This is how I set up my 29g brev setup …
Bottom draining layer is 2 inches of terracotta balls. They are clay balls that have been fired/heated to make them hard. Its basically clay pot material. Its cheaper and lighter then using gravel and it allows for more air pockets so water can evaporate. You can find it a plant nursery that has orchids. On top of that I put some fiberglass window screening. On top of that I use about an inch and a half of orchid charcoal. I put a bunch in a bag and step on it to grind it down a bit (do outside – very dusty stuff). The charcoal pulls impurities out of the water like a filter. Again, on top of that another piece of fiberglass window screening. The screening keeps the different drainage layers from mixing. Some people use aluminum screening but I don’t suggest it. Both of these materials were rinsed thoroughly with water first. I can’t emphasize enough that you have proper drainage – this will either make or break the enclosure. Next come the plants, I keep them in the pots and place the pots right over the charcoal layer on top of the screen. Keeping them in the pots lets excess water drain out and also makes replacing dead/dying plants much easier. Plants were removed from the pots and the pots were cleaned before going into the tank. I also wash the plants with a mild dish washing liquid. Be sure to keep soap out of the soil. I usually add some organic soil over the top of the existing soil too. I use non-toxic plants – right now I have small ficus and small palm plant in there. Bromeliads and other tropical plants work great too. I have an unoccupied 10g with a pothos and a bromeliad.
Around the plant pots I placed some large river stones – this so I don’t have to have 5 inches of top substrate (3 inches is fine) – the objective here is to hide the plant pots. The stones kind of act as a”filler”. The top layer of substrate is bed-a-beast ground coconut bark – the same stuff can be found at the plant nursery too which is cheaper. People can get creative here and add things like sand and peat moss to the coconut grounds to help it drain better. I am fine with just the coconut grounds but may experiment with my next enclosure. I pat down the this final layer just bit but not too much so that it wont drain.
The last step is to add furnishings. The assumptions here are that everything was cleaned with anti-bacterial soap or a 10:1 water/bleach mix or baked in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes (for the leaves, sticks). Moss/Cork was just rinsed with warm water.
Pieces of cork – LLL Reptile or plant nursery
Drift wood
Wood sticks from craft store and from outside – LOTS of them
Moss collected outside
Leaves collected outside
Tree bark collected outside
Large river stones here and there
Couple fake vines from Exo-Terra
Terrarium moss from zoomed for around the tops of the plant pots
Heating / Lighting …
I have a repti-sun 5.0 over the top- more for the plants and lighting up the tank. Since its cold where I live I have a 60w bulb on the left side of the enclosure. When you have a large enclosure its best to have some cooler and warmer areas. This couldn’t be done with a 10g tank. Offering the animals a choice of temperature zones is better then one temp throughout the enclosure. The warmer area is low to mid 80s and the cooler area is usually around 67-72 depending how high or low in the tank the temp is taken. The brevs like the warmer side. I also have a small heat pad on the warm side. Basically do what you have to do to keep temps around the low to mid 70s. If you have a larger enclosure – maybe try and have a zone that is around 80-85. The key thing here is watch the animal(s) and see where they like to hang out.
I mist a couple of times a day. It’s easy to over mist so make sure you give it time to dry out a bit. Keeping the substrate moist at all times but not sopping wet is what I do. I plan on pluming an ultrasonic humidifier into the tank soon. Having air flow in the room but not directly on the tank is a good idea too.
Final remarks …
Have a ton of sticks some high and some low enough so they can zap feeders on the ground.
Co-inhabitants – I put in a bunch of roly-poly bugs. Some people call them pills bugs since they roll up into a ball when threatened. They act like “janitors” and eat up decaying material that could promote fungus. I haven’t seen too many lately so I think they are getting eaten as well. You can but them on line or find them outside under rocks and in dead tree bark.
I did this write up quickly so if something doesn’t seem right or u have some q’s please ask.
-roo
