Bio active Enclosure

Hi everyone I haven't been on here in awhile but I have a question. I was looking into bio active tanks, and was wondering if anyone had any experience with them. It looks like a cool idea to have springtails in the substrate being little cleaners and having a more natural looking tank. My friend has a bio tank for his pet toad and he says it was/ is the best choice he has ever made.

For those who have tried or are using one here are a few questions.

1. What substrate do you use and can your corn still burrow and do uth still work through it.
2. What kind of ground cover do you use and where do you get it. (Like logs and other hides, and maybe even organic matter to be eaten by the springtails)

3.I rather not have to get lighting for plants because, I have already spent a ton on uths but are live plants critical to having a bio active tank.

Thanks again for the responses in advance.

The Art of Keeping Snakes by Phillipe Vosjoli is written about this subject.

So I am in the process of setting up for a bioactive 40g tank for a wild garter snake. I'm using one of the kits at www.thebiodude.com. I really like his substrates, and the kits come with everything you need including a few plants and a really nice light. I only ordered the 29g kit since I'm doing a paludarium setup and have a sunray to light one side and provide UV, but this tiny 16" lamp is probably bright enough to light the whole thing. Supposedly with his Bioshot...stuff...you don't really need a clean up crew unless you don't want to pull out sheds and spot clean some poop. You'll still have to spot clean some urates I believe. But no, you don't have to use live plants if you don't want to.

I will post pics when I actually set it up.