Bioactive Terrarium: Plans and Alternatives

The aesthetic of my main project will be colorful, bold, and nature oriented. I am not sure what to call the aesthetic, but it draws heavily on my love of natural light, bright colors, and natural elements like reptiles and plants. 

I will be creating a planted terrarium with a self-sustaining ecosystem intended for two chameleon geckos (Eurydactylodes Agricolae). These terrariums, called bioactive terrariums, at their foundation consist of a substrate mix, live plants, insects such as springtails and isopods, and the inhabitant of the terrarium. The insects, colloquially known as the CUC (“clean-up crew”), eat dead leaves and most notably the inhabitant’s waste to “clean” the enclosure. This creates a self sustaining environment that needs little to no cleaning. 

Many people choose to create a three dimensional background for plants to grow up, the animal to utilize, and to create a more naturalistic look and feel to the enclosure. This is usually created by applying spray foam insulation to the inside walls of the enclosure, letting it dry, carving down the shiny surface of the foam, applying silicone, and then covering the silicone with coco fiber. 

Screenshot a video from the Youtube channel: Louise Street Studio

This is a very reliable method, but it is extremely time intensive and tedious. I have also used a method where Gorilla Glue is applied, and then damp coco-fiber is applied directly on top. Since Gorilla Glue is the same material as spray foam insulation, just in a liquid form, it skips the carving step and still “puffs” up when in contact with water. This creates a three dimensional background as well, just with less control over the shape of the background. 

Three planted enclosures I have made.

These are some process pictures of previous backgrounds that I have done of more “rocky” environments. 

Here is a sketch of my plan for the terrarium. 

I already have a terrarium with a built in background that someone else made, so I will be removing that background and building a new one. I will need spray foam or Gorilla Glue, coco-fiber, and planters for the background. I will need to get or make a substrate mix with peat moss, topsoil, playsand, coco-fiber, and other natural additives, and start rooting some plant cuttings from now so they will be ready to plant. I want to invest in a few plant species that I don’t currently have that make for a good “background-” they are vining plants and will easily cover the 3D background. I also want to learn how to make a moss slurry to get moss to grow on the background. I already have colonies of springtails and isopods that I will be putting in the enclosure once it is well established. I am aiming to finish the enclosure in the next few weeks so it has ample time to grow in. 

Two “opposite” aesthetics would be minimalist and a city aesthetic. Here are some sketches of what my terrarium would look like in those aesthetics.