IKEA Millsbo Conversion to Tropical Bioactive Vivarium

Here's a step-by-step guide to convert an IKEA Millsbo Tall cabinet into a bioactive vivarium with automatic misting system.

I completed two of these conversions over a year ago, and still haven't settled on what animals to house inside them.

This size of enclosure would be great for any small tropical, arboreal species like a New Caledonian gecko, and would even be sufficient for a Leacheanus gecko, or arboreal frogs like Whites Tree Frogs.

Before You Start

I highly recommend having all your materials ready to go before you start your conversion. Having all your decor materials will allow you to make a design plan before you get started with spray foam.

How many cork panels you need will depend on how much of the background you want cork versus spray foam. You can skip the cork altogether if you prefer, I just enjoy the natural look and textural difference it provides.

Important Notes About Spray Foam Insulation

You will need several cans of spray foam. Get the regular version and not for large gaps and cracks. Large gap filler will result in too many holes when it comes time to shave it down, And yes, you MUST shave the shiny layer off the spray foam before you apply your drylok and silicone, or it simply will not adhere.

The Great Stuff Multipurpose Black foam looks nice, and can be used, but it expands much smaller than the regular foam. This means you will need SEVERAL more cans. I did use a can of black but kept it for the visible areas that won't be covered (i.e. the front seam of the cabinet doors).

Product Links

I've provided product links in the material list below so you can view the exact product to purchase. These links bring you to an Amazon affiliate link that would provide me with a commission. However, PLEASE SHOP AROUND! Amazon is often not the most cost effective shop to purchase these supplies. My two favourite local shops are Home Hardware and Canadian Tire.

Materials

• Clear or black 100% silicone and caulking gun (....a lot)

• Great Stuff Gaps & Cracks or Tite Foam Gaps and Cracks (...also a lot)

• Gorilla glue

• Half inch rigid foam insulation sheet

• Natural cork flats/panels

• Black acrylic panels (I was not able to find these locally and purchased on Amazon)

• Coir or cardboard fibre pots

• Flat rocks/slate flats as lightweight as possible

• Driftwood or reptile/aquarium wood

• Razor blade scraper & serrated paring knife  

• Drylok Masonry Waterproofer (Latex in grey, I could only find this at Home Hardware)

• Acrylic paint (natural colours; blacks and browns from Dollarama)

• Loose coco coir fibre (must be completely dry and not damp or wet) 

• L brackets/shelf brackets

• Power drill with screw and drill bits and 3" carbide hole saw

• Arcadia 24" UVB T5 Strip

• Barrina T5 grow light

• Heat lamp cage fixture

• Flat grow light panels

• Nano heat bulb

• Automatic misting system and additional spray heads & swing lid garbage bin

• 3" air vent soffits

• Computer fans (2)

• Full face respirator mask & gloves

• Moss vines

• Leca or gravel for drainage layer

• Lanscape fabric

• Tropical substrate mix and sphagnum moss

• Tropical plants

• 1/4 inch foam weatherstripping

• Clean up crew: isopods and springtails

• Black matte wallpaper

  
  

Design Considerations

Levels/Stories

You want to try to create different spaces and ledges while aiming for a naturalistic appearance. Use L-brackets or shelf brackets to position rock ledges to build areas out.

The Millsbo cabinets have glass backing which you cannot apply your materials directly to. Instead, you will apply a large sheet of foam insulation to the back inside of the cabinet. This can be attached with gorilla glue or PL premium.

Basking Area

The basking zone I created is close to the front left corner and utilizes various moss vines to create a basking area for my tree skinks. You could instead position the basking light over top of the rocks or build the rocks out further in your design.

Planters

Position planters around the cabinet to ensure you will have ample space for upper level greenery. Ensure the location of the pots is accessible to light and watering. If the pots are tucked in too deep for the spray nozzles to reach, you will have to remember to manually water these plants.

Climbing

Ensure you have plenty of climbing areas, either through positioning of wood or with vines. Plants will also help with this.

Prep the Cabinet

Ensure the cabinet is clean and dry without using any harsh cleaners. Remember, you'll be adding living creatures to this soon.

Seal Seams

Silicone all seams inside of the cabinet. Silicone dries quickly, so work in small sections and use a respirator to protect yourself from the strong fumes when wet. On the front of the cabinet, you may choose to use Great Stuff Black Multipurpose for a more aesthetic look (I am personally horrible at applying silicone and found this easier).

Drill Holes for Vents and Lighting

The hardest part of these conversions is drilling large holes in the top of the cabinet for vents and to run your lighting wires. You want to do this before you complete the inside to avoid metal shavings going into your cabinet.

You cannot use wood hole-saws on metal - the teeth will just wear down (take it from me). You will need a special carbide hole saw, and it is a difficult process that takes quite a bit of strength.

Alternatively, if you do not want to purchase a carbide hole saw (which can be pricey), you can instead use your power drill and bits to create a large outline of circle with smaller holes, like creating a perforated outline. Then use wire/metal cutters to cut out your circle. This will not create a nice clean circle, but when you insert the soffits you won't see the unappealing edges, and you can use silicone afterwards to ensure no sharp edges inside the cabinet.

You will need 1 x 3-inch holes (for vents) and 1 x 2-inch hole (for lighting and misting wires) on the top of the cabinet.

Consider where your lighting will be plugged in, and install a 2 inch hole on the inside corner closest to your outlet. Place the hole a few inches out from the back to give space for your background installation.

Drill holes to attach the brackets of your UVB lighting and T5 grow light inside of the cabinet.

Drill a hole to where you will hang the basking cage fixture.

I recommend installing one vent in a front corner and one in a back corner on the opposite side of your lighting. This will allow for the best circulation of airflow within the cabinet. The soffits linked above will fit nicely into a 3inch hole. To address any sharp edges inside the cabinet, go over seam with silicone.

You can install your misting system now or wait until the end. Wait until the end to install your flat grow light panels, which will be placed on the outside walls of the cabinet.

Lay Cabinet Flat

Lay the cabinet flat on its back.

Install the Back Panel

Glue the rigid foam insulation sheet to the inside back of the cabinet.

Install Acrylic Panels

You need to create a basin for your substrate, which is what the acrylic panels are used for. Using gorilla glue and something to prop them up from the inside (I used small pieces of driftwood), place your panels flat across the bottom entrance of the cabinet. Small seams can be filled afterwards with silicone or spray foam.

Install L Brackets

Using gorilla glue, attach the brackets onto the rigid foam insulation to create a support for your basking surfaces and to create spaces to hold your planters.

Place Permanent Decor Features

Using gorilla glue, install your cork background panels. You may need to place something heavy on top of the panels while the glue dries to ensure they stay flat.

TIP place the cork panels over top of the L brackets to create more support.

Also using gorilla glue, place your rocks, planters, and wood features where you want them to stay. Glue them in place with gorilla glue (does not need to be perfect but will help hold in place for spray foam application).

Allow glue to dry for at least 12 hours before starting with spray foam.

Spray Foam Time

Spray foam is messy and sticky. Wear gloves and old clothing, and have some paper towel on hand. It also dries quickly, so make sure you have time to use your full can without being interrupted. Otherwise, the foam will dry inside of the application tube.

Create Support Foundations

Now for the creative part! Using spray foam, you will gently create the background for your enclosure, and build up the sections that will support your heavier features like rocks and branches.

Planters

You want to use spray foam to go around the outside of all your planter pots to create a built-in look. The foam will support your plants. You can also put some spray foam on the inside, but it's not necessary. We will go over everything with Drylok afterwards.

Secure Base

Apply layer of spray foam around all edges of the base of the cabinet, going up the sides and seams of the panels you installed. This will prevent leaks and a create a strong structure to hold the substrate (and will prevent the acrylic panels from being pushed out).

Shave the Shiny

Once you are happy with the spray foam application and it has fully dried (24hrs), it's time to carve the spray foam to finish your design and ensure the Drylok and silicone will stick. Silicone and drylok WILL NOT adhere to the spray foam if the top layer is not removed. Many people recommend using the razor blades for this, however I much preferred a small serrated fruit knife.

It is time consuming, put on a good podcast or audiobook and get in the zone.

Drill drainage holes in your planters so that they will not hold water.

Waterproofing

Drylok or Silicone

The hard part is over! Now you need to waterproof the background. You could skip Drylok entirely if you prefer to use a massive amount of silicone and coco coir fibre to finish the background. I prefer to use a combination of both of these methods with drylok as the base, which gives the design a natural stone look.

Using a paint brush, paint the drylok over the entire base of the cabinet and acrylic panels, and all over the spray foam. You may need several coats to ensure there is no spray foam visible.

Acrylic Paint

After you finish applying Drylok, create different colours by applying a mix of black and brown acrylic paint lightly over sections of the background.

Silicone and Coir

Ensure Drylok and paint are fully dry. Working in small sections at a time while wearing rubber gloves, apply a thick layer of silicone over the areas of the background where you want to apply coir. Smooth on the silicone, then press in the loose coir.

This step is not necessary if you use Drylok, but I find it provides very nice looking textural differences and helps hold more humidity.

Substrate and Plants

Allow a couple days for everything to fully dry and for fumes to dissipate.

Tropical vivariums require a drainage layer. Place a layer of leca or gravel along the bottom, for about 2 inches of coverage. Cover that with landscape fabric.

Fill the base with substrate and place your plants. Place your moss vines during this step to create structures for climbing or vining plants to attach to. If you are using a basking bulb, i recommend keeping all plants away from this area as they will dry and scorch. I made the mistake of placing my bromeliads too close to the basking light, which caused the bracts to bleach and dry out.

REMINDER - Ensure your plants have undergone quarantine and are pest and pesticide free. If you get a pest outbreak inside your tropical bioactive.....you'll have to undo all your hard work. Pesticide residue will kill your clean up crew and could seriously harm your reptiles.

Ensure your plants are accessible to light and moisture.

I attached some bromeliads and orchids to cork panels using coco coir as substrate and wrapped with natural twine. I then placed these in various areas of the enclosure after plants are put in the planters.

Recommended Plants for Tropical Bioactives

Great options include:

• Monstera Adansonii

• Monstera Peru

• Aglaonema

• Hoya

• Begonia

• Ficus

• Philodendron

• Orchids

• Bromeliads

• Airplants (Tillandsia)

After you place all your plants, use sphagnum moss and leaf litter around the enclosure to create humid pockets and a more hospitable environment for your isopods.

Clean Up Crew

Introduce your springtails and isopods. Isopods that work well in a tropical bioactive include: powder orange/blue, dairy cows, zebras. Some folks warn against using dairy cows in enclosures with pets, due to their voracious appetite and risk of chowing down on shedding pets. I personally have not had issues but make your own educated decisions. To cut down on any risk as well as to ensure your isopods thrive, ensure you feed your isopods regularly by adding small pieces of carrot, fish flakes or isopod food.

Automatic Misting

If you have not already done so, run your misting tubing through your lighting wire hole and zip tie along one of your lighting fixtures. Ensure you have enough misting heads to adequately mist the majority of the cabinet. You may consider running a piece of tubing down the cabinet, because lower areas will not be reached adequately by spray nozzles. Alternatively, you can manually water these areas.

I use automatic misting systems in all my tropical enclosures - you will end up with places that get dry and places that may get too wet. My solution is to rotate the heads slightly about once a week. I set my times to mist for about 30 seconds every 4-6 hours during lighting hours only (I connect them to the same on/off timer as my lighting). You can adjust this based on your needs.

Remember, you can add more water but you can't easily take water out. So start with less and add more as needed. Too much water will rot your plants and kill your isopods.

Lighting and Wallpaper

Tape your grow light panels to the outside sides of the cabinet so allow light to reach bottom storey plants.

Finish the look by applying black matte wallpaper over the sides to cover unsightly spray-foam, silicone, and light panels.

Final Thoughts

You will likely make adjustments in the coming weeks as your plants adjust to their new environment. I recommend waiting about a month before introducing your pet reptiles to ensure the enclosure requires no additional significant maintenance, as this can be harder to do once your pets are inside.