Substrate for a natural vivarium

[Greg West]

What do most people use as their substrate for a naturalistic vivarium? I am thinking of setting one up with just plants for now and want to know what works best for the substrate? I am going to have a land and a water area? Any websites to go to to get a better idea of setting up a self sustaining low maintenance vivarium?

Thanks

Greg West

[Kyle Barker]

I use eco-earth. It doesnt mold very easily:) You need to add the proper fertilizers though. Personally i only use natural fertilizers. I also add earthworms (if adding earth worms you will need some real soil, because thats what they eat), sow/pill bugs and other decomposers.

[Dilshad]

This is assuming you want a woodland or rainforest viv:

I use an inch and half to two inches of LECA (Light Expanded Clay Aggregate) as my bottom drainage layer. This is lighter than gravel and has more surface area. It's a hydroponic growing medium and as such, available at hydroponic garden centres.

Over top of that I would lay a fine nylon or fibreglass mesh. If your tank is drilled all the better, otherwise, you can install a drain by taking a section of PVC pipe about two to four inches in diameter...you'll want a cap for it, it's easy enough to find the parts at Home Depot...drill multiple small holes in the sides, set it within the LECA, leaving the centre clear. Now you can lift the cap and siphon excess water out easily...I'll be posting a short series of pics on constructing this drain as soon as I get more materials, so forgive me if this doesn't come across well in print.

For substrate, you can use two to four inches of any mix you want based on your research and preference, but a couple of options:

1. Unmilled sphagnum moss. Plants can grow directly in this and in some instances the dormant moss spores will sprout.

2. Ground coconut fibre, although on its' own it gets quite sodden, so I would cover it in a layer of leaf litter, which I would use anyway, or a thin layer of soil.

I notice Kyle likes to use organic fertilizers...Mark and I do not, for reasons already cited, but to each his own.

Pillbugs are great decomposers, I have found small earthworms in my tanks from time to time, but I've heard that the castings left on the surface by worms will kill delicate mosses.

[Greg West]

Where do you get the unmilled sphagnum moss and / or the ground coconut fibre? Any other ideas

Thanks

Greg West

[Kyle Barker]

Just to clarify i add these to a seperate tank and let them do their thing for a while, then take all of them out and add the mix into the cage where the frogs will be kept. this takes a LONG time, so Dilshad please can you share with me some safe fertilizers for frog cages, getting kinda tired of waiting for them to finish. Also coconut husk can be purchased online, garden stores,some hardware stores, and some pet stores.

Kyle