How are planted reptile enclosures cleaned?

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sprwoman1

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 23, 2007
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I would like to know how to clean a planted reptile enclosure.

I have kept reptiles before, just in sparsely decorated (easy to disassemble and clean) enclosures. I recently got some crested geckos right now they are in temporary housing. I have seen some beautiful pictures of paludarium/vivariums that have sparked my interest, but I have not been able to find info on how to clean them.
The glass enclosure I am preparing is approx 36x18x18 and I want to stand it on it's end (so that it is tall).

My best guess is that I would spot clean any feces and regularly clean the glass. Anything else? If or how often do they need broken down for a thorough cleaning?

Am I on the right track? What type of long term issues should I know about to try to avoid?
 
Depend on how they set it up and how much waste are produced. If it is a bio-active setup, then springtails and woodlice usually take care of it. However whatever that doesn't taken care of should be spot-cleaned though.
 
TheBloodyIrish;1059556; said:
Depend on how they set it up and how much waste are produced. If it is a bio-active setup, then springtails and woodlice usually take care of it. However whatever that doesn't taken care of should be spot-cleaned though.
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Ditto. When I had my planted cages set-up, I just spot-cleaned and wiped the glass every few days. Maybe every 4-6 months, evaluate whether a breakdown is needed. It also depends on how many animals are in there and how large the tank is.
 
Yeah, everyone got different opinions of it. Some use potted plants and take them out to clean out the vivarium weekly and stick them back in. Others just leave as it is.
 
Just clean any feces off glass and leaves once a day. Also, try to remove the dead leaves as these tend to mold in humid wet vivarium. If you have a water area, do a waterchange on it maybe once a week. All this depends on the animals and stocking though but this is a system that has worked well for me in the past.
 
Just clean any feces off glass and leaves once a day. Also, try to remove the dead leaves as these tend to mold in humid wet vivarium. If you have a water area, do a waterchange on it maybe once a week. All this depends on the animals and stocking though but this is a system that has worked well for me in the past.
 
The ones I had, I lined the bottom with some gravel and aquarium carbon, not sure if it helped but I thought it might. Otherwise either go potted plants and take them out to clean or spot cleaning, and remove those dead leaves or any dead crix or whatever you're feeding. Agreed with TBI about the woodlice/springtails, I actually used to keep some earthworms in my planted terrarium and they helped I think.
 
I have had only one "natural" set up and I found that odor was always a problem so I gave it up. But that was years ago and I am sure that with what i know now I could keep one quite easily.

What exactly is the deal with the woodlice/springtails?
 
I never find a problem with odour. Well... it is a problem for the first few weeks, then the ecosystem stabilize after that.

They are tiny little critters, which are common in natural setups, that don't annoy the inhabitants and they are the cleanup crew.
Firebrats and silverfishes are also popular bugs that contribute to cleaning up the vivarium. Some go as far as having earthworms and predatory leeches. They help to break down rotting materials and herptile poo into fertilizers for the plant.

The problem is, as it is with every compositing sites, calculating the amount of critters required for the wasteload. Too many, and you will have a massive die-off, which give the foul odour. You can never worry about too little though, by the time it stop smelling you know that the vivariums have a stable ecosystem.
 
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