r/terrariums • u/Latter_Activity_5256 • 1d ago

Build Help/Question Too much drainage?

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Hello, my son caught a flat tailed gecko and two small toads recently and I bought the ‘Thrive Starter kit’ 20g terrarium on sale.

We made a nice substrate with reptisoil and some local decaying wood and leaves, and I ordered a 10 pound bag of leca balls.

I used about 2/3 of it, but now it seems like it’s not getting wet at all, and I think I overdid it?

Currently have about 2” of drainage and 2” of substrate, and the substrate is right up to the edge of the glass door. Thinking about removing an inch of drainage and adding an inch of substrate for the toads to burrow in, and better/easier planting. We hope to make this bioactive and have real plants grow in it to increase how much my 4 and 6 year old can learn from it!

Do you think we will be ok with just 1” of drainage layer? Right now it’s dry and the substrate is very moist. We are spraying it every 4 hours for 20 seconds with two misting nozzles, one on each rear corner of the tank spraying inwards.

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u/workingMan9to5 1d ago

No such thing as too much drainage, you just haven't added enough water yet. Dump some on, really soak it. Spraying will take forever to get you there. 

With that said, 1 inch is plenty for that size tank and more dirt to play in will probably be beneficial. I see you used fabric cloth, pull that out and use window screen mesh instead. It allows the roots to penetrate into the water resevior but keeps the dirt out. Your plants will do way better than if you stunt their roots with the cloth.

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u/mikeu-mouser0508 1d ago

The drainage layer can be 1” for sure. More important would be a greater substrate ti drainage ratio, and screen mesh on the leca to prevent any digging and mixing.

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u/Latter_Activity_5256 1d ago

Yeah we used a layer of landscaping fabric. Thank you! I’ll start digging it out.

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u/Latter_Activity_5256 1d ago

Thanks; I was wondering about that. But saw info saying you can use either and I had landscaping fabric lying around.

In my experience weeds can punch right through it! Haha.