The 4 Best vivarium substrates (2023 reviews)
Are you planning to buy vivarium substrates, and are you confused about the options ?
You have landed on the right page.
Our review process:
Our Top Picks:
Zilla vivarium Substrate Buy: READ REVIEWZoo Med vivarium Substrate Buy: READ REVIEWAquanatural vivarium Substrate Buy: READ REVIEWAquanatural Great sand Buy: READ REVIEWZilla vivarium Substrate
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For a low asking price, zilla vivarium substrate has managed to overwhelm their customers by packing as many features as they could. Reptiles find comfort in the loamy scent and soft texture that promotes digging, breeding, nesting and egg incubation. This U.S.-made product is blended to be completely biodegradable, so it is as good for earth s environment as it is for a reptile. It holds moisture well, smells nice, and spots clean and looks great. It is ideal for tropical and forest habitats.
It drains well enough that you don’t have to worry about root rot with most tropical plants. It is great for diggers/burrowers and doesn't leave unattractive tunnels, bare spots or clumps like coconut fibers and aspen. This is more for those that need humility.Why We Like This:
- Containing cedar, as it contains oils that can be deadly to reptiles
- Avoid sand, shavings and peat bedding
- Safe to use for shed or lay boxes
Zoo Med vivarium Substrate
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Next on the list, we've got yet another substrate that manages to win our hearts. It's the zoo med vivarium substrate and it's widely considered as one of the best convenient substrate you can buy. Zoo Med naturalistic flora is a life-like foliage to enhance your terrarium or paludarium. These balls will collect extra water and allow beneficial bacteria to thrive under your substrate layer. They hold water well, and don't get moldy. These babies wick water up beautifully and keep the seedlings moist while giving the seedlings enough space to grow out of the cracks.
These do look nicer, as they're almost perfectly round. The bag has varied sizes but none too big or small. These HydroBalls are great if you're looking to set up a smaller 12x12 base or even 18x18 base vivarium these will do. It is decently easy to clean but very inconsistent shapes, with only 50% round pebbles.Why We Like This:
- Good for reptiles and home grown mushrooms
- Nice even small balls that fit well in small or large systems
- Great stuff for building foutains or water falls in a tank
- Easily dropping trough holes in pot
Aquanatural vivarium Substrate
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The aquanatural vivarium substrate's material feels more premium than its price would suggest. It's one of the cleanest aquarium sands available, no toxins, no foreign matter, it is 100% natural sand sourced under license from new zealand. It's so pretty you won’t want to put fish in there. This is a 7.5 gallon tank containing one 10lb bag. It has a dense composition and zero fines so it does not blow around in your tank, it brightens up your aquarium and contrasts well with aquarium plants and goes with any décor.
It's a very pale buff white when dry and a pale tan when wet. It is good for stratifying seeds. It's more of a neutral/brownish sand color, like you would see at the beach.Why We Like This:
- Ethically and sustainably sourced under license in new zealand
- Lot of satisfied buyers
Aquanatural Great sand
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The aquanatural great sand's superior materials makes sure that it ages well with use. The Galaxy sand is a sparkling fine black sand that catches the light in your aquarium. It looks very nice underwater plus it is beautiful black sand for any aquarium, but it is sand. In the end, it has a soft, sandy texture with some subtle, slivery sparkle grains that do not detract from the pure black sand. The sand is nice and dark and almost sparkly.
Black is a great color to build a dramatic aquacape on, your plants and décor will be highlighted on this darker background. It is almost free of dust which is better than Black Diamond.Why We Like This:
- Wonderful sand despite the quality control
- Very clean and very sparkly black sand with medium to small sized grains
- Ethically and sustainably sourced under license in the usa