Marko's day gecko planted terrarium: about to tear down

[ilovetoads2]

HI, New to this forum...saw a pic of this tank many months ago and had saved it to my pc...searched for ages to find it again!

This tank is wonderful. I love how you went away from using bamboo. I am purchasing a pair of Phelsuma Quads in the new year. Few questions for ya if you dont mind...

What wood is that? I see there are two different kinds. Also. How do you fix your basking light? I plan to use an exo terra 45x60 high and keep Red eyed tree frogs at the moment...so can do humidity and stuff. They are really fragile though, how are these guys? Is it worth doing the full set up before quarantine or should I set up a basic quarantine and make sure they are healthy before going the whole hog (as I recommend with red eyes due to high mortality rates in newly aquired frogs).

THanks guys.

[BMueller777]

Can those Geckos swim? Like could they be in a half full aquarium?

Thanks

[@marko@]

sorry for the lack of response or update guys.

Originally Posted by ilovetoads2

HI, New to this forum...saw a pic of this tank many months ago and had saved it to my pc...searched for ages to find it again!

This tank is wonderful. I love how you went away from using bamboo. I am purchasing a pair of Phelsuma Quads in the new year. Few questions for ya if you dont mind...

What wood is that? I see there are two different kinds. Also. How do you fix your basking light? I plan to use an exo terra 45x60 high and keep Red eyed tree frogs at the moment...so can do humidity and stuff. They are really fragile though, how are these guys? Is it worth doing the full set up before quarantine or should I set up a basic quarantine and make sure they are healthy before going the whole hog (as I recommend with red eyes due to high mortality rates in newly aquired frogs).

THanks guys.

thanks for the great compliments!

the wood is ghost wood, from blackjungle.com
i didnt fix the light. i just bough a puck light from HomeDepot and placed it on the screen where i wanted it.
most phelsuma sp. (including p. l. laticauda) are pretty fragile. they are jumpy and dont like being handled. also, they have thin skin which could tear off if you are too rough. and like all geckos, they drop their tails when threatened.
a quarantine is only to protect other animals you already have. if the day geckos are going to be kept in their own cage, quarantine is pointless. the only reason to quarantine would be if you get the male and female from separate vendors. then you might want to quarantine in case one is infected with something. it would be the safest course of action, but i personally wouldnt bother in that case. phelsuma generally do well if they survive the shipping, the only reason it might die on you if it is wild caught and you didnt have it checked for parasites. ive had 5 geckos shipped (including both to me and from me) and all have survived it to my knowledge.

Originally Posted by BMueller777

Can those Geckos swim? Like could they be in a half full aquarium?

Thanks

no, phelsuma cannot swim well, and hatchlings often drown if given ordinary water bowls. putting them in a paludarium or riparium would not be a good idea.


Updates:
so a lot happened in the past 10 monthes. i added the following plants: Neoregelia ampullacea 'midget', Neoregelia lilliputiana x fireball, Neoregelia 'red waif', Ruellia brittoniana, Bacopa madagascariensis, Aclepias 'silky gold', and Chlorophytum comosum (most likely temporary). i also added an unidentified tillandsia sp, and ditched the heart fern (kinda miss it though, should i get another one?).
the N. lilliputiana x fireball hybrid is doing the best out of my new plants. in a few monthes its already put out a runner and made a new plant that is just starting to root. the N. ampullacea 'midget' has grown 3 new leaves since i got it. the new leaves are larger then the old growth. im not sure if this is because it has more nutrients or less light. maybe both. my t. abdita is doing phenominally. it has grown tremendously. all its leaves are much larger and it has grown at least 10 new leaves since i first got it. and it attached to the wood its on. im considering inducing a bloom. any opinions?

Pictures:

[zoragen]

Wow - it's beautiful!!

I've had the best time following your tank

[@marko@]

thanks
its much easier than aquariums, IMO. no need to worry about CO2 and dosing fertz correctly, and algae...

[jerrytheplater]

Nice vivarium Marko. It looks like UG at the bottom. Have you ever tried any Cryptocoryne's emersed in there?

[@marko@]

thanks.
no, thats moss on the bottom. there are like 5 kinds of moss all mixed together on the floor.

nope, i think they would dry out. the humidity is 65%-80%, which was capable of drying out my A. nana petite. fortunately i got into one of my tanks before the rhizome dried out, but all the leaves were dead.
its not a riparium, its a true terrarium, meant to simulate a rainforest, not a river-side.

[Gatekeeper]

Originally Posted by @marko@

thanks.
nope, i think they would dry out. the humidity is 65%-80%, which was capable of drying out my A. nana petite. fortunately i got into one of my tanks before the rhizome dried out, but all the leaves were dead.
its not a riparium, its a true terrarium, meant to simulate a rainforest, not a river-side.

They would be fine. You don't need much humditiy to maintain cryptocoryne emersed, contrary to anubias.

Give it a try!

[@marko@]

oh, i always just assumed...
well thanks.
ill definately try putting a crypt in there and see what happens.

[F22]

cool tank, its nice to see other gecko enthusiasts...

[@marko@]

so i got a few new tillandsias and things are growing nicely.





and guess what? my N. lilliputiana is blooming! you can just see the first flower bud beginning to open.


i also have a new hatchling

[@marko@]

the first neoregelia flower opened, and i can see 2 that will likely open tomorrow. and now i can say with absolute confidence that the plant is indeed N. lilliputiana. unfortunately, this bloom may be the end of this plant, as it did try growing a runner and it dried up and died (idk why) so if it doesnt make pups toward the end of the bloom, ill have to buy a new one.
flower:

[legomaniac89]

Sweet bloom! I love bromes, but it kinda sucks that a lot of them die right after flowering. Got any recent pics of the parent geckos?

[@marko@]

well, im off to college in a couple monthes, and will be traveling for the summer, so i need to get rid of the whole setup. if anyone here is interested in any of the plants, or geckos, please let me know.