with this it's more for aesthetics than realism.

Spiny/rough is definitely out, same with the Sanservarias and anything with the potential to scratch or puncture his delicate skin. Thanks for the head's up about the toxic sap.

I have been looking at spineless cacti, but I am considering ways to keep him from coming in contact with them if they prove to present a problem, but I may end up just having to remove them and just have them as houseplants, there's no point in essentially destroying the point of a planted vivarium in the attempt to keep the animal from coming in extended contact with the plants. It's no problem either way, but I do want to try this out.

Succulents are definitely in, as soon as I can find some nice species that are compatible with the temperature and humidity ranges of his enclosure.

Thanks very much for the knowledgeable reply, I appreciate it.

Kyle Barker

01-18-05, 10:11 PM

lithops, lophophora, many astrophytum are a few genus' that have spinless species. teh first 2 are completely spinless and soft, perfect for gecko cages....but htey are rather small ground cover type cactus. perhaps thats good for a terrestrial gecko tank?

the later has a bunch of stuff to them adn are pretty neat cacti. you can get some that are pretty much smooth, some that have spines, some have "hair" etc....tehy are a bit pricey though.

same as with reptiles cacti species also can have morphs. soem cacti have a spineless morph or close to. some species that are of "monstrose" mutaion are pretty much spineless. one called a ***** plant, or somthing liek that is a columnar cacti that is completely smooth....very neat looking....who knows what your going to get when you do a google for that though lol.

these guys have pretty good prices: http://cactus-heaven.com/index.phtml

i have ordered from tehm a few times and realyl liek their service. took usually about a week to get my seeds here.

another neat site with lotsa pics (not really good for this cage, but if your into cacti you may enjoy) http://www.columnar-cacti.org/

GekkoGeck0

01-20-05, 11:03 PM

Rather small ground cover type cacti are what I am mainly looking for. Lithops still looks great, but I'll have to find a way to boost my lighting before I attempt anything with them.

Lophophora are perfect, along with a few of the Euphorbias. I was looking at Sedum morganianium, but with it being a trailing plant and so long, I don't think it would work well, although it's nice and soft. I also found this, looks almost like a miniature spineless version of saguaro cactus: http://www.shoalcreeksucculents.com/cgi-bin/webmastercart/WMCshop.pl?action=dbview&id=203560&list=category

There are many nice plants at that store, but hard to find care information for some of them.

I've taken a look at Cactus Heaven. Since I'm just starting to get into this, I don't recognize many Latin names for the cacti and succulents, so I'll have to get a little more reading in before I go ahead and order seeds, since I don't want to have to go back repeatedly every time I learn the name of a new species. :)

Kyle Barker

01-21-05, 08:19 PM

those are pretty neat. thats a good site. keep in mind cacti are cites so plants will cost lots.

i may order some seeds myself from them.

GekkoGeck0

01-21-05, 08:48 PM

Most CITES certificates that I've seen on cacti sites are reasonable prices. It's the phytosanitary certificates that cost a fair amount, especially for smaller seed/plant orders, although I'm not sure if Canada requires phytosanitary certificates for importation.

The site I gave you a link to charges $30 for their certificates, and I doubt that's in Canadian dollars. :(

Tomorrow I'm heading down to a garden centre for pots and soil. Perhaps I'll find something nice I can bring home.

Kyle Barker

01-21-05, 11:46 PM

ya for sure. canada does need them. phyto and cites. or you can wing it and go snail mail...most get through that way.

there is also a cacti club/society in vancouver that hold shows and sales. they may at least know where theres a similar thing near you. can always find tons of good plants for good prices at those types of things.
http://www.cactus-mall.com/dpsv/

GekkoGeck0

01-23-05, 02:26 PM

I went to a garden centre yesterday to pick up cactus soil and pots, and found this little sweet thing:

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/2142Bird_s_eye_view_of_oasis_small.jpg

I'm not exactly sure what plant it is, since they just order assorted succulents and don't get Latin names for them, but I think it might be Echeveria pulvinata. Seems right, anyway.

As for the cacti club, I'm in Winnipeg and haven't been able to find any clubs for cacti or succulents. There's orchid clubs, bonsai clubs, herb clubs, but no cacti clubs. :(

Jordan B

01-23-05, 02:36 PM

This was created by Deven from Terra5Designs. This guy is amazing.
http://www.geckosunlimited.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=197

Jordan

GekkoGeck0

01-23-05, 02:45 PM

It's beautiful, very naturalistic.

Kyle Barker

01-24-05, 01:05 AM

neat little plant. im not up on my succulents...

if thats one of the looks you like, you may also try jade plants. tehre is a nice creeping variety. dont know the name or what, but my grandma has soem growing at teh base of her larger more tree like jade plant (its a larger bonsai). tehy are quite nice. like a less dense more tree like slower growing creeping fig.

GekkoGeck0

01-24-05, 02:01 AM

I'm not up on any plants, never mind succulents. *grins* I brought it home figuring that if it wasn't suitable for his enclosure, I'd just enjoy it as a houseplant. Google really helps.

I did see jade plants on the tray with this plant as well. They're quite nice, although I'm not sure if I'm going to use them inside the enclosure. I'm germinating some cacti now and those are getting top priority. Once they're settled, then comes the fun of picking what else gets to live with them. The little Echeveria was just too cute to pass up, though. :) Looks like a little desert oasis with it being beside the water dish.

Part of my regular maintenance with the tank is soaking the cool side of the tank with 1.5 litres of water when the sand is dry, keeping the cool side wet, and moist sand underneath the dry on the hot side. With plants still in their pots buried under the sand, will that soaking draw up into the pots and give the plants sufficient water? Or should I water the pots themselves at the same time?

pythonmdk

01-24-05, 04:19 PM

some things I've used with beardies are jade, christmas cactus, succulents and snake plants, desert rose is great to but I saw you wern't interested in them.

Kyle Barker

01-24-05, 09:04 PM

depends on the species. it would probably be fine for most common cacti. either way it doesnt really matter....cacti give you LOTS of warnings before they are going to die. lack of water is usually a yellow colouring in my experience.

i would be more worried about too much water actually....but tahts an easy fix. just put in say 1-2" of 1/4"ish sized rock.

GekkoGeck0

01-26-05, 12:16 AM

Well, for now, the only two species in the tank are Echeveria pulvinata and Lophophora seedlings. I'm still deciding on some Astrophytum or Ariocarpus. I was going to go with some Euphorbias but they have a toxic sap.

I think I'm catching the plant bug; I was thinking of picking up a plant stand and some lighting to try my hand at Lithops.

Thanks for all your advice and help, Kyle!

Kyle Barker

01-26-05, 08:52 PM

haha im setting up my old seed shelf again for specialyl for lithops...use it for other but they are the reason. teh loph's are slow! im sure you have read all about them ;) unless you graft em dont expect much fast....lol. mine are still about 3mm wide @ 2months old. but they are ideal for your tank in the fact that they are spineless and dont liek full sun. im assuming you got a humidity somthing over them, so light wont bug them. but if they trun yellow/red/brown then they probably got burnt (i kille da couple that way :()

teh wall mart here has a few what look like astrophytum myriostigma in those little 1" pots. they are about 2" and only 1.69 or somthing....if i didnt need my cafiene fix i woulda gotten a couple.

GekkoGeck0

02-01-05, 04:36 AM

Once I get a nice shelf for myself I think the first thing I'm going to try is Lithops.

Yeah, the Lophophoras are slow, very slow. Three out of the 10 seeds I got sprouted, they grew fast for about 4 days then slowed right down. Very slow compared to the cat grass I planted for my feline; it's grown 5 inches in 4 days!

The setup I have right now for the lophs is 2.5" pots filled with cactus soil and covered with saran wrap wrapped tight with a rubber band around the lip of the pot. I'm hoping the rest will decide to sprout soon, I wanted to have more than three, since they grow so damned slow. I'm not going to graft... I have zero experience with grafting and with only three seedlings, I don't want to risk killing them. Have you grown any lophs to a good size, Kyle, without a graft?

I still have to get my butt down to Walmart, they usually have lots of nice plants for cheap. I can't wait till spring; both Walmart and the garden centres around here should have lots of selection for me to pick from.

Kyle Barker

02-02-05, 12:22 AM

ya spring is gonna break the bank (again) here too...

i havnt grown any to any real size from seed. mine are about 2-3 months now i guess. i am using the smae method you are in fact.

with cacti you can get them to grow uber quick (its all relative...) without grafting. because they are cam plants you can give them 24 hour lights, good water and lower temps (than in teh wild...say around 20c) and they will grow VERY quick, compared to anyway.

couplelinks if interested.
simple----
http://www.scsc.k12.ar.us/2000TexNatHist/TexasNatHist/Members/RayburnL/Default.htm
more confusing----
http://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/e24/24b.htm

i gotta admit i dont fully get it, but havnt really read into much. never tried it wither, but i have seen peoples results, and WOW.

i just picked up a Myrtillocactus geometriza i will be using to graft a loph on to once it goes veg again. i was using some otehr columnar catus (dunno what it is) but the few (i think they were some dinterantus?) grew real slow on them.

ill snap a pic of my lohs once my battery is charged again...im still learnign how to take macros though so may not be great quality.

GekkoGeck0

02-02-05, 11:26 PM

Mine are only 9 days old and are already showing some little tufted hairs on the tops of the seedlings. I take the plastic off once and a while to give them a breath of fresh air and a light spraying to remoisten the soil, since the sand below them tends to wick away some of the moisture in the pots.

I give them no less than 16 hours, and I've given them a few 24 hour days (by accident, actually, I turn the lights off when I go to bed and turn them on when I get up... I stayed up for 24 hours, so the plants got 24 hours.)

That CAM thing is interesting. I don't understand it entirely either, but it seems worth researching, especially if I get impatient. :)

If I were to graft them, could I take them back off again and replant them, once they're a nice, plump size?

I have pictures of my seedlings. I don't even have a macro function on my camera... had to wing it and hoped they'd turn out, which they did. I'll post them when I can cut them down a bit; they're huge right now.

Kyle Barker

02-04-05, 12:32 AM

sweet that'd be great. if you have no programs you can e-mail tehm to me...i got photoshop.

the first few weeks they grow pretty quick, but they will slow down. but keep that lighting up...tjhey will grow MUCH quicker.

also rot is a very real problem once they get a little bigger. few months down the road jsut keep an eye out for that.

and yes that is the idea with grafting. once they reach a desired size, cut them off let them sit in open air for a few days (to scab over) and then jsut place them slightly in dirt. dotn over water. these guys are dry loving doods. they will sprout roots at some point, not hte fastest things.

here are some stocks that i have been recomded for cactus grafts.
Pereskiopsis***
Myrtillocactus**
Rhipsali
Quiabent

heres a couple links of grafting.
http://www.living-rocks.com/pereskiopsis.htm

neat but very difficult- http://www.lapshin.org/cultivar/N12/articl-e.htm

there are a few more but because of the nature of the sites i wont post them here (as im sure you have read about with your lophs). if you want them pm me.

also check out mr smiths yahoo gallery. this guy is an authority on cacti! although i havnt read his books yet :(
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MSSphotography

and is very nice and helpfull as well :)

GekkoGeck0

02-04-05, 02:52 AM

Nope, I've got quite a few image programs, I'm just lazy. :)

I'm keeping the lighting going as much as possible. Later, when they're older, I'll go over to a more 'normal' lighting schedule. Be nice if I had a timer, but these lights say not to use a timer with them. :(

I have seen some pictures of people grafting Lophs to Pereskiopsis... I'd be afraid to do it, they're so tiny.

Yeah, I understand the nature of those sites. Hard to find any other information about them specifically without wandering into that sort of territory, anyway.

Here's the little ones. I tried to make a sort of crappy collage to cut down on multiple images.
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/2142Loph_collage_for_web.jpg

Kyle Barker

02-05-05, 01:18 AM

looking good! with your lighting they will pass mine in no time. the bigger one is about 3 months...the rest are about 2-3 weeks apart i guess. i use this pot to show age difference.

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/464loph-med.jpg

GekkoGeck0

02-05-05, 07:08 AM

Those are much bigger than mine! What kind of lighting are you using for yours? Right now, mine are about 3 inches away from the light; I built a little sand mound for them to sit on top of so they don't etiolate.

Took some new pics tonight, too:

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/2142Day_12_Loph_collage_for_web.jpg

They're in 2.5" pots, for reference.

My webfooted gecko seems to be really enjoying having them in his enclosure. More often than not, he's hiding among the pots instead of using his hidebox!

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/2142Petri_among_the_pots.jpg

Kyle Barker

02-05-05, 03:03 PM

thats the exact same setup as mine! same size pots even. i only use sand though. i took my ceran wrap off as they were getting way too wet. but that goes with age i think....or maybe i just messed it up a bit....but they are doing good.

my lighting is pathetic! 1 18" and one compact flouro lol!!!

i got fed up growing them in a 10 gal aquarium so i put together a make shift light holder(my plant shelf is too big for my current space). next pay day i will be getting 2 dual 24" flouros for it. lots fo other plants under as well...lookjs pretty funny with only 1 18" currently hooked up. they jsut gotta wait a week :) at least with plants we can wait.

GekkoGeck0

02-06-05, 03:08 AM

I actually wanted smaller pots, but the garden centre only had those.

Most of the stuff I've been reading says to poke holes in the saran wrap and slowly let them get used to the drier air... if yours are doing good, though, perhaps they were ready for it anyway.

I only have two compact flouros! I don't know if my lighting is much better than yours. :)

I'm wondering myself where I'm going to put my plant shelf, when I get one. My apartment is already packed with furniture, I don't have much free space near the walls at all. Perhaps when we get rid of our couch I'll have some space and I can get some Lithops seeds.

I've been taking a look at mesembs... I'm really starting to like the unusual look of some of them and I think they'd look great in the vivarium, not to mention they're more naturalistic, considering a fair amount of them hail from South Africa and Namibia.

You said before that Lithops require a fair amount of light. What do you suggest, as in what type of fixtures and bulbs?

Kyle Barker

02-06-05, 02:09 PM

im unfamiliar with mesembs...i googled it and they look so much like lithops. how closely are they related?

lithops needs strong light. direct sun, hps, metal halide, or perhaps a bunch of flouros. i would think a few better flouros would work ok, but i havnt tried... once i get those 24" fixtures i wil be planting some lithops as my lighting aint gnne get any ebtter any time soon....or i could put a couple in my day gecko cage where tehres good uv lighting....i got a bunch of pots stacked in that sucker for that very reason :D

i was gonna poke holes but when they appear to be on the way to rot i just took teh whole thing off :( they are recovering now and ill put it back on more than liekly...with holes.

GekkoGeck0

02-06-05, 11:17 PM

Mesembs and Lithops are both part of the family Aizoaceae.

Here's a link to get a better idea of the family:

http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plants/Aizoaceae/Aizoaceae.html

I don't know if I'd want to invest in HPS or MH, that's getting sort of extreme. I wonder exactly how many flouros you'd end up needing...?

Your lophs were rotting? Did you regularly water the soil, or did you just leave them alone? I know they're rather prone to root rot and fungi attacks... hopefully I'll avoid both of those, even with me re-watering the soil every few days.

What species of Lithops have you grown before? I'm looking at every one that I can, trying to decide what I like best and what would work aesthetically in the vivarium.

Kyle Barker

02-06-05, 11:41 PM

ive only grown L. bella before....but there are so many pretty species. i could literally spend hundreds on this one genus if i had less control. its one of my favourites. oddly teh spineless ground cover and the spiney columnar cacti are my faves....im nto a fan at all of those globe and fat columned types.

ya i agreed that hps/mh is extreme if thats teh only purpouse. luckily i got to borrow a friends last year for mine during teh winter and i put them outside in the summer. i unfortunatly didnt have access to a good lighting (all was used in cages) and honestly i jsut slacked off from my plants. so tehy died.

i have seen tehm grown under a few 4' flouros so i wouldnt think youd need much. they may even grow under your setup if they were put close to the light...would jsut need to experiment. most species are rather inexpensive especially for seeds. ive even seen some at places liek wal mart every now and then. although i knwo nothing about identifying them.

i also bought some seeds of Conophytum uvaeforme a few weeks ago. tehy would also probably be an excellent plant for your needs. tehy have the same sora look to them. also got Dinteranthus puberulus which would also probably fit your needs (spineless...i think).

GekkoGeck0

02-13-05, 05:43 AM

Conophytum uvaeforme and Dinteranthus puberulus are both mesembs. Awesome plants, aren't they? I've been all over Google the past week looking for information and seed sources for mesembs. What's frustrating is finding pictures of plants that look interesting, but not having a Latin name. That's been the case with many of the Lithops I've looked at. Almost every time I find one that I really like, no Latin name. Just Lithops sp. if I'm lucky.

What's on my list right now for possible selections is Aloinopsis schoonesii, Argyroderma delaetii, Cheiridopsis vanbredi, Conophytum braunsii, Conophytum littlewoodii, Conophytum lydiae, Conophytum pellucidium ssp. cupreatum, Dinteranthus pole-evansii, Dinteranthus puberulus, Frithia pulchra, Frithia pulchra v. minor, Pleiospilos bolusii, and Pleiospilos nelii.

The tricky part is finding seeds, since a lot of the nurseries offering cuttings or rooted plants don't even offer phytosanitary and CITES certificates for sale, and I'm not about to lose them to customs, not to mention that growing something from seed is a lot more rewarding.

Where did you get your Conophytum and Dinteranthus seeds? I'm trying to obtain them as close to home as possible.

I've been trying to find nice planters so I can put some plants closer to the light and have a decorative aspect to the planters in the tank, but no one sells anything interesting. Even finding nice pots is hard, at least on the internet. I don't have a car, so running around the city to different garden places and Walmart and such is a bit of a pain in the butt.

My lophs are doing really well now, too. Getting plumper by the day, and they're a lovely dark green colour, really healthy looking. Do you use a fertilizer when watering your lophs? I was wondering if giving them a tiny bit of food would help them along, not that they're exactly being slow, I just want them to be nice and happy and healthy. :)

I raised them closer to the lights for a little more warmth today. Sort of difficult to do, since I couldn't really find much around the house that I could put them onto to raise them up that was waterproof, so I just made a giant rectangular mountain of wet sand for them to sit on top of. Works rather well. Gave them a little more water, too. They plumped right up after today's watering for some reason. Perhaps they were thirsty.

My gecko is really enjoying having the pots around. I think he was bored with not having much in the tank. He used to pace back and forth at night at the back of the tank; since I put the pots in, he comes out now just to drink and do some nightly digging. No more pacing.