substrate, shipment came, not enough ABG.. plantation soil ok to mix in?

[xboxQueen]

Before I placed my order I asked how many bags of ABG I'd need. I was told 3 but its not enough! Can I buy some plantation soil and mix it in, or is there something else that's better than that? I don't want to place another order and have to wait until Monday for it to ship, then wait for it to arrive.

Some advice here would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

[J Teezy]

sure. Many people use straight up plantation soil as their substrate layer

have a look at this for the future http://www.neherpetoculture.com/substratesvivarium

[BonnieLorraine]

I wouldn't, if you go to the thread Josh linked, it says right on the top "Do not use coconut fiber, peat, or potting soil as vivarium substrate, as it can compact; causing a harmful anaerobic condition.". Plantation soil is simply coconut husk, and it is going to hold wayyyyy too much water without providing any air spaces. At almost every show I vend at I answer questions from people who have constantly rotting plants, and my first question is always what is their substrate (you can guess what the answer is). How short are you on soil? If you don't have much you need to add in to make enough, you could get some of the exo terra bagged tree fern from a reptile supply store, some plain peat moss (lowes carries the non miracle-gro fertilizer free kind), long fiber sphagnum, and some small fir orchid bark to add to your existing ABG.

[xboxQueen]

Ty both for your answers. I think I'll go with Bonnies idea. I'd like to stay as close to the abg as possible
Header out now to get what I need

[xboxQueen]

Ok so, I found some orchid bark at home depot, but it had miracle grow in it.. not sure where to find it without anything added?

[BonnieLorraine]

Everything at home depot now is pretty much the miracle gro brand and will have fertilizer in it. See if there is a farm supply or garden supply store around, something like an Armstrong's, sometimes you can even get lucky and find an orchid supply store. Lowes should have the long fiber sphagnum and the peat moss, but I think the only orchid bark they have comes mixed in some orchid mix that has perlite in it.

Edit: duh, I already told you to hit up a reptile store, just grab some repti bark there, it's a bit more expensive than finding a giant bag at a garden center, but you shouldn't need much.

[xboxQueen]

So yesterday was like a scavenger hunt lol. Went to so many stores and even called a few nurseries. I eventually found everything I needed.
The Eco Terra tree fern was the most expensive of it all. The hardest thing for me to find believe it or not was the peat moss, every store had fertilizers and wetting agents. I even checked 2 different Lowes. Finally found it at Agway. Lowes did have a bag of orchid bark that was 100% pure.
I already had some long fiber sphagnum.

And according to another site the mix should be 2 parts orchid bark, 2 parts tree fern(that stuffs pokey lol) 1 part peat moss, 1 part sphagnum and 1 part lump charcoal.

I didn't have anything to grind up the sphagnum moss so I grabbed small chunks stuck together and cut small pieces off with scissors, worked pretty good and I killed one of my old pillow cases when I took a hammer to the charcoal.

My tank has plenty in it now and the mix looks pretty close to what I bought

Andddddd even better, I might have enough to do another tank in the near future

Thanks everyone for the help!!

[BonnieLorraine]

I didn't mention the charcoal because it is a total pita, I buy it in giant 2 cf bags that I have to drive about 2 hours to get, you can easily get away without using it for small amounts, it adds a bit of drainage and it's good for any bugs you're adding to the tank, but beyond that doesn't do much, you could just use more bark in the future if you're short some actual ABG.

[DartEd]

I am very impressed with your gumption. Nice job and also great advice Bonnie.

[J Teezy]

I didn't mention the charcoal because it is a total pita, I buy it in giant 2 cf bags that I have to drive about 2 hours to get, you can easily get away without using it for small amounts, it adds a bit of drainage and it's good for any bugs you're adding to the tank, but beyond that doesn't do much, you could just use more bark in the future if you're short some actual ABG.

Do you not have a home depot nearby? Cowboy brand lump hardwood charcoal

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