6mo evolution
The first two photos are how it is now...RIP to the MANY plants I killed along the way, but things finally seem to have settled and are doing well.
Things I Iearned:
- Don't cheap out on the drainage layer!
I used a Hessian sandbag, which I knew wouldn't last forever, but after about 2 months I realised it had disintegrated. Instead of ripping everything out completely, I piled the substrate up and placed some aquarium filter foam on top of the LECA (thankfully this enclosure has a nice deep base so it wasn't an issue).
The plants that I thought were dying due to lack of light (thanks to that massive centre branch) were actually over-watered. While adding the filter sponge I also added horticultural grit to improve drainage.
Having a lux meter and Solarmeter 6.5 makes things a lot easier (still need to invest in an irradiance meter.) I was using Barrina LED tube lights at first, but after upgrading to the Jungle Dawn I found it doubled the lux reading at the substrate level. Being able to check exactly how much light I was working with, what specific plants need, and what constitutes as "low light" was really helpful to me.
When preparing plants, split them and keep some in a separate plant bin.
Crazy fat ass lizards will absolutely stomp on everything. They are currently gravid so are particularly chonky right now.
I am fully aware that none of this is groundbreaking new info, but in case it helps other newbies.