So, after much debate and research I decided to give the BioActive Viv a go! This was a week long project with gathering supplies, dry time, carving, more carving, touch up, and yup, more carving.
I went with the ExoTerra 40 Gal 36x18x18.
Plants - Pothos x2, Algaonema “pink dalmation”, Sedum “coral carpet”, Dracaena Fragrans “lemon lime”, Korean Rock Fern, and Croton (waiting on 2 other small succulents)
Lots of Cork Bark, 100% silicone, Eco Earth and Sphagnum moss for the background, Isopods, Springtails, and a 36" LED Nicrew light. Gonna let it all settle in for a couple weeks and monitor the temps and humidity to make sure its all good before adding Groot to the enclosure. He’s gonna be stoked!
Here’s some pics of the process… Did i mention the 3 hours of carving? ( Im still not over it )
If you hate using GS (after doing 3 sides of 36x18x36 I loathe the stuff), you can use more cork bark. Tad more expensive, but it means less carving/silicone/eco earth hassle. You can also use Gorilla Glue as well. It’s the same thing as GS, but it’s not under pressure so it doesn’t expand as much. Bad if you WANT to carve stuff up and create 3d structures, great if you just want basic background coverage AND you can apply your substrate mix right on top of it as it’s curing; no carving and silicone needed.
@prettypitbull Thanks for the tip! I did see a video of someone doing this with the Gorilla Glue and the thought definitely crossed my mind! I think I’m gonna try that method on my next build which will be A LOT SMALLER exo terra tank for a crested gecko. lol.
The substrate is the Terra Firma mix from The Bio Dude.
Another alternative is tree fern fibre panels. You can get these in a bunch of different sizes and they are fairly easily shaped with something like a Dremmel or even a chisel and file.
It came out better than I had planned!