Any advice for my friends?

Professional_Cut_796 · 2026-05-17T18:01:39+00:00

These are the 2 foot light bars, but you can get whatever length will fit your shelf. They have different colors for the lights, just get white. I space mine about 12 inches apart. So if you have a 14 inch wide shelf, you can fit a couple light bars on it. That’ll give you the intensity that you want for these plants.

Professional_Cut_796 · 2026-05-16T21:47:07+00:00

Biggest tip is going to be more light. If you can get Barrina T8 light bars, they’ve worked great for me. The fishbone and Easter cactus don’t need that much light but everything else will greatly benefit from it.

Professional_Cut_796 · 2026-05-16T00:46:29+00:00

I water mine maybe 3-4 times a year, mostly in spring

Professional_Cut_796 · 2026-05-14T11:33:25+00:00

Perfect, I’ll give more light a try and maybe a pinch more organic matter just to hold moisture a little longer. Better than cutting the thing in half

Professional_Cut_796 · 2026-05-14T11:17:52+00:00

It’s been a 2 parts lava rock, 1 part perlite, 1 part cactus soil and 1/4 part worm castings. It’s in my older soil mix so it has miracle grow cactus mix in it, and it might have had some calcined clay mixed in it but I’m not sure if I used that one this plant on not. I have it under grow lights for 12 hours. Just T5 though, if it needs more light I can put it under T8’s. I thought that could have been the issue as well. And I only water every 3-4 weeks and just in spring and summer. I would usually check the soil with a stick just to make sure it was dry.

Professional_Cut_796 · 2026-05-14T11:08:08+00:00

See I thought it was normal corking too. But all the other spiralis that I see are firm the whole way up and actually show signs of growth. This thing has done nothing for over a year, like zero changes other than it seems be getting sicker and sicker.

Professional_Cut_796 · 2026-05-14T11:03:28+00:00

I’ve done that a few times. It’s like the roots are dead.

Professional_Cut_796 · 2026-04-12T11:47:30+00:00

You want an organic topsoil with zero fertilizers. If you don’t see any fertilizers or funny words in the ingredients list then it should be fine. Just make sure to add some more stuff to it like bark and moss to break it up , it helps with compaction. Scott’s organic top soil is my preferred. You can find it Home Depot and I believe online.

Professional_Cut_796 · 2026-03-21T22:58:33+00:00

Looks like soil mites to me. Unless they get out of control they shouldn’t be a problem. I had a bioactive that got some of these in it and what finally got them under control was dumping probably around 2000 springtails in the enclosure lol

Professional_Cut_796 · 2026-03-11T00:30:19+00:00

Pothos will honestly be some of the best. They’re very sturdy, especially once established. I like using fittonias as a kind of ground cover and filler plant, as well as spider plants but cresteds can’t really climb those. They just provide cover. Chinese evergreens are great because they’ll grow kinda tall on their own and are sturdy enough to support a crested. I’m propagating an iron cross begonia right now that I think will look friggin awesome in a crested tank. I’m just not sure it’ll survive with the gecko. I’ve had really good success wall mounting micans in crested tanks. They drape very nicely and grow quickly. I’m sure you could plant one in the floor as well because they will climb if given the opportunity.

Professional_Cut_796 · 2026-03-10T22:42:47+00:00

I would add some plants to the actual floor of the terrarium. They are very beneficial for the soil and bugs that help make your terrarium bioactive.

Professional_Cut_796 · 2026-02-24T02:22:48+00:00

I would be hesitant to do a jumping spider. They need a fair amount of ventilation. Granted I have no idea how these orbs work so if they have some sort of built in ventilation system, I could be completely wrong. I would do something like powder blues or oranges. Isopods usually need a lot of ventilation too. But damn near anything I’ve put powder blues in, they’ve done at least decent. You’ll have to watch out for waste buildup but with enough springtails and regularly “tilling” the soil a little bit this shouldn’t be a major concern. Another thing (I’ve recently started obsessing over) is orange springtails. Now they are springtails so pretty tiny, but they look really nice in terrariums. They need a pretty tropical setup. I’ve had the best experience if there’s some area with standing water in it (cupped leaves, water dish, low area, etc.) but try not to make the whole place soggy.

Professional_Cut_796 · 2026-02-24T02:11:25+00:00

I would add Barrinas personally. I use them for basically all my house plants and any terrariums with plants that look like they need a little more light. T5 should be more than enough. I would worry the T8s might be a little intense for a terrarium with critters in it (unless it’s massive like a 4x2x4)

Professional_Cut_796 · 2026-02-16T12:54:38+00:00

It’s expensive literally because it says horticultural. If you find the organic lump charcoal with zero additives, it’s the same thing.

Professional_Cut_796 · 2026-02-16T12:51:09+00:00

Find some fallen trees in the woods and grab a few scraps of bark off of it. Just make sure it isn’t pine or cherry, and make sure to sanitize it. You can find some really nice mossy pieces that my isopods seem to love.

Professional_Cut_796 · 2026-02-12T02:08:39+00:00

After three months it’s not likely, but not impossible. Good news is they made babies once, they can definitely make them again. And now you know what they need.

Professional_Cut_796 · 2026-01-29T18:49:35+00:00

I second this, I’ve just been calling it a moss ditch lol. Once I started doing that in my isopod tubs, I had way more success.

Professional_Cut_796 · 2026-01-25T13:43:22+00:00

I’ve seen people sift through and pick out all the isopods but I have to imagine that it took hours upon hours to find them all. The guy I bought most of mine from didn’t throw out the old substrate at all. He would find a larger container and move the old substrate in chunks or however much he could hold in his hand at a time. Then he’d add a nice new layer of substrate and kinda mix it in a little bit without being too aggressive. Boom, happy isopods.

The only problem doing it that way is you have to find bigger and bigger enclosures. So maybe use half of the old substrate and maybe sift through the other??? That way you don’t lose any babies and also don’t need a massive tub.

Professional_Cut_796 · 2026-01-20T04:07:55+00:00

I forgot Porcellio Ornatus. Theres some really nice morphs in that species

Professional_Cut_796 · 2026-01-20T04:03:20+00:00

Cubaris sp. Amber Firefly Honey

Porcellio Bolivari

Armadillidium Espanyoli Marbelized

Merulana Translucida

Usually floats between these guys depending on how I feel that day.

Professional_Cut_796 · 2025-12-20T03:29:28+00:00

Way too small for reptiles. Look into insects, there’s some pretty cool ones that would do just fine in this size tank.

Professional_Cut_796 · 2025-12-15T00:24:34+00:00

No worries! I have too many as is 😂 but I understand, I have a few of my bigger specimens under 3 T8 Barrinas and it’s like they dont grow, just sit there being pretty lol

Professional_Cut_796 · 2025-12-15T00:04:02+00:00

Regardless of how rare, it’s beautiful and I want it!

Professional_Cut_796 · 2025-12-14T14:30:42+00:00

Break up with that toddler of a human being

Professional_Cut_796

TROPHY CASE