New To cacti/succulents! Open to any tips!

[SoulLonely]

So I just bought some little cactus plants at my work. I used to have one or two when I kept plants while younger and I decided to start up again. If anyone has any care expertise they would like to share, that would be awesome. As well as letting me know what the plants I have are called (I will also be posting the pics over in the identification section).

I read about dormant during winter/fall and active during a few months of spring/early summer and they need more water/fertilizer during this active time.

The sources I searched on best soil mix where all different, so any input on that would be great

Here are the pics of the cacti and succulents:








I think this one might be a fairy castle cactus.












I call this the "butt plant", but found out it is a succulent named lithop, or "living stones."


So I was originally thinking of making a ten gallon terrarium kinda set-up with the cacti, but read that they need very good drainage, so I don't think that is going to work. They should all be in separate pots, right? I was going to set the pots in a ten gallon or larger tank so my cats will not try to get at the plants. Do the plants need actual UV light to grow? Because I know the double layer of glass will block out a lot of the rays even if I set it right by my window.

And probably some of the plants may have slightly different care, so after I get the correct names, I will be searching all that. Or if you guys know any differences off the top of you head, that will help to! Or any tips/suggestions in general would really be awesome

Thanks everyone for the help!

[CactusFanDan]

The amount of information you will find about soil mixes on the internet, in books or even just on here is scary. The bottom line is that you need to try a number of different soil mixes to find out what works best in your climate! The general consensus is to avoid using any pre-bagged cactus and succulent mixes without any alterations. Use a good proportion of aggregates to organic matter in your soil mix to help keep the mix free and airy. You want to provide the roots with quite a good air supply. Pumice, perlite, grit, LECAs and other aggregates are all good.

It's better to keep separate species in separate pots, as the different species will all have different requirements in terms of lighting, moisture, soil composition and nutrition. Terrariums are a bad idea.

It's a common misconception that plants need UV light to grow and the truth is that plants don't really need UV light for normal growth. UV can help certain plants to retain a more natural appearance, but it isn't necessary.

[sundanz]

Well, I'm new to Cacti too and I made some mistakes before joining this forum.I bought Cactus soil mix thinking it was good for my plants. Wrong! After reading many posts on this forum I realized I needed to add other matter to the soil to keep the mix airy. I then bought Perlite and made a 50/50 mix with the cactus soil, and then repotted all 40 plus plants. I also threw my watering can away because I like to water too much. Now all my plants are happy and dry, and my moisture meter lets me know if I need to add a little bit of water (with a spoon). All my cacti are outside in the sun to light shade.
This is wonderful forum with very knowledgable people who won't mind helping you!

Where are you located?