New 55

[Noluk]

I'm setting up a 55 for my Leo and it will be bio active as I grow cacti and succulents. The base layer of substrate is meduium sized pebble for drainage, then soil, then sand and pea pebbles for the top layer. This will not only be a heavy tank but having to uproot plants is a drag. I was thinking of putting my heat pad on piece of floor tile between the first layer and the soil. There is little chance of the pad ever getting wet as in bulb water my plants. I'll also have Blue Death Feigning Beetles in with her/him dunno yet its still pretty young. Hoping its female and I can add another down the road or maybe add one now and hope for the best. I run 4 T5 grow bulbs that I can regulate the temp and living in Arizona humidity isnt a problem. My tank runs a between 30 -40.

 

[acpart]

I'd worry a little about the pea pebbles due to the possibility of them being swallowed. I had a gecko with a small dish of pebbles and she broke her jaw chomping down on it. You could experiment to see about heat conductivity if you install the heat element on the outside bottom of the enclosure. I'd recommend ZooMed heat cable (at least the 25' size, maybe the next one up) so you can move it around without having to commit to sticking it somewhere. Here are some Gecko Time articles about a bioactive leopard gecko enclosure. The person who wrote them does keep the beetles as well. If you do a search of the forums here, you may find some of her posts:

Holistic Design in Bioactive Vivariums: Leopard Geckos, Part 1 - Gecko Time

All bioactive enclosures have the same basic requirements, but the needs of your main inhabitant dictate the ways in which you can support bioactivity. Many people have claimed it impossible to create a bioactive desert terrarium, but let’s not forget that life persists all over the earth, even...

www.geckotime.com

Holistic Design in Bioactive Vivariums: Leopard Geckos, Part 2 - Gecko Time

This is the fourth article in this series and part 2 of leopard geckos. Gecko Time readers might recognize this enclosure from a previous leopard gecko bioactive article. What happened? Superworms! Zophobas morio overpopulated and became a smelly nuisance, and the worms escaped through gaps...

www.geckotime.com

Creating a Bioactive Leopard Gecko Setup - Gecko Time

Anyone involved in the online leopard gecko community can recite the ideal leopard gecko setup: paper towel or tile, belly heat controlled with a thermostat, a dry hide, a humid hide, and a water dish. This simple setup works, and it has saved the lives of many leopard geckos previously kept in...

www.geckotime.com

Aliza

 

[Noluk]

I was planning on cable and zip tieing it to the tiles. That will give me the ability to manipulate positioning. I could go the next size up to river rock maybe. Must meditate on these possibilities.

 

[acpart]

Enjoy your planning!

Aliza