Dustin Aquatics: He Built a Volcano Terrarium With Fog and “Lava” Lights | DSH #1750

Summary

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Digital Social Hour — Episode #1750

Guest: Dustin Aquatics (“Alternate Aquatics”)

Host: Sean Kelly

Episode Title: He Built a Volcano Terrarium With Fog and “Lava” Lights
Date: January 13, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode of Digital Social Hour, Sean Kelly welcomes Dustin, known for his “Alternate Aquatics” brand, who has become a viral sensation building elaborate, self-sustaining terrariums, paludariums, and vivariums—most famously his “volcano terrarium” with fog and LED “lava” effects. The conversation explores Dustin’s journey into the terrarium world, his personal story of using the hobby as a tool for sobriety, the science and artistry behind these miniature ecosystems, tips for beginners, and the explosive growth of his online community.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. From Barstool to Biodome: Dustin’s Sobriety Journey

• Turning Point: Dustin realized he was spending too much time and money at bars. Instead, he decided to invest about $500—the amount he would have blown at the bar—on terrarium supplies.
  • “Instead of, you know, waking up hungover, I woke up and worked on my terrarium each morning for 30, 40 minutes. And that kind of got me on like the right path for the day.” (A, 00:00)
• Accountability & Motivation: The physical evidence of day-to-day progress helped keep him engaged and motivated to continue on a healthier path.
  • “I had a physical piece of evidence that I spent another day not getting hammered... and had an incentive to make sure I was at my sharpest the next morning to do another round of work.” (A, 00:30; 10:34)

2. What is Alternate Aquatics?

• Dustin explains that Alternate Aquatics started as a personal hobby, now focused on building mini-ecosystems—some completely self-sustaining and low maintenance, others more complex with animal inhabitants.
  • “The main goal is to try to build it as realistic and natural looking as possible with as little maintenance as possible.” (A, 01:17)

3. Inside the Ecosystem: Animals, Plants, and ‘Cleanup Crews’

• Cleanup Crews: Terrariums contain “springtails”—tiny bugs that eat decaying organic matter, keeping the system clean and fertile.
  • “Springtails... eat decaying plant and animal matter. And that in turn will create new fertilizer for the plants.” (A, 01:54)
• Poison Dart Frogs: Included in some builds. In captivity (when bred properly), they're safe to touch, as their toxicity comes from their wild diet.
  • “As long as you’re getting them captive bred, they’re totally safe to touch. But… we have toxins on our skin that are toxic to them.” (A, 03:16)
• Other Critters: Talk about feeding requirements (flightless fruit flies), risks of accidental infestations, and sourcing (shout-out to frogdaddy.net as sponsor and supplier).

4. Childhood Influences & Escapist Nature

• Dustin grew up in Rapid City, South Dakota, benefitting from close proximity to nature (Black Hills, hiking, catching frogs and crawdads).
  • “I think I’ve always kind of loved it… I used to have fish tanks and even would bring a fish tank around with me when I chased hail as a roofing contractor.” (A, 05:34)
• Importance of nature as a therapeutic escape, especially after moving to less inspiring locations like Cleveland.

5. Viral Growth & Content Strategy

• Explosive Following: Dustin grew from 2–3k Facebook followers to 175k in months, leveraging short-form vertical videos—especially those that pique curiosity and reveal complex builds.
  • “Instagram first… Short form content worked really well when I would showcase something where you didn’t really know it was happening at first.” (A, 11:35)
• Online Community: Engaged fans, occasional pushback from “aquarium purists” after his video “5 Reasons Why Terrariums Are Better Than Aquariums.”
  • “I ruffled some feathers with the aquarium purists… there is now, apparently, some beef.” (A, 12:04)

6. Types of Builds: Terrariums, Paludariums, Vivariums

• Key Definitions:
  • Terrarium: Only land, has a drainage layer.
  • Paludarium: Terrarium with a significant water section (can house aquatic animals).
  • Aquarium: Fully aquatic, underwater.
  • Riparium: Aquarium with plants rooted in water, mimicking riverbanks.
  • Vivarium: Umbrella term encompassing all.
  • “A polydarium is a terrarium with a designated water section… opens a huge option of different types of animals to put in.” (A, 15:04)
• Volcano Island Build:
  • Dustin’s signature build, a “polydarium” with a “volcanic” centerpiece using red LEDs and fog effects.
  • “I built, like, an acrylic tower... put red LEDs behind it so it shines through... looks like a volcano... and then I put a fog machine at the top so it spills out smoke.” (A, 16:10–16:32)
  • Video documentation available on Dustin’s YouTube channel.

7. Technical Insights & Tips

• Self-Sustaining Systems: Closed-jar moss terrariums can go decades untouched.
  • “I’ve seen some out there that are 70, 80 years, never been opened, just cycling through.” (A, 07:35)
• Materials & Techniques:
  • Use of “great stuff” expanding foam (pond and stone safe), silicone, coco peat, sphagnum moss for backdrops.
  • Prefers “wet moss mix” from frogdaddy.net—adaptable to the terrarium’s microclimates.
  • “My favorite way is to spray foam, carve it, layer that with aquarium-safe silicone and coco peat/sphagnum moss.” (A, 17:50)
• Springtails Visible!
  • During demo, a springtail can be seen traversing the glass (B, 26:21)

8. Ambitions & The Future of Alternate Aquatics

• Business Model:
  • Potential for custom builds—shipping is complicated, likely would need to start local.
  • Long-term dream: “Tanked” for terrariums, filming and constructing giant bespoke builds.
• Biodome Vision:
  • Aspirations to create large-scale biodomes and even house exotic species like dwarf caimans.
  • “If I can get some property… I want to have like dwarf caimans… like mini crocodiles.” (A, 21:46; 21:55)
• Online Community:
  • DJH WhatsApp group—potential client network. Encouraged to share photos, connect with other guests. (B, 25:56)

9. Personal Philosophy: Terrariums for Well-being

• Dustin’s journey resonated with many trying to get sober. He became an advocate for the therapeutic power of mindful hobbies.
  • “I made a video about that… now people are trying to use terrarium building as a way to get sober.” (A, 09:22)

10. Culture & Humor

• Lively rapport between Sean and Dustin, swapping jokes and pop culture references (e.g., “Tiger King,” Mike Tyson's pets, Jersey “pork, egg, and cheese”).
• Memorable Moment:
  • The Volcano terrarium’s construction saga—moving 300+lb build in a U-Haul to Florida for a roofing job. (A, 16:59–17:09)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Sobriety & Meaningful Hobbies
  • “I had a physical piece of evidence that I spent another day not going getting hammered.” — Dustin (A, 10:34)
  • “It’s kind of therapeutic to take care of them, trim the plants, mist them down in the mornings.” — Dustin (A, 05:59)
• On Terrarium Community
  • “Are there terrarium meetups?”
    “Yeah, there’s like a national frog fest type thing that happens in Ann Arbor every year.” — Sean & Dustin (B/A, 08:11)
• On Crafting the Volcano Terrarium
  • “I thought it would be cool to take some different rocks... then I put red LEDs... looks like a volcano... and then I put a fog machine at the top so it spills out smoke.” — Dustin (A, 16:09–16:32)
• On Starting Viral Content
  • “I went from like 2–3,000 followers on Facebook to like 175,000 in a couple months. Insane.” — Dustin (A, 11:21)
• On Ambition
  • “Maybe down the road, if it really gets popular, I’d love to do something kind of like that show Tanked... but for terrariums.” — Dustin (A, 13:01)
• On Closed Terrariums’ Longevity
  • “I’ve seen some out there that are 70, 80 years, never been opened, just cycling through.” — Dustin (A, 07:47)

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Highlighted Timestamps

• 00:00–01:17: Dustin shares the origins of his hobby and its therapeutic role in sobriety.
• 03:05–04:07: Explains intricacies of poison dart frogs and sourcing animals.
• 07:31–08:28: How self-sustaining terrariums work; stories about long-lived, closed builds.
• 11:18–12:24: Viral growth on social, “aquarium vs terrarium” online drama.
• 15:01–16:56: Definitions of paludariums; deep dive into the “Volcano Island” centerpiece.
• 17:29–18:39: Technical build techniques and material recommendations.
• 21:46–22:03: Long-term ambitions: biodomes and keeping exotic animals.
• 25:56–26:42: Real-time demo of a closed jar terrarium and care instructions.

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Connect with Dustin

• Handles: @Alternate Aquatics on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X (Twitter)
  • “I just made an X. I got like, 52 followers. So follow me there. I need some numbers, and that’s going to be alternate aquatics for all of them.” (A, 26:49)
• Business Inquiry: Building custom terrariums locally for now; ambitions to expand.

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Closing Thoughts

Dustin’s story is an inspirational testament to the transformative power of creative hobbies. Alternate Aquatics blends science, artistry, and personal growth—making terrarium building both visually stunning and emotionally meaningful. Whether for well-being, curiosity, or community, the world of vivariums is thriving—and Dustin is at the heart of its modern renaissance.

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Transcript

[A]

I was actually looking for something to do to occupy my time. In my mind. I've been spending too much time at the bar and I was like, I'm just going to go ahead and buy like $500 worth of stuff, which is what I would have pissed away at the bar. And that way I had some skin in the game. And then instead of, you know, waking up hungover, I woke up and worked on my terrarium each morning for 30, 40 minutes. And that kind of got me on like the right path for the day. I had like that feeling of accomplishment.

[B]

You set the tone.

[A]

Yeah, exactly. But more important, certainly I had like a physical piece of evidence that I spent another day not going getting hammered. And then I had an incentive to make sure I was at my sharpest the next morning to do another, you know, round of work.

[B]

That's cool. Okay, guys, we got Dustin here. He got a little wet on the way.

[A]

Yeah, in Vegas, which is rare, man, it was insane. It was like I was in Florida. Monsoon coming in, wind blowing sideways.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Got a little cooled down though for it.

[B]

Yeah, you caught some very interesting timing, man. It doesn't rain like that here.

[A]

Yeah, I didn't think so. I thought this was a desert, but it is.

[B]

But picked the one time of the day. Yeah, but. So your company is alternate aquatics, right?

[A]

Correct? Yes, sir.

[B]

Could you explain what you do there?

[A]

Yeah. So realistically, it's kind of. It just started as like a in home hobby type of deal. But right now I'm just building and creating mini ecosystems inside of my home. Some of them are self contained, meaning that they're completely self sufficient. They don't require any maintenance on them. And then I got some bigger ones that do require a little bit. But the main goal of my builds is to try to build it as realistic and natural looking as possible with as little maintenance as possible. So.

[B]

So when you say maintenance, some of these require some more hands on stuff A little bit.

[A]

It just depends. Like some of my terrariums have some animals in them. Yeah, they all do have animals. There's a cleanup crew consisting of springtails. They're these tiny little bugs that eat decaying plant and animal matter. And that in turn will create new fertilizer for the plants. But it makes the entire ecosystem self sufficient and self cleaning. But if there's other animals, like I have some poison dart frogs for example. Whoa, I gotta feed those.

[B]

What do those eat?

[A]

Ah, they eat flightless fruit flies.

[B]

Flightless fruit? What's the point of a fly if you can't Fly. I didn't even know that was a thing.

[A]

They. There are specific breed of flies that you can get two different ones. There's wingless ones and there's a specific species. I forget the name right off the top of my head. But they. As long as you keep them under 70 degrees, they don't develop the ability to fly. So if anybody ever sees the flightless fruit fly cultures at Petco, I would go ahead and just dodge those because that's the worst mistake you'll ever make. I made it a couple times. You open that in your house, you've got an infestation.

[B]

Oh, you're done. Damn.

[A]

Oh, it's a game over. Because they. I'm assuming the temperature gets too, too hot when they're chipping them or something like that.

[B]

Wow, that's good to know. Thank you.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Poison dart frogs. So can you just buy those anywhere? How does that work?

[A]

So here's the thing that's really cool. Poison dart frogs they have. They actually get their toxins from the animals that they eat. The insects. They do.

[B]

Really.

[A]

Their natural habitat. So as long as you're getting them captive bred, they're totally safe to touch. Oh. But ironically we have toxins on our skin being the oils on our skin that if we touch them, it's actually toxic to them.

[B]

No way.

[A]

Touch them anyway. They're don't touch. Yeah.

[B]

Dude.

[A]

It's crazy.

[B]

That's a mind because like growing up I thought like you should never touch it. It'll kill you.

[A]

Yeah, no, you do them more harm.

[B]

Wow. Because the ones in the like jungle though, those are really poisonous. Right.

[A]

It's like nature's poacher defense. If you go out there and steal them from their natural habitat, they can get you. Yeah.

[B]

You ever done that or do you just buy all your.

[A]

Actually I get all of mine from frogdaddy.net frog daddy.

[B]

What a. What a domain. Frogdaddy.net best name ever.

[A]

That's. He's actually one of my sponsors too. He sends me frogs now.

[B]

That's sick.

[A]

And he's also got an awesome plant selection. That's actually where I do a lot of the research for different types of terrarium type of plants. Because he's got a nice little description and care requirements. Makes it easy.

[B]

One of my favorite memories as a kid is going to the local river and catching frogs.

[A]

Me too.

[B]

I would catch them bare handed.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

Yeah. When they jumped, you'd have to time it.

[A]

Yep, exactly.

[B]

So fun though.

[A]

And then. And crawdads. What's that like little crawfish?

[B]

Oh, I never got those in Jersey. Oh, you're in Florida. You grew up in Florida?

[A]

No, no, I grew up in South Dakota.

[B]

Oh, South Dakota.

[A]

Rapid City.

[B]

Okay. There's a lot of crawfish out there.

[A]

Yeah. I was born in Berlin, Germany, then moved to South Dakota.

[B]

Wow, That's a big change.

[A]

It was definitely weird. I. I remember my parents used to read like old westerns to me. They told me, you know, that we're going to be moving to the Wild West. So in my mind, I thought we were going to be taking a chuck wagon across the prairie. But now we just landed in a plan. Is just South Dakota, Rapid City.

[B]

Damn. You know, not much to do there. What would you do to keep yourself entertained out there as a kid?

[A]

Luckily for me, the one corner of South Dakota that's really interesting is Rapid City.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

You got the Black Hills there. And then you, you know, interesting things happen. You've got Sturgis, the rally, the motorcycle.

[B]

Oh, okay.

[A]

You got Deadwood is there. And there's just really a lot of good hiking trails.

[B]

It's a lot of good nature stuff out there.

[A]

Absolutely.

[B]

So is that where you kind of fell in love with like this sort of environment, animal stuff?

[A]

I think I've always kind of loved it, to be honest. I used to have like fish tanks and stuff, and I even would bring a fish tank around with me when I chased hail. What, as a roofing contractor, you would.

[B]

Bring the tank with you?

[A]

I brought it with me, Yeah. I would. I would take all the fish, put them in a five gallon bucket, put a lid on it and put it in my passenger seat, ferry them to the next location.

[B]

Wow. So you really liked these fish.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. It's just relaxing, you know, it's. It's really relaxing. That's one of the reasons that I really love the terrariums. I guess you could say I kind of upgraded. It's just really relaxing to look at them. It's kind of therapeutic to kind of take care of them and trim the plants, mist them down in the mornings.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And especially since I live in like outside of Cleveland now, it's super depressing there.

[B]

I've had a few guests from Cleveland and they do not seem to be the happiest people.

[A]

Yeah. You know, it's like you're either happy and you've just, you know, you've made your peace with the weather.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And the scenery of Cleveland, or you just depressed there.

[B]

I mean, seasonal depression is a thing. There's no denying it.

[A]

Definitely.

[B]

Cleveland probably is one of the worst weather in the country for sure.

[A]

But that's, you know, you just step in my terrarium room, you're good to go on that.

[B]

How many terrariums you got now?

[A]

I got seven. Or yeah, I'm going to say seven of them.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Oh, that's less than I thought actually, because you, you have a lot of videos.

[A]

Yeah, I just, you know, find a lot of different ways to make videos on them.

[B]

Got it. So seven terrariums, how many are self sustaining verse they need some work.

[A]

So I've got another three closed jar ones that I didn't count in that.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Yeah, like the ones that I'll. I'll make one for you today, show you how it all works. But those ones are totally self sufficient. Probably my most self sufficient one is like a moss wall terrarium that I built that doesn't have any animals in it. It' some cool water features. I guess it's got some shrimp in it, but they pretty much take care of themselves.

[B]

Got it. So that could that theoretically just go on forever if you just left it?

[A]

Yeah, absolutely. Like the closed jar ones, as long as they have access to indirect sunlight. You, me, I've seen some out there that are 70, 80 years, never been opened, just cycling through.

[B]

Holy crap. So people have been doing this for a while? Yeah, 70, 80 years.

[A]

You know, honestly, I only got into this like three years ago and I mean, I thought that I was pretty, you know, obsessed with this kind of stuff. And I had no idea that the terrarium world existed the way that it does. And once I got into it, I was hooked for sure.

[B]

Are there terrarium meetups, like conferences, events?

[A]

Yeah, there's all sorts of things like that. They, there's even like a national frog fest type thing that happens in Ann Arbor every year.

[B]

Wow. Yeah, I love going to weird conferences like that. Like I meet so many cool people.

[A]

You'd like that one.

[B]

Yeah. And Vegas is perfect for that because every day there's some sort of conference here.

[A]

Oh yeah. You know, I didn't really think about that, but you got a perfect location for that.

[B]

Yeah, no, Vegas is. Yeah, there's like. Have you heard of avn?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Yeah, so that's here every year. So then I'll do that and the next week will be like a Christian conference. You know, it's just all sorts of.

[A]

Spectrums all over the place.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I was watching some of your videos. I noticed like you've got everybody on.

[B]

I think it's interesting to interview people from all walks of life, you know? Yeah, we all walk such a. Live a different life than each other.

[A]

I think it's interesting, too. Definitely.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But, yeah, so I remember I was watching just, like, some YouTube videos one day, and I ran across some terrarium videos. They just showed up kind of like in my for you page, kind of like you. And I was actually looking for something to do to occupy my time in my mind, because I'd been spending too much time at the bar, frankly. It's getting house way too much.

[B]

And don't blame me in Cleveland, man. Nothing to do there.

[A]

Yeah, you know, it's. It. It's where we all congregate together, you know, But. And honestly, I made a video about that too. Just like a short video that resonated with a lot of people that reached out to me that they are now trying to use terrarium building as a way to get sober.

[B]

Oh, that's dope.

[A]

And I think it's like, the best way to do it. So I took because the initial, you know, expense of a terrarium. The most expensive thing is the actual terrarium itself, like the.

[B]

The glass jars.

[A]

The glass like, set up, like a bigger one. And so I did a little research on it. I realized it was going to cost me, you know, at least a grand, probably more to do it. Right.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

And I was like, I'm just gonna go ahead and buy, like, $500 worth of stuff, which is what I would have pissed away at the bar. And that way I had some skin in the game. And then instead of, you know, waking up hungover, I woke up and worked on my terrarium each morning for 30, 40 minutes. And that kind of got me on, like, the right path for the day. Yeah, like, I made the. I had, like, that feeling of accomplishment.

[B]

You set the tone.

[A]

Yeah, exactly. But more importantly, I had, like, a physical piece of evidence that I spent another day not going getting hammered. And then I had an incentive to make sure I was at my sharpest the next morning to do another, you know, round of work.

[B]

That's cool.

[A]

And then next thing you know, I have this. It's actually my biggest terrarium and probably my coolest one, in my opinion. And then, you know, I do still go and drink once in a while. It's nothing like that. It used to be, that's for sure. So you've always got that, you know, like, almost like a shrine to your accomplishment there.

[B]

It's a good conversation starter, I bet, too.

[A]

Definitely. Definitely.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

People love to See my terrarium room, that's for sure. A lot of people don't even know I have it.

[B]

Oh, really? Well, now they do. You're blowing up now.

[A]

Now they'll know.

[B]

Now you got what, millions of views every day coming in?

[A]

Yeah, yeah, probably. You know, I went from like 2 or 3,000 followers on Facebook to like 175,000 in a couple months.

[B]

Holy crap.

[A]

Insane.

[B]

So Facebook's where this took off.

[A]

Instagram first.

[B]

Instagram.

[A]

Instagram first. I had a video I. I found out with like the short form content. It worked really well when I would showcase something where you didn't really know it was happening at first.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Yeah. A little curiosity and then you just got to deliver after.

[B]

You got me good on that one. I think you had the poison dart frog close up at first. And then I was like, what the. And then you were like, yeah, I built this.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, that's how you gotta do it. And then also I ruffled some feathers with the aquarium purists.

[B]

Oh, you got some beef.

[A]

You know, I made a video. It's kind of like light hearted, but they took seriously as like five reasons why terrariums are better than aquariums. And.

[B]

Wow. I didn't know there was a beef there with the team.

[A]

There is now, apparently.

[B]

Wow. People are very passionate about their aquariums.

[A]

They are.

[B]

Yeah. I've seen people drop five figures on one single aquarium.

[A]

Yeah, they get, they get insane out there. Once I, you know, I obviously don't want to stay in Cleveland forever.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It's just where I ended up. Because of the roofing industry, they have very favorable roofing codes. So you can kind of take it to the insurance.

[B]

Got it, got it.

[A]

But if this continues to, you know, work out the way it has, then I, I'm going change career paths.

[B]

I'm sure you could start. Do people sell these? Like, is that a business?

[A]

Yeah, I get asked a lot. The only problem is I got to figure out how I would ship them.

[B]

Right. That'd be very difficult to ship, I'm sure.

[A]

Like, it might have to be a you got to come pick it up type of thing and drive it.

[B]

Yeah. You might have to start local at first.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And then figure that out.

[A]

That's kind of what I'm thinking. You know, and maybe down the road, if it really gets popular enough, I'd love to do something kind of like that show tanked back in the day. I don't know if you ever saw that.

[B]

I heard of it. I was very young, I think when it when it was airing.

[A]

I love that show. I was. They would always go in there and build huge custom tanks for, like, famous people.

[B]

Oh, like fish tanks?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

You should bring that back for terrarium.

[A]

That's what I'm thinking. Like, rerun it.

[B]

Dude, that'd be sick. I'm sure people would want to. Want to have one, you know, a really cool one.

[A]

Yeah. And that. That would be the best thing ever. Yeah, I could film it, too.

[B]

No, that'd be dope, man. Imagine having one at the studio.

[A]

Yeah, exactly. Oh, you're gonna.

[B]

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[A]

Yeah, that's correct.

[B]

Let's go.

[A]

Yeah. You don't even need a license.

[B]

I don't need a license. You also have made. Let's dive in. I'm trying to pronounce this right. Polidarium.

[A]

Polydariums.

[B]

Polydariums.

[A]

Yeah, we can go over that now.

[B]

Yeah. So what's the difference with that and a terrarium?

[A]

All right, so a terrarium is going to be just a land section. So you've only got a visible land area. I mean, all of them are going to have what's called a false bottom or a drainage layer, which is where that water accumulates. Apollo. Darium is a terrarium with a designated water section.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

So, like, you could build. I mean, I've. I've seen them where they've got fish in the bottom of them if they're big enough.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

But that gives you a huge option of different types of animals to put in that you wouldn't be able to with just a terrarium. Like the vampire crabs, for example.

[B]

Right.

[A]

So essentially, you're going to build the drainage layer, but leave a section open.

[B]

Okay. Because I know one of your top videos is the Volcano Island.

[A]

Yeah, that was the one that I built when I got sober.

[B]

Oh, that was your first one.

[A]

Or at least, you know, got my habits in check. So that one, it just was, like, a little idea that I had that would be cool to take some dragonstone. And I built, like, an acrylic tower out of acrylic glass that I put the tubing and the pump into for my water feature.

[B]

And.

[A]

And I just thought it would be cool to take some different rocks and attach them to it and then hit the seams with. I'm sorry, hit the seams with clear silicone. And then I put red LEDs behind it so it shines through those.

[B]

That's sick.

[A]

Yeah. So it looks like a volcano.

[B]

Like, sick.

[A]

And then I put a fog machine at the top so it spills out smoke, too.

[B]

That's badass, dude. Yeah, that was. That was a cool video.

[A]

It was just. I just went a little. Little different. Veered off the course of trying to make it look natural.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But I ended up. I had fish in there for a while, but then I ended up taking an opportunity to go work a hail storm for roofing in Florida.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

And I brought that thing with me. So I re homed the fish and ended up putting my first poison dart frogs in that one.

[B]

Oh, sick. They let you bring it on the plane?

[A]

Oh, no. I drove down.

[B]

Oh, okay.

[A]

That thing was way too big. It took me and, like, a couple of people to lift it into a U Haul.

[B]

Oh, so we're talking like, hundreds of pounds.

[A]

It's a big boy.

[B]

Damn.

[A]

I bet you it weighs, like, 300 pounds.

[B]

Wow. That is not. That's intense. Wow.

[A]

It's like. Gosh. I don't have the exact measurements, but it's at least four feet tall.

[B]

Holy. How long did that take you to build that one?

[A]

Definitely took me the longest. I think it was, like, 30, 40 minutes a day for four, five weeks.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

But there's also, like. If you're building the bigger terrariums, there's curing processes for some of the materials, like.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Silicone, for example, or one of the products I use is called expanding foam. It's great stuff. Expanding foam. And it's pond and stone safe. It's, like, made specifically to fill in gaps in between ponds.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

But you can use it in a terrarium to build out your backdrop. So that's one of my preferred methods, actually, is to spray the spray foam and then carve it down to make it look how I want. And then I'll layer that with aquarium safe silicone and a mixture of coco peat and sphagnum moss, which gives it a backdrop that I can then attach, like, moss or plants or whatever.

[B]

That's cool.

[A]

One of my favorite ways to actually make a terrarium look really cool and natural. Once again, Frog daddy. I go there. He's got a wet moss mix, and it does all the hard work for you. So it's got, like, 13 different types of mosses and little micro ferns. And a terrarium, especially a bigger one, has a bunch of little microclimates in it, so it'll automatically grow the best suited moss for each little microclimate in your terrarium.

[B]

Holy crap.

[A]

Yeah, that's cool. Makes it super simple for you.

[B]

Yeah. Does frog Dottie make these too? Or he just sells this?

[A]

He makes it?

[B]

Yeah, he makes it.

[A]

Makes that stuff in home.

[B]

Nice. What's the biggest terrarium you've seen? Like, how many. How many feet? How big was it?

[A]

I think it was at a mall. At a mall, but I forget where I was. It was obvious. It was definitely not Cleveland. I want to say it was in Miami.

[B]

Hmm.

[A]

Possibly. But it was in, like, a really bougie mall, and they had, like, a. There's like, at least a one and a half stories tall. It was next to, like, the escalators.

[B]

Holy crap. Yeah. Yeah. I'm gonna look up some videos tonight of, like, cool ones.

[A]

I was like, man, I'd love to do that.

[B]

Yeah, I'm sure you'll get there, man. You're just a couple months in, already getting a lot of views. Was there someone doing this before you that was, like, blowing up on social media?

[A]

Yeah, for sure. There's been, like. I started this about three years ago, or at least. I mean, honestly, I. I think I would have started researching this right about three years ago.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

I started building my first terrarium in the winter, so.

[B]

And did you document the first one or.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, that's a volcano. Darium build that's got. I've got the full video up on YouTube.

[B]

That's smart that you did that.

[A]

Yeah, I just thought it'd be cool to, like, document. I thought maybe, like, someone. Some people Might like it, but I didn't think I'd get this kind of traction, honestly.

[B]

Yeah. Millions, man. That's crazy.

[A]

It's crazy. Honestly, I. I'm actually really surprised by it.

[B]

Yeah, well, it's. It's unique, right?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Like, it's not something you see every day.

[A]

Absolutely.

[B]

Yeah. It's kind of like. But you said it's been around for 80 years. You met someone that had an 80 year old.

[A]

I saw it online. This guy had one that was closed.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And opened it for 80 years.

[B]

It was nuts.

[A]

All green in there.

[B]

I want to see that one too. We'll have to throw up a photo of that one. Also, there are vivariums.

[A]

So vivariums is just an all in compassing term. So you've got your basic, I want to say four different types. You've got your aquarium, which is just under, you know, water. Everything's underwater. You've got a riparium, which is like a fish tank, but you've got plants growing on top of it, mainly just rooting into the water. Or some people will try to make it look like you're like the. Like the edge of a stream. Almost like if you were to just take like a piece of the stream right where the water and the land sections meet, cut it out and put it in a.

[B]

Okay. Like a waterfall section.

[A]

Like. Like just think of like a river bank.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Where the water meets the land. Oh. Just cut that section out and put it in an aquarium.

[B]

Got it.

[A]

It's mainly water with a little land at the top. A polydarium is going to be mainly land with a section of water. And then your terrarium is just land with the drainage layer. But they all, you know, have drainage.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

So vivarium is just like the encompassing term.

[B]

Oh, for all four.

[A]

Yeah. Some people I've. Other people say that vivariums as if you're just doing plants without animals because, you know, you. You can keep them in a super high humidity environment. So that gives you the opportunity to have more exotic plants.

[B]

Got it. Are there any animals you really want to work with? Trying to figure out how to plug these in.

[A]

Honestly, if I can. If I can get myself some property, I'm planning on one day doing like a biodome. And I want to have like dwarf caymans.

[B]

What's up?

[A]

They're like mini crocodiles. Alligator looking things.

[B]

You're gonna go like. Like Mike Tyson. Yeah, Mike Tyson out here had a couple of those.

[A]

Oh, really?

[B]

Was it. No, it was lions. My bad. Lions. Lions. That was nuts. Who. Someone had croc. Oh, the drug dealer. He had alligators. What was his name? He had so many. He had alligators and hippos. Blanking out on the name.

[A]

But I remember seeing, like, obviously we've all seen Tiger King.

[B]

Yeah, there was that one try to get him on the podcast.

[A]

Oh, no kidding.

[B]

He's still in jail and was trying to do it, but you can only do 10 minute calls.

[A]

Oh, I was gonna say, like, maybe you could do a zoom meeting.

[B]

No, I had to be voice call. Couldn't do zoom.

[A]

That would be so crazy to hear.

[B]

Well, there's been a lot of jail podcasts recently.

[A]

Really?

[B]

Patrick bet David, if you know him, he just interviewed someone big from. From prison. I forget. Suge Knight.

[A]

Oh, really?

[B]

Yeah. But they had to do 10 minute calls and he had to do parts.

[A]

No kidding.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Well worth the challenge.

[B]

Yeah. So that's gonna be a thing now. Yeah.

[A]

Well, I can't wait to see the Tiger King interview.

[B]

Yeah, we'll see. I. I tried getting his ex, Carol.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But she said she's never doing another interview again.

[A]

Really?

[B]

She's done?

[A]

It's like that, huh?

[B]

She said everything she needed to say has been said and she's at peace with it.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And her lost boyfriend turned up, so like all.

[A]

I didn't even know that.

[B]

Oh, you didn't know that?

[A]

No. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

When I was watching that, I was like, she killed the out.

[B]

Yeah. I thought he. I thought 100 she killed him. But no, he turned up like a year or two ago.

[A]

No way.

[B]

I was shocked.

[A]

I gotta look into that now. I gotta.

[B]

Yeah, I was actually, like, baffled.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I was 100 convinced she killed that guy for sure.

[A]

Like, no doubt in my mind.

[B]

It's such an ideal setup to, like, if you want to murder someone, just have a bunch of animals and.

[A]

Yeah. And she was talking about, like, how she would do it in one. In one section. She's like, they, you know, I wouldn't spray perfume, I'd spray sardine oil.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So she said how I would commit the murder.

[B]

Yeah. She's innocent, man. But no, that's cool. I hope. Hope one day you could get some gators. That'd be dope.

[A]

Yeah, they're like, they only get like three feet.

[B]

Oh, so they can't kill you.

[A]

They're the smallest by far. Oh, God. Of the species.

[B]

Yeah. I want to get a dwarf pig or cow, but apparently they just keep growing. I don't know.

[A]

Oh, really? Oh, no kidding. My friend in Texas just got some, like, mini cows and they stay that.

[B]

Size or you just got them? Okay, let me know next year.

[A]

I'll report back.

[B]

Yeah, report back to me.

[A]

I'll be like, they're huge.

[B]

Yeah. Pigs and cows are so freaking cute, dude.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Like, I just want one in my. In my bed just to cuddle with.

[A]

Literally. I only, like. As far as pork goes, I'm down to just bacon now because I feel bad.

[B]

I. I try not to eat pork, to be honest, man.

[A]

I just. Sometimes you just can't. I can't help myself with bacon, dude.

[B]

Those. In Jersey, they call it pork, egg roll and cheese.

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

So good. Oh, my God. On a bagel.

[A]

Nice.

[B]

Yeah, you should try one day.

[A]

So you're. I didn't even know you were from Jersey.

[B]

East coast.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Yeah, I'm out here in the west now. Don't feel like I fit in entirely, but it's all good. Yeah, it's hard to do a podcast in Jersey, I bet. Yeah, I bet. But podcast in Cleveland might even be harder. Shots fired.

[A]

Hey, I'm not. I'm in. I'm impartial, too. I just happen to live there.

[B]

Get your bag. Yeah, get your bag. I understand that. I understand. You got to be in certain parts to make some money and then.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Build up some net worth and get out of there.

[A]

Exactly. Honestly, I'm gonna look at. You know, I'll try to find a state somewhere where I can build out, like, a property with a bunch of different things.

[B]

You need somewhere humid, right?

[A]

Not necessarily. I mean, I can control the environment in the biodomes if I build them.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

That's what I want to do. Two of the main things I want to do. One, build large terrariums down the road.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

For people that hire me directly, and then document the process. And then also just, like, build my own freestanding little buildings that are their own biodome in each one.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And, like, do it on, like, a. Like, the scale of, like, this room.

[B]

Well, I'll get you started, man. I just added you to the WhatsApp chat with all the previous guests of the show.

[A]

Sweet.

[B]

So type in there. See if anyone wants one of these things.

[A]

The digital social hour. Yeah, I've been. I've been seeing that.

[B]

Yeah. So just type in there. We'll have a photo of this. It's already. Is this condensation?

[A]

Yeah, that's already the water condensate. And then also, like, the leaves from when the plants start to root into that water level.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

They'll draw water from the. From the bottom and Then they'll, you know, evaporate out, condensate.

[B]

So you don't want to ever shake this. Right.

[A]

You can see the springtail. One of them made its way across the glass there.

[B]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[A]

No, you don't ever need to do anything there. Just keep it closed. Make sure it gets some sunlight. Maybe like once every other week, if you want to. So it's really just, you know, you don't have to. But just turn it a little bit.

[B]

Oh, turn it. So the sunlight hits a little different.

[A]

Exactly. But you don't even have to do that, realistically.

[B]

That's cool, man. Well, dude, where could people find you and potentially get one of these off, you wonder?

[A]

I'm on Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok. I just made an X. I got like, 52 followers. So follow me there. I need some numbers, and that's going to be alternate aquatics for all of them.

[B]

Awesome. Yeah, thanks so much, man. We'll keep this out the studio.

[A]

Absolutely. Appreciate being here, man.

[B]

Yeah, have a good one. Check them out, guys. I'll see you next time. Peace. I hope you guys are enjoying the show. Please don't forget to like and subscribe. It helps the show a lot with the algorithm. Thank you.