How To Build A Bio Active Leopard Gecko or Crested Gecko Tank! 🌺 

I tried to get my Leo to hit the like button but she couldn’t she just scratched my screen so I pressed it 😂

Great video, I especially like the picture depiction of the different vivarium layers.

Thanks for the help it took me forever but now I have a pet lepard gecko

Very helpful!! 👏🏼👏🏼

Hello I have a story about one of my leopard geckos: last July my leopard gecko escaped its terrarium and was lost I was devestated and upset in the morning my dad bought me a new gecko so I wouldn't be upset 8 months later I found the lost gecko he was very malnourished me and my mum brought the gecko to the vet and we got the gecko some medicine we also got the gecko a new terrarium so the gecko wouldn't be housed with the other gecko the vet was amazed the gecko survived that long. The reason I shared the story is because I want to know how u can check my gecko for parasites. I hope you read my comment I'm a big fan of your channel and I love your videos

I’m building one of these for my leopard gecko this summer and I’m so glad you made a video

Hey there, thought I'd give u a quick update in Eli. i wanted to say thank you, I'm picking Eli up more confidently now and we are building more trust with each other thanks to your advice. he trusted me enough to lick some calcium powder off my finger, thank you so much for your videos and advice and tips. it's thanks to you im learning how to propally look after my gecko and your videos helped me research everything I know and new info I'm gonna know about being the perfect parent to my baby Eli so thank you and keep up the amazing videos.

you READ my mind!! ive been thinking of going bioactive but could barely find any good information! love u xx

I love guides that show not only what to do, but what can go wrong and how you overcome these problems. This is why I love your guides so much, they're not just black and white :)

Glad to know you are helping more people get into bios I have had one for my Crestie for over 2 years and it is doing great

thank you very much!!! when my crestie gets older i hope to relocate him into a bioactive enclosure. but im sooo nervous!!!! im scared its going to be messed up in the making stage and then you cant turn back because youve added foam and what not. but thanks for the advise ill be putting it to good use!!!

I've used organic soil for years with no problems. And the plants thrive like crazy. And worm castings and charcoal and you can't go wrong

I've been watching so many videos on how to set up a bioactive setpu for my leo, John B, and this is THE best video with the most information and best visual, with the steps and recommendations for where and what to get along the build of the bioactive tank. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!

I'm currently setting up a crested gecko bioactive tank and your advice and links are super helpful, thank you so much :)

I'm currently cyling my paludarium that has a similar substrate build and have been using outdoor weed barrier fabric as the separator. Durable and porous enough to drain!

thank you! Hoping to start a bioactive setup for my leo tomorrow. you've been a great help!

Dear Leopard Gecko, well done! Love the little diagrams of each step. I have been replying to leopard gecko care videos for some time now. Then I finally decided it was time for me to step up my leopard gecko husbandry, so I just ordered supplies to do a bio-active setup. Know why? Because one day I took one of my LG's to an outdoor box turtle enclosure and let it run around. After a few minutes, it burrowed into the soil and under a piece of cork. Yes, leopard geckos burrow! News to me. And here I have been keeping them on non-soil substrates that do not allow burrowing. Time to change. Bio-active just makes so much sense.

When you finally finish the leo bio-active sub and have it running for a few weeks will you give us an update on how well the cleanup crew is working in arid conditions? Also, any word on if Earthmix Arid will ever come to the US?

good timing! i'm going to a reptile expo tomorrow, hoping to get my crested geckos their adult enclosures and really want to go bioactive as i work at a nursery selling hundreds of plants, including lots of "houseplants"

Your videos are a huge help. I love your channel!

thank you so much for this video! after i got a leopard, i decided to get a crestie as well and i want a bioaktive tank for it. This video helped me sooo much

I love your channel and the good info you share with us. 👍

Great content and so helpful. Now I am contemplating redoing my leo's tank.

I love your videos! They help so much!!!

I am very new to leopard gecko keeping. I am 13 and I got my first gecko a few months ago. I started off giving not the best care 😳. I found your channel and you helped me so much. I just ordered pure calcium and multivitamins. I am now gut loading my mealworms. I also got eco earth, and for my birthday i will be getting more hides. I am honestly so grateful I found your channel because you are helping me learn more and more about my little gecko and i am becoming a better owner. I am continuing to research on feeding, hides and temperature. I will most likely buy a thermostat soon if you have any recommendations for cheaper places i can buy one please let me know. My gecko is currently in a ten gallon with a heat mat and two hides. (Im getting better ones in the future. Currently i have a moist and warm and will be getting a cool one asap. I have paper towel as substrate and its temporary and i have a reptile carpet but i cleaned the tank a few days ago. I love my gecko so much and i want him to have an awesome life. I will continue binging your videos and learning more and more to give my gecko and awesome life. I subscribed and turned on notifications. Tysm for your help 😃👍🏻😆

Great video really helpful thanks ! The photo description was really helpful

I was the first like and comment 😭❤️

I wish I had tanks like yours, mine is really bad... great vid though!

Thank this was so helpful especially the back I wanted to stick something on the back but I wasn’t sure what to use but this video has really helped me out 😀

excellent just set it up following your instructions minus backing the tank looks pretty awesome tbh

You teach me how to keep buddy healthy! Your amazing!

Very detailed and good diagrams. Thanks

Ty! My gecko is still pretty young, (I suspect under a month or a little over) and I’m setting up a bio active setup soon :)

Hi I love geckos you are the best RU-vidr ever you helped my mum like Leo’s you are the BEST

OMG,this is so helpful i always wanted to change my leos tank to a bio active

This is going to help me out quite a bit, want to try a natural setup for Toaki's upgrade

Thanks i now have a amazing terraraim for my crested gecko named gooby

Thank you so much for this video! I was on the fence about going bioactive, because despite really wanting to, I was having a lot of trouble researching. This helps a ton, and I can't wait!

This video was a great help, thank you! ❤

Love your channel!!! I got three leopard geckos after watching you Rocky Mathias and Lemon even watch with me lol.

I love watching your video with both of my crested geckos 😂 idk why

What can I add to eco earth to make it work? I literally bought it yesterday because not a single of the x amount of videos I watched mentioned this. Now I have it and have to make it work. Edit Ok I'm going to add this in case anyone else has the same issue and may find it helpful. I've done some research and what I'm going to do is make my own fertilizer essentially. I'll be making a mix of eggshells I will grind in a mortar, banana peels, tea leaves, salad/veggie/fruit scraps (ground as small as I can get them), coffee grounds, a bit of baking powder (recipe said 1 tsp), 3 tsp molasses, 3 tbsp hydrogen peroxide. That should fix this issue. If needed I can always go in and add more powderized eggshells/coffee grounds etc (god knows we have a shitload of coffee grounds in this house) to keep the nutrients up for the plants. I'm only growing a few succulents since it's a leo gecko enclosure so it shouldn't be too hard to upkeep as they don't need as many nutrients as a lot of other plants. I figured I'd leave my entire monologue up in case it may help someone. What I should also probably add for context is that I am really taking my time with this bioactive enclosure setup. I am slowly getting everything together and will first get my layers/substrate sorted, add my plants and then let them settle in and get established, then add the cleanup crew which I'll have to provide nourishment for and get them well established, in the meantime I'll be making my decor and airing everything out to the max and then decorate and get all the rest ready, have a final look over it all and see if it's just perfect (biome-/lighting-(yes I'll be adding UV)/temp-/decor-/general setup wise) and only THEN am I getting the leopard gecko from a local breeder. I really don't want anything to go wrong so I don't mind taking a couple more weeks on this, I've waited 5+ years to get a leo gecko, what's a few more weeks... plus getting everything ready is half the fun imo

Amazing video I made a in ground hide with a balloon and it turned out amazing you should try it

what species of isopods and springtails do you use?

hello!!! i have led strip lights like the kind you would put in your room or something and i was wondering this would give enough light for the plants? thank you!

Thanks so much for this! Definitely gave me some confidence to jump into a bioactive setup once I have the funds :) May I ask how often you have to do a proper clean of the tank?

Awesome! Very Helpful.

Another great vid! Love your channel:3

This is such a motivating video !!

Thank you, i will now try a natural tank for my leopard gecko😁

Where do you get your rock? Great video as well 🙌

I am lucky with eco earth. I have a spider plant in it and it is still growing. I don’t know what I am doing but whatever it is it is keeping it alive

Can you do another one of those gecko setup videos? Where you check their geckos setup. Also great video by the way!

PLEASE HELP! where do you buy arcadia earth mix? i looked on the website and i’m not seeing a “add to cart” option.

quick question : do i NEED to add the little bugs to let the plants grow?? i really kinda hate bugs haha

hi! this was so helpful, but where would you put the heat mat with this set up? im getting my leopard gecko next week so i really want to be prepared :)

I would also suggest alternatively to actually add the isopods early to allow them to reproduce before you add your gecko. You can easily feed them with fish food to help them grow and populate to get established before the dragon enters 🙂

I came as soon as I heard- Edit: I didn't know Eco Earth coconut fiber doesn't suppose plant growth? I was planning on using that for my future leopard gecko bioactive encloser.. dang.

Usually I've seen people who have the cork backgrounds use some sort of water proof screw to attach any branches logs etc coming out of it.

Thanks! I think I’m gonna make my gecko’s tank way more natural looking, even though it’s already natural ish

Where do you get the rocks for your background and am I able to get them in Canada?

Looking at getting a Leo! I want to do a bio set up. What lights are required for the gecko and the plants? Is a Arcadia jungle dawn light enough?

Hi :) IMPORTANT QUESTION: I have a cresty in a bioactive 10 Gallon Tank but it’s not tall enough for him to climb at all. My big question that I want to know is would you recommend me changing all of the current media (coco husk and moss) to brand new media and buying all new mold eating bugs and such.. and the drainage balls for the bottom of the tank too. OR am I able to keep the current stuff and plants and just place them into the new tank??? I will probly forsure replace the drainage balls but the coco husk and moss is what I’m wondering. I’ve had them in there for a year now.

Damn! I just bought my leopard gecko a big 67 gallon tank and followed another video that said mixing dry play sand and cocoa fiber together was fine (one of Wickens Reptile videos from a couple years ago). I'll have to add the drainage, mat layer, and better substrate. Is play and fine to mix?

Is there any chance that the isopods could harm the gecko

hi I recently made a bioactive set up but i was wondering if you had any issues with the expanding foam pulling away from the glass and shrinking??? your videos have been a fantastic help in guiding me to build a bioactive set up and have unfortunately hit a hurdle after completion and wondered if you had come across this problem or if it was just me

I used eco earth and sand mixture and it worked amazing and is a lot cheaper

Great video! More guineapig videos please 😊😊

Cool video!

Use pond underlay for your barrier

Are clean up crew necessary? Would it still work if I am just spot cleaning

Hey! Is it okay to have my leopard gecko with a green terrarium vs a brown!? I've always used brown and they only had green at the store! Would that be okay??

I had a bioactive tank a while ago with eco earth, I used some bamboo as the only plants though and bamboo could probably live in your toilet. If I was going to remake it I would definitely do it properly though.

Where do I put the heat mat then? Do I still need one?

Hello! Hope everyone's having a lovely day. So lighting has been the biggest issue for me. I don't know if I'm bad at researching or what but I can never get good recommendations for the best lights to use for my crestie's tank. I'm excited to begin working on his bioactive tank but I want to know exactly what I'll need before I get started. So for a 18x18x24 (45 x 45 x 60cm) exo terra, what are some good lights to look into? And will any of these bulbs be compatible with the exo terra compact top or would I need to look for other fixtures?

Have you had any humidity related issues? I was under the impression leopard geckos thrive between 30-40% humidity, but a tank with live plants and moist soil seems like it’s humidity would be much higher, no?

Cant get rid of the thought of leopardgeckos bringing mayhem to any kind of clean-up-crew youre trying to introduce, poor lice lol - are there any springtails for arid environments?

Do you have a video on the cleanup crew?

Quick question on this bio active tank type stuff. How often would you need to do a deep cleaning because that would be quite the task having to deal with the clean up crew, the substrate, and even the background. So how do you deal with that??

Can you use wood chips as a drainage layer?

I love your natural tanks! ❤️❤️❤️where do you buy your wood?

Does your geckoes doesnt have dust on there noses when they burry on those loose substrate?

Mr Gecko says: 'When will I get my Freedom in the backyard, like you promised?'

Hi!!!!! I've watched your youtube channel for 4 years now and have watched all your videos. I have a deep heat projector under a thermostat and a the t5 uvb kit. I'm making my leopard gecko Oreo a bio active tank and have seen many videos that say you can not use normal expanding foam, but i have seen many people say that it does not mater if you use reptile safe sealant on top of it what do you think? thank so much, Cormac

I’ve always used the normal plant mesh…. It’s way cheaper and seems to be near the same thing as the reptile mesh. Then again I live in the country where I don’t have many reptile friendly stores

I would love to see you review leapin’ leachies rhac formulas! I’m not sure if they ship to the UK but it’s worth a shot!

Polypropylene weed blockers what I use, and for just £5 you can buy 5 x 1 meters of it. I use organic top soil with no additives, sand and sphagnum moss for my soil mix. 2 parts top soil, 2 parts sphagnum moss 1 parts sand.

Sorry if this is not the proper video to ask on but could you leave a link for the temperature control system you use? please and Thank you

I’m getting a Leo soon!!

Heya!,small question , isn't spray foam toxic?

How long after making your set up would you say to wait til you add your cuc? For both leo and cresty

You won't probably see this but where do you get your rocks from

I'm using Exo Terra plantation soil(coconut fiber) can I use this in bioactive tank?

Dear owner of this channel (sorry I don’t know your name), I have some questions for you or just anyone in general who will answer. So, I just got my first leopard gecko every about 3-4 months ago, and he’s the cutest little bean ever! After discovering this channel and watching this video, I wanna know if I’m doing it right. This is how he lives- He has two hides, a completely covered rock one with a ledge inside to climb on, and a big fake branch that he likes to come out and lay in the shade of. He has a leopard gecko specific heat lamp (not sure the wattage) and a water bowl, alone with some rocks and different minerals in the corners around his terrarium. His temperatures usually stay just a bit above 80 degrees Fahrenheit and at night I turn his lamp off so it drops to like 65 ish. I give him 6 meal worms every other day and occasionally I buy him some crickets instead. I find he has a hard time catching the crickets, so I only give him them every so often. I obviously will change his water often and I clean his terrarium at least once a month. Now, can any experts please inform me if I should be doing something else or something less? I’ve researched a lot on leopard geckos, but I still wanna be sure. Please help me, thank you!

were do you get the clean up crow please?

How do you clean your tank considering you have to change the mesh do you take out all the plants? Do the roots go through the mesh?

I have questions about creasted geckos:first if they loose their tail, what do I do with it? Second I really want an adult but I only have a ten gallon tank, I'm paying for all this myself and I can't afford a tank what should I do? Third are paper towels good for the bottom of the tank?

Guys, if u want to make a bio active enclosures, please do your research, as there're a lot of opinion, especially when it comes to substrate and false bottom. There're a lot of youtube channel that explain about vivarium, including SerpaDesign. So please do as much research as possible. 🙏

Love your vids and say hi to my lepotded gecko Rosey

this might be a dumb question, but like have you ever had issues with your gecko eating the clean up crew? im thinking of making my tank more natural but im nervous my gecko might eat it? or if he does eat them will he get sick?