# Roach (or Mantid) Display - 12" X 12" Planted Exo Terra



## hydrophyte (Jun 18, 2012)

*Roach (or Mantis) Display - 12" X 12" Planted Exo Terra*

*Roach (or Mantis) Display - 12" X 12" Planted Exo Terra*

This is a new little project that I have a good start on, but I am still trying to figure out livestock selection. I am mainly a plant hobbyist and first and foremost I want to develop this as a nice planted display. I have pondered some kind of small herp, but don't haven't found any that appeal to me very much. The setup might not be very good for most kinds of dart frogs--pictures below will detail the setup--so I wonder about instead using some kind of small roach.

The setup is a "Forest Floor" terrarium that uses this false bottom plate to hold planter pots. As such it does not have any substrate layer to speak of, but the bottom will be covered with natural leaf litter. It is thus unsuitable for animals that like to dig.







In addition to some plants planted into the bottom I also made this manzanita feature to position in the middle of the layout. The manzanita branches are mounted to a 1/4" plastic plate suspended from the enclosure top plastic rim.







Here it is in the enclosure.







I wanted to plant the manzanita with some small epiphytic plants, so I wrapped some long-fibre sphagnum moss around the pieces facing toward the front that would be in the brighter light.







And here it is planted.













To finish up the planting I positioned a few small terrestrial plants in the bottom, then covered that false bottom assembly with leaf litter.







I'd love to hear any ideas you might have for livestock selection. Those miniature epiphytic ferns planted on the manzanita require very high humidity (90%+) all the time, so I will keep this closed up and with misting every day. I might have considered a small tarantula for it, but it will be too wet. What about using a small pet roach species? It would be great to select one that might be a bit more inclined to walk around and not hide while the lights are on. It would need to be pretty small and light to avoid destructive trampling of those little ferns. I considered trying a mantis of some kind too. There are a few potentially good choices among the "Climbing Pet Roaches" in the Roach crossing online store...

http://www.roachcrossing.com/climbingpetroaches.htm

I already have a small culture (no adults yet) of _Gyna lurida_ nymphs that I bought there. I wish there were better descriptions of size and care information there. Does anybody have any experience with some of the less common species there?

Thanks for reading. I'll be interested to hear any suggestions at all.

Reactions: Like 2 | Creative 1


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## Beardo (Jun 18, 2012)

Thats an awesome display for ANY bug lucky enough to live there! Good job!


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## hydrophyte (Jun 18, 2012)

Thanks! Like I said I think it's going to be too wet for a tarantula, so I hope I can figure out some other possibilities.


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## Dark (Jun 18, 2012)

That's absolutely incredible, I don't have any ideas what to put in there but I'm sure it's plenty good for most tarantulas and pretty much any roach. (although roaches might chew on some of the leaves)

Eric


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## hydrophyte (Jun 18, 2012)

Darkpredator said:


> That's absolutely incredible, I don't have any ideas what to put in there but I'm sure it's plenty good for most tarantulas and pretty much any roach. (although roaches might chew on some of the leaves)
> 
> Eric


Thank you. Yes I wondered about chewing. I hope there might be some roaches less inclined to do that(???). I really do think this will be too humid for a tarantula. It will be closed up and with almost 100% humidity all the time. I do plant to install a small CPU fan to keep the air blowing around. Those little epiphytes grow a lot better if you give them a bit of a breeze.


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## Wadew (Jun 18, 2012)

That would be a sweet set for Dart frogs.

                                       -Wade


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## Tenodera (Jun 18, 2012)

Humidity can sometimes be dangerous for mantids if it allows bacteria to get out of control. That said, a mantid or mantids may be one of the best insect choices for this setup. You could do some research on mantid forums to find the species which do best in those conditions.
Small, active, nonburrowing roaches like Pseudomops or Parcoblatta or maybe even Elliptorhina could be worth trying. But yeah, they might nibble the decorations.


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## hydrophyte (Jun 18, 2012)

Wadew said:


> That would be a sweet set for Dart frogs.
> 
> -Wade


Thanks! I did think about dart frogs, but I think I want to use some kind of bug instead. 



Tenodera said:


> Humidity can sometimes be dangerous for mantids if it allows bacteria to get out of control. That said, a mantid or mantids may be one of the best insect choices for this setup. You could do some research on mantid forums to find the species which do best in those conditions.
> Small, active, nonburrowing roaches like Pseudomops or Parcoblatta or maybe even Elliptorhina could be worth trying. But yeah, they might nibble the decorations.


I will have to ask around about mantises some more. I already have a little group of _P. paradoxa_ nymphs on the way with a trade that I arranged yesterday. A roach would be nice but like I said I really want to maintain and grow that planting so I don't want to use any plant eaters. I have a couple of _Elliptorhina javanica_ and whenever I put kale and other greens in their enclosure they eat it right away.


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## hydrophyte (Jun 19, 2012)

Well it looks like I will be putting a small group of _Phyllocrania_ in here. I have some coming in the mail via a trade. I hope that they can travel well in this heat.

It will be very humid in this enclosure, but I am going to install a ventilation fan so I hope I can keep it fresh inside.


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## EbonyKatana1664 (Jun 19, 2012)

1- That setup is hardcore.
2- Try lots of phasmids, namely those Giant Prickly Stick Insects. Phasmids would use that to full advantage as they are communal and they are super neat to watch. Mantids are aslo awesome but not as communal and way overbalanced by that amazing setup/vivarium.
3- I need to get an amazing setup like yours, incredible.

EDIT: I should read the whole thread before posting, sorry. Make sure to keep em well fed or they'll kill each other anyways.


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## hydrophyte (Jun 19, 2012)

EbonyKatana1664 said:


> 1- That setup is hardcore.
> 2- Try lots of phasmids, namely those Giant Prickly Stick Insects. Phasmids would use that to full advantage as they are communal and they are super neat to watch. Mantids are aslo awesome but not as communal and way overbalanced by that amazing setup/vivarium.
> 3- I need to get an amazing setup like yours, incredible.
> 
> EDIT: I should read the whole thread before posting, sorry. Make sure to keep em well fed or they'll kill each other anyways.


Hey thanks! I am in the United States, so I cannot legally keep any non-native pet phasmid. I would also worry about a walking stick munching on those delicate little (expensive!) plants. And a really big one would fill up the whole enclosure; it's the small Exo Terra and only 12" X 12" footprint.

This setup was pretty easy to make. The only more demanding part was arranging those manzanita branches in a way that I liked.


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## EbonyKatana1664 (Jun 19, 2012)

hydrophyte said:


> Hey thanks! I am in the United States, so I cannot legally keep any non-native pet phasmid. I would also worry about a walking stick munching on those delicate little (expensive!) plants. And a really big one would fill up the whole enclosure; it's the small Exo Terra and only 12" X 12" footprint.
> 
> This setup was pretty easy to make. The only more demanding part was arranging those manzanita branches in a way that I liked.


Oh well good luck, Phyllocrania are great and from what Ive gathered, one of the few communal mantids.


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## hydrophyte (Jun 20, 2012)

Here's another setup that I just started working on. This one is in an 18" X 18" X 24" Exo Terra at our local reptile specialty shop. It's a little bit difficult to see in this photo but you can get the general idea.







Those are pieces of Lake Superior driftwood on slate bases in there. I need to add some kind of plant to fill out the top left corner because it looks oddly empty there. I might mount a few _Neoregelia_ on the driftwood pieces and I might also bring over some larger terrestrial plants. 

They are going to put some kind of dart frog in there, but I am unsure of which species.


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## Bugs In Cyberspace (Jun 21, 2012)

Sadly, I have too many bugs to devote time to making (or attempting to make--Nice work, by the way!) nice setups like this. It's always impressive to see what can be accomplished. It seems to me that creating habitat cages like this is one of the neatest aspects of the pet bug hobby, but so few people really take the time. It almost doesn't matter what you put in there. It's already beautiful, especially if plants are your hobby. I think I'd be a plant guy too, if I had just an extra three hours in my day!

It seems to me that Gyna would easily move between the potted plants and the false bottom. They really like to burrow and would probably take advantage of any gaps. There also appear to be slits in the pots. I'm just trying to understand how this would work with Gyna.

Is Manzanita less likely to mold than other woods, or is this piece somehow treated to prevent mold?

Perhaps a non-burrowing species like Ornate Velvet Roaches would work. I don't know if they'd nibble the plants though. They also climb glass. I suppose that whatever lives in that tank should stay off the glass. We're not really supposed to notice it and the underside of a bug on the glass would really shift our perspective away from the decor. Blaberus giganteus or peppered roaches would look nice in there, though the nymphs are rather small and might also have burrowing issues.

I'd like to see some millipedes trucking around in a tank like that and even isopods to add another dimension to the ecosystem.


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## hydrophyte (Jun 21, 2012)

Bugs In Cyberspace said:


> Sadly, I have too many bugs to devote time to making (or attempting to make--Nice work, by the way!) nice setups like this. It's always impressive to see what can be accomplished. It seems to me that creating habitat cages like this is one of the neatest aspects of the pet bug hobby, but so few people really take the time. It almost doesn't matter what you put in there. It's already beautiful, especially if plants are your hobby. I think I'd be a plant guy too, if I had just an extra three hours in my day!
> 
> It seems to me that Gyna would easily move between the potted plants and the false bottom. They really like to burrow and would probably take advantage of any gaps. There also appear to be slits in the pots. I'm just trying to understand how this would work with Gyna.
> 
> ...


Hey thanks so much for looking that over. I had wondered about the _Deropeltis_. I saw your YourTube video of them and I imagined they might walk around in a setup like this. That might be OK if they climb glass. I would add just a few adult individuals to such a display and if they spent half their time climbing the wood features and half the time on the glass I think the effect would still be pretty cool. I would love to hear any other suggestions you might have for bugs to go into planted displays. 

I wondered also about roaches getting under the false bottom. For most species it would be best to just use adults as the display animals and not count on getting very good reproduction because nymphs might likely get trapped underneath. Do you think a _Gyna lurida_ could squeeze through an 1/8" gap?

---------- Post added 06-21-2012 at 02:57 PM ----------

Here's another shot to show the terrestrial plants a little bit better. That is a _Costus woodsonii_ spiral ginger right in the middle with a couple of _Pilea grandifolia_ on the left. I am trying to figure out what the fern is.


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## Arianji (Jun 25, 2012)

I must say that is a very beautiful enclosure.  I keep a lot of epiphytes in the terrarium with my whites tree frog, he doesn't bother them at all, but they would quickly sit on those little ferns. Since your looking for something more crawly how about a true spider? Their are lots and lots of species to choose from for color and size, and a lot of them enjoy high humidity. I live in MS and it gets unbearably hot and humid this time of year, yet the spiders still spin all day long. I doubt you would want your branches mucked up with cob webs from cellar spiders or something like that, but what about a small orb weaver? Their webs are intricate and beautiful, and I think they like the humidity because they are always spinning over my koi pond. 

http://www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.asp?identification=Venusta-Orchard-Spider

This is the species I see the most over/around my koi pond, they're small, pretty, and their webs are not incredibly large, but they are beautiful in structure. With them being such a small spider you could even still incorporate isopods and/or small roaches


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## hydrophyte (Jun 25, 2012)

Arianji said:


> I must say that is a very beautiful enclosure.  I keep a lot of epiphytes in the terrarium with my whites tree frog, he doesn't bother them at all, but they would quickly sit on those little ferns. Since your looking for something more crawly how about a true spider? Their are lots and lots of species to choose from for color and size, and a lot of them enjoy high humidity. I live in MS and it gets unbearably hot and humid this time of year, yet the spiders still spin all day long. I doubt you would want your branches mucked up with cob webs from cellar spiders or something like that, but what about a small orb weaver? Their webs are intricate and beautiful, and I think they like the humidity because they are always spinning over my koi pond.
> 
> http://www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.asp?identification=Venusta-Orchard-Spider
> 
> This is the species I see the most over/around my koi pond, they're small, pretty, and their webs are not incredibly large, but they are beautiful in structure. With them being such a small spider you could even still incorporate isopods and/or small roaches


That's a great idea! It would be fun to do some research and experimentation to find the species that spin webs with the best size and shape for various kinds of enclosures. 

I am also interested in figuring out methods that are reproducible. I'd like to find out more about potentially maintaining some of these spiders as captive colonies.


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## Arianji (Jun 26, 2012)

Well that species I showed you the females and males seem to stay close. The female usually has a larger web with a male in a smaller web just a few inches away. So they might be possible to breed in captivity. If any enclosure was nice enough to promote captive breeding it would be yours.


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## Entomancer (Jun 26, 2012)

Wow, that's a really impressive vivarium.

I was trying to think of things to put in it too, and the huntsman spider H. boiei is a large spider from Malaysia that comes from a very humid habitat. I've seen at least one person here who was selling them at one point, and I know of another member here who has one.

Did I mention that the males are a stunning green color?  OwO







I've never kept one, but I've heard that they're lightning-fast when they want to be, so I guess I'd be careful about that. Perhaps installing some extra cover of some sort would make them feel more secure?


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## hydrophyte (Jun 26, 2012)

LordRaiden said:


> Wow, that's a really impressive vivarium.
> 
> I was trying to think of things to put in it too, and the huntsman spider H. boiei is a large spider from Malaysia that comes from a very humid habitat. I've seen at least one person here who was selling them at one point, and I know of another member here who has one.
> 
> ...


That looks really cool, but I wonder if it would be too big for this setup(?). This is just the 12" X 12" X 18" Exo Terra.


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## hydrophyte (Jun 27, 2012)

Arianji said:


> Well that species I showed you the females and males seem to stay close. The female usually has a larger web with a male in a smaller web just a few inches away. So they might be possible to breed in captivity. If any enclosure was nice enough to promote captive breeding it would be yours.


I wonder if that spider occurs here in Wisconsin(??). It sure would be interesting to try to establish captive colonies of native spiders.

---------- Post added 06-27-2012 at 12:28 AM ----------

I did a quick search and apparently the most recent FS thread here on arachnoboards for the H. boiei is from two years ago...

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?176673-Heteropoda-boiei-slings!%28Malaysian-Green-Huntsman%29&highlight=Heteropoda+boiei


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## hydrophyte (Jun 27, 2012)

I was looking through my folders and ran into this other shot from before I added the leaf litter and with a different perspective.







I am working on this thing some more today so I might have new pictures to share a bit later on. I just called our local glass shop to get a little piece of 1/8" glazing for the top.


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## Arianji (Jun 27, 2012)

It says on the insectID that the orchard spiders occur into Wisconsin. Other than backyards I find these spiders naturally in deep woods, where they also occur around water sources. (usually I find them face to face as I walk through their low hanging webs)


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## Entomancer (Jun 27, 2012)

hydrophyte said:


> I did a quick search and apparently the most recent FS thread here on arachnoboards for the H. boiei is from two years ago...


There are other people who have them. Exopet posted pictures of one that he/she has in the true spider picture thread. I don't know what the availability of that species is at present, but some people around here still have them. 

Ken the Bug Guy's website had some for sale at one point too, it looks like. I also found some people who got some of them a few years ago here: 

scabies.myfreeforum.org/

The females apparently get pretty large, to nearly 8 inches in legspan, but the males are smaller...I know that other species of huntsman get around 4 or 5 inches in legspan at adulthood, so a male might work out if you're willing to find one...the only problem I see with this is that in order to keep them around, you'd need to breed them, and that might not be worth it just to have one male on display.


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## hydrophyte (Jun 27, 2012)

LordRaiden said:


> There are other people who have them. Exopet posted pictures of one that he/she has in the true spider picture thread. I don't know what the availability of that species is at present, but some people around here still have them.
> 
> Ken the Bug Guy's website had some for sale at one point too, it looks like. I also found some people who got some of them a few years ago here:
> 
> ...


Thanks. I think that a huntsman would really be too big to scale right with this little enclosure, but I am intrigued by them. Maybe I will have a bigger planted display to keep them in sometime down the road. If I were to take the time and expense to get a few I would definitely try to establish a breeding group with them. 

Do you know if they have any daytime activity, or are they more nocturnal? This could be an advantage of using a huntsman over a tarantula in a planted display if they might be more diurnal.


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## hydrophyte (Jun 29, 2012)

I just got my half-dozen _Phyllocrania_ 100% alive with the mail.


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## Entomancer (Jun 29, 2012)

Probably a good call with the roaches.

The H. boiei would have looked nice, but I don't know exactly how large they get...as for diurnal/nocturnal, they seem to be nocturnal but will sit out in the open on a vertical surface during the day (and with some epiphytic plant cover, H. boiei may feel safe enough to do this.)

The other thing I realized is that Huntsmen, when at rest, seem to prefer flat surfaces, and that Manzanita root is anything but; it would have been a shame to go to the length to get a cool spider like that and then find that it would just be uncomfortable all the time. 

You should keep us posted on the roaches; I'm curious as to whether they will munch the plants to death or if they will leave them alone with regular feedings.


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## hydrophyte (Jul 1, 2012)

Here's one of the little _P. paradoxica_ with the macro lens. This is just a young nymph only 1/2" or so long. 


Phyllocrania-paradoxica-1-VII-12-II-m by hidrofit


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## hydrophyte (Jul 16, 2012)

I just put together a new video that features this setup. It's kind of long and there is no sound, but you will get the general idea. I wan to edit it down to about 3:30 and add voiceover too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86La8BdX2BY&feature=plcp


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## hydrophyte (Jul 20, 2012)

These little epiphytes are growing! Especially the mini _Davalia_ on the middle branch. It already has several new leaves.


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## J Morningstar (Jul 21, 2012)

I'm glad that you didn't go with roaches  .. I think you would have a large veggie snack for roaches, if you kept them in there. Great setups.


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## hydrophyte (Jul 21, 2012)

You are right roaches would have just eaten these delicate little plants. I still do want to do a planted setup with roaches, but I will use larger and faster-growing plants.


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## J Morningstar (Jul 22, 2012)

hydrophyte said:


> You are right roaches would have just eaten these delicate little plants. I still do want to do a planted setup with roaches, but I will use larger and faster-growing plants.


if you ever find a plant that can grow that fast please let me know...   
I would love to finally have something live with them and not dissapear.


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## hydrophyte (Jul 22, 2012)

J Morningstar said:


> if you ever find a plant that can grow that fast please let me know...
> I would love to finally have something live with them and not dissapear.


It might also work to use plants that are unpalatable for the roaches.

Are there any roaches less likely to chew on plants?


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## hydrophyte (Jul 23, 2012)

I made another one of these manzanita features. This one has a different shape with a larger branch curving from the top center down to the lower right.







Here it is in the Exo Terra.


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## J Morningstar (Jul 23, 2012)

I definately don't know..I am surre therr are people here that do though.


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## hydrophyte (Aug 8, 2012)

I just formatted a new video featuring this setup to explain the Forest Floor terrarium concept. This is the short (~5:00) version video that I made using some clips that I had. I'll make a somewhat longer one with more detail sometime pretty soon. 

Thanks for watching!

Selva-New-Short-8-VIII-12 - YouTube


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## hydrophyte (Aug 19, 2012)

I got a few picture updates today! Here is detail of the planting up at the top of the manzanita.


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## hydrophyte (Aug 22, 2012)

I got another quick picture with the setup and that manzanita feature that I made for somebody else before I shipped it off. It looks kind of cool too with just the bare manzanita in there.

Reactions: Like 1


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## hydrophyte (Sep 6, 2012)

The little epiphytic ferns are growing in nicely. 







I'll try to get a shot of the whole enclosure tonight. I need to tidy it up a bit.


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## Risky (Sep 9, 2012)

What are species of plants you have in that setup?  I would like to purchase some plants like that but have no idea where to buy them or what they are.


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## J Morningstar (Sep 9, 2012)

http://www.blackjungleterrariumsupply.com/


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## hydrophyte (Sep 9, 2012)

Risky said:


> What are species of plants you have in that setup?  I would like to purchase some plants like that but have no idea where to buy them or what they are.


If you can give me some specifications on your setup (lighting, enclosure size, livestock, etc.) I can offer a few tips.


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## Risky (Sep 10, 2012)

hydrophyte said:


> If you can give me some specifications on your setup (lighting, enclosure size, livestock, etc.) I can offer a few tips.


I recently picked up a 55g tank from a Petco sale.  I have yet to put anything in it.  I'm wanting to choose all my plants and implement them before I decide to choose any pets.  So whatever I put in there will revolve around the plants.  One thing I know for certain I want is a waterfall which I will likely build myself.  So as of currently, it's a blank slate.  I saw your setup and wanted use to use portions of it for my setup.


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## hydrophyte (Oct 19, 2012)

The _P. paradoxica_ and the plants are still growing well and today I got a few pictures.







---------- Post added 10-19-2012 at 07:14 PM ----------

Here's a shot of the whole thing...







I monkeyed with the terrestrial area a bit more and I'm happy with it now. I added bright red fallen maple leaves and they make an excellent contrast with the green foliage and black background...

Reactions: Like 1


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## hydrophyte (Nov 10, 2012)

I have an adult ghost in here now. The largest individual molted one last time and now it's almost three times bigger than its siblings. I don't know why the others are so far behind(??). I need to move them out of this enclosure before they get eaten by the big one.


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## hydrophyte (Nov 15, 2012)

Here's that lone adult _P. paradoxica_.


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## 123rc123 (Jan 30, 2016)

hydrophyte said:


> *Roach (or Mantis) Display - 12" X 12" Planted Exo Terra*
> 
> *Roach (or Mantis) Display - 12" X 12" Planted Exo Terra*
> 
> ...



Greetings, I love your setup. How did you "plant" the small plants onto the wood piece? Do you ever get mold on the wood from the constant dampness? If so how do you get rid of it? Did you plant the small plants on the bottom of the tank while they were still inside their original pots? Or did you replant them? What substrate did you use? How did you change the color of the wood? Or is it just from the wetness? How did you attach the spagnum moss?


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