Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Posted by mrs0508 on April 02, 2003 at 14:23:35:

I am in the process of setting up a 75 gal terrarium for gold dust days and would like opinions on the best soil to use. I am planning on layering charcoal on the bottom, then small aquarium gravel (for drainage), covered with garden cloth, then the soil with moss and orchid bark covering that. It will be a planted terrarium. I've heard that anything with sand in it is not a good choice. Is that true? And I do know to stay away from anything with a fertilizer, or peralite/vermiculite. Any help is greatly appreciated!!! Thanks

A good choice of soil I like is Bed A Beast. These are blocks of compacted soil, but when soaked in water "fluff" out creating a a lot of substrate. I recommend getting 2 or 3 blocks for a 75 gall. Some places you can buy them in sets of 3 and they are cheaper in a quanity of 3. Unless you are planning to have live moss etc. I would recommend skipping the charcoal. I would use a layer of large gravel, topped by a mesh that water can drain through, then the bed a beast, and if you like a layer of mulch.
You should equal results with this method. I hope you do well with your gold dusts. If you have a plant under the basking spot, make sure that it can tolerate the heat. That is a large tank for a pair of Gold Dusts! Hope they are happy and can find their food.
Geckos By Brad

I am planning on using moss...so charcoal or not? And I was thinking of having 1.2 or possibly 1.3 gold dusts...now leaning more towards the 1.2 ratio...

Since you are using moss, use a VERY thin line of charcoal right above the pebbles. Make sure both have a screen draining mat placed between each layer. This is what I would do.
Bottom to top:
Pebbles
screen
charcoal
screen
bedabeast
spaghnum moss
live moss

Make sure that all of your Phelsuma have basking spots. Phelsuma do best in pairs. Females can fight each other to death, so get ready to have to seperate. I don know if you'll have that problem in that large of a cage. Make sure and have lots of hiding and basking areas, Good luck
Geckos By Brad

Your choices in soil are sound. A further aid to help keep crickets from hiding in the orchid bark is to mix a little potting soil or Bed-A-Beast into the bark.

What i use is 60% top soil,35% peat moss,5% play sand,and then put your live moss on top of that it workes great and live plants will thrive in it.