GALs bioactive enclosure

[garyshelly]

Hi All,

I have had my snails for about a year now and they are almost ready for a new home. I was looking into different options and found a picture on google images with GALs, bumblebee millipedes and isopods eating from the same cucumber. I have linked the picture. imgur.com/gallery/VMTVBkn

I was wondering if this was really possible? do the isopods eat other inverts poo? and what about snail eggs? Mine lay about every 2 months so if I have to do a complete substrate change ever couple of month, doesn't seem worth it. 

I know some people see a bioactive enclosure to be a pretty plant garden, I will not be putting anything that can be eaten. I just want to find out whether it  had been done successfully before

thanks in advance

G+S

[witchpig]

I have had a bioactive enclosure with my Cepaea for a while now. It's fantastic! You don't need to change the soil at all, because all waste is broken down by the isopods and springtails. It's vital to include a drainage layer in order for this to work. That could be gravel or expanded clay balls, covered by window screen mesh or permeable landscaping fabric. The fabric allows water to pass down into the drainage layer but not substrate.

[nikola]

Jan 21, 2020 20:01:07 GMT witchpig said:

I have had a bioactive enclosure with my Cepaea for a while now. It's fantastic! You don't need to change the soil at all, because all waste is broken down by the isopods and springtails. It's vital to include a drainage layer in order for this to work. That could be gravel or expanded clay balls, covered by window screen mesh or permeable landscaping fabric. The fabric allows water to pass down into the drainage layer but not substrate.

Hi! I'm interested in starting a new bioactive tank as I saw it at my relatives house with all the isopods and even growing grass and millets. But i'm kinda concerned, won't my snail get mites or any outiside parasites? I don't really know how this works so.. is there a way to prvent this? Also, do i just go outside to dig some soil and then put it in a tank hoping there are usefull little insects inside or do I buy them/catch them separately? Sorry, i hope my questions weren't to stupid, I've kept my snails only on the coconut substrate for 2 years now and my relatives did just dig up the dirt with everything in it but the difference is I like to handle my snails and let them cralw on my arms so I want them to be healthy. 

[daniele]

i'd like to have some details abt that too! let's hope someone will reply!

[witchpig]

Making a substrate mix is a good idea. SerpaDesign on youtube has a lot of great info on bioactive enclosures. To make a good substrate mix, combine coco coir, sphagnum moss, orchid bark, charcoal, perhaps a little sand, and (if you want to, it's a good idea) organic compost. I've used soil from my garden and never had a mite problem because I baked the soil in the oven at a lowish temp for a couple of hours. You can get isopods from pet shops that have reptiles, but if you find them outside, those can be viable. It's a little risky to take isopods from outside as they may have parasites, so if you have non-native snails maybe just use isopods from the shops.
In summary, if you have native snails, using outside soil is fine, but if you have non-native snails they may be more sensitive to parasites from wild bugs. I've never had a problem with wild isopods, so it's really up to your best judgement.

If you bake your outdoor soil you will kill any bugs in it, so you'll have to collect some separately.