Setting up a day gecko planted terrarium: the egg was laid, its a dud 11/29/08

[@marko@]

ok, so im setting up a terrarium for a gold dust day gecko (phelsuma laticauda). it will be in an 18x18x18 exo terra. substrate will be coconut fibers with liquid nutrients added to it (and a drainage layer). the background will also be coconut fiber. i have everything ut a UV light and basking lamp (will get this weekend) and the tank and stand (being shipped). i hope to start setting up the hardscape and equipment this weekend. planting will be done hopefully tuesday or wednesday, but i will wait until i have the tank to order the plants.

[@marko@]

so i got the stand and terrarium. the stand was a witch with a capital b to set up. the holes werent drilled right for the screws to fit through the wood and the other thing (weather it be the door handle, or the magnet for the door or the other wooden plank). it will definately hold, but it was a workout forcing the screws in.
it looks good though.

next i set up the drainage layer. pretty easy. then came the coco-fiber. even when wet in an improvised bucket, it was hard to tear up and get out. the tips of my fingers are sore. i did it though. the background was easy. just cut the coco fiber to size and put it in, didnt even need glue (the wood holds it in place).

i will have the picks of this whole process up by tomorrow.

[@marko@]

ok i got some pics of the terrarium setup:

[confuted]

What does the coco fiber do?

[clwatkins10]

It just serves as bedding, or, essentially dirt

[confuted]

Why not use dirt? And what do the liquid nutrients do?

[clwatkins10]

The ferts help the plants. Dirt can have all kinds of nasties in it

[@marko@]

yeah, if i use potting soil, some of the fertz in that arent good for animals and the perlite (little white balls) is bad for most animals since they try to eat it. and if i dig up some dirt, i dont know what im getting with it. plus im in NJ, everyone has a garden, but its the most densely populated state, so its all gardens and not too many large areas of untouched nature. i would have a big chance of getting pesticides in the tank, and that would be really bad.

so i used coconut fiber and added animal-safe fertilizer (needed to since coconut fiber is inert, its nearly pure cellulose).

[@marko@]

i have plants!

[will5]

I like it a lot. Keep up the good work.

[@marko@]

thanks.
i will. i still have a vine to go in and an anubias batari nana petite (petite nanas are the ones smaller then petite bataris). i might get a few other additional plants too. plus it will look much better once the moss grows in and maybe starts to spread onto the wood. and once my ferns get large ill get some spores that will make new ferns all over the place.

[Torin]

Originally Posted by @marko@

so i used coconut fiber and added animal-safe fertilizer (needed to since coconut fiber is inert, its nearly pure cellulose).

No wonder my plants have never grown in it.lol I need to redo some terrariums now.

[@marko@]

im guessing you didnt add any fertz?
yeah, that will do it. i used the dyana grow from blackjungle.com. its supposed to be good (you dont need a lot of fertz though, the rainforests have very little nutrients, so you dont want to add too much or the plants will get nitrate posioning and such). just use as prescribed.
also, you should water with distilled/RO water. especially the airplants. they dont like having a lot of minerals in the water.

[@marko@]

i added a tropical vine a while ago. its budding new stems.
i also added some moss, and the t. ionanatha is getting pink tips on its leaves. the t. capita peach is growing roots (i guess that means its happy). i added a nana petite. oh, and each of my ferns is growing a new leaf. here are the pics:

[clwatkins10]

Nice petite! How is the humidity in that tank? I would be worried about it drying out