# need help planting my tanks



## Josh Perry (Jun 29, 2011)

hi i have 3 tarantulas G. rosea, H. lividum, an avic avic.
i have no idea how and what to plant currently i have some organic topsoil in my tanks. I would like to put plants in all of my tanks but if i can't thats ok too i guess lol. If you do give me some plant names please include scientific and common names and what they need to live.

thank you for your help =)
P.S. my tanks are 5 gallons


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## Stan Schultz (Jun 29, 2011)

Josh Perry said:


> hi i have 3 tarantulas G. rosea, H. lividum, an avic avic.
> i have no idea how and what to plant currently i have some organic topsoil in my tanks. I would like to put plants in all of my tanks but if i can't thats ok too i guess lol. If you do give me some plant names please include scientific and common names and what they need to live.
> 
> thank you for your help =)
> P.S. my tanks are 5 gallons


Exactly how many tarantulas have you had in your life?

For what period of time?


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## Josh Perry (Jun 29, 2011)

just the 3 and for about 9 months now


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## pavel (Jun 29, 2011)

A question like this came up not long ago.  A great deal depends on how much light you plan on giving the plants, how moist the environment will be kept, and how big the tanks/cages in question are.

Many plants, in order to stay healthy, require light far stronger than most people realize.  And that higher light can be an issue with raising the temp of the tank more than one wants.  Pothos are often used for low light conditions.  Will it thrive?  Probably not.  Will it stagger along and exist?  Probably a better chance than most other plants.


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## Josh Perry (Jun 29, 2011)

i read somewhere that pothos can be leathal if eaten by crickets and idk how that can afect my tarantulas but i have looked into it before


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## Fossa (May 28, 2013)

I would say keep at the tarantulas for now and use fake plants, living plants add a whole different set of factors into the mix when thinking about tarantula care, the last thing you need to worry about is having an angry old world in your care and need to be messing about with plants or potential mold issues. If you want to experiment with plants I would say set up a terrarium with no Ts in and get used to how things grow, what conditions work well etc, read plenty of gardening books and browse the dartfrog forums on growing tips (bearing in mind a lot of frog conditions are too humid for Ts) It's unlikely your T will be too worried about whether the plants are real so get yourself up to the green thumb ninja standard and then you know they will be happy and content in a planted tank. 

I don't mean this to sound like im putting you down or anything either, as planted tanks are great looking but small steps are always the best way forward. Good Luck with it!


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## edgeofthefreak (May 28, 2013)

So I have a couple of real plants in with my emperor scorpion. And I very much agree with Fossa that real plants add a different set of factors. For example, about 6 months ago I removed every bit of substrate (peat/coco fiber, 50/50 mix) and replaced it entirely. I then rinsed each plant in cold water, for at least 1-2 minutes. After about 2 weeks, I began to see centipedes and springtails again. At the moment, centipedes are winning the "war", as I see anywhere from 4-8 on a given day. But at times they are clearly outnumbered by the springtails...

My point is that unless you want an ecosystem, fake plants, especially the expensive silk ones, make for an easier terrarium to maintain. I definitely chose the randomness of a planted tank... heck, I get to see my 'pedes and 'tails more than my scorpion anyway!


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## josh_r (Jun 4, 2013)

edgeofthefreak said:


> So I have a couple of real plants in with my emperor scorpion. And I very much agree with Fossa that real plants add a different set of factors. For example, about 6 months ago I removed every bit of substrate (peat/coco fiber, 50/50 mix) and replaced it entirely. I then rinsed each plant in cold water, for at least 1-2 minutes. After about 2 weeks, I began to see centipedes and springtails again. At the moment, centipedes are winning the "war", as I see anywhere from 4-8 on a given day. But at times they are clearly outnumbered by the springtails...
> 
> My point is that unless you want an ecosystem, fake plants, especially the expensive silk ones, make for an easier terrarium to maintain. I definitely chose the randomness of a planted tank... heck, I get to see my 'pedes and 'tails more than my scorpion anyway!


most people that have any knowledge and experience in planted vivaria try to encourage springtails and other organisms to colonize the vivarium. Why would you go through all that trouble to get rid of sprintails and "centipedes" ¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿  They will keep your substrate clean.


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## Louise E. Rothstein (Jun 5, 2013)

Centipedes are predators...since predators rarely reproduce as rapidly as their prey does they are not likely to "come back" as quickly as,say, springtails do.
And they may not have tried:
Many "small centipedes" are something entirely else.

A good magnifier may show whether they are centipedes,millipedes,or otherpedes.

Please do inspect them effectively.

This could be interesting.


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## exokeeper (Aug 6, 2013)

Josh Perry said:


> hi i have 3 tarantulas G. rosea, H. lividum, an avic avic.
> i have no idea how and what to plant currently i have some organic topsoil in my tanks. I would like to put plants in all of my tanks but if i can't thats ok too i guess lol. If you do give me some plant names please include scientific and common names and what they need to live.
> 
> thank you for your help =)
> P.S. my tanks are 5 gallons


Right off the bat Planted tanks are more maintenance you gotta keep tabs of mold and other critters you may or may not want if you don't want mold you need to keep the substrate dry. If the t needs a good amount of oxygen rich humidity like your versi then that setup may not work. There are many factors to consider. Not saying pothos in the versis tank won't work. Just think about all possible outcomes before you make a decision; roots could rot, the plant could have chemicals in it etc. i would get isopods and make it as close to as natural as possible. go all out or dont do it at all. The h liviium like to borrow and will most likely dig around the roots and I wouldn't one of my burrowing species exposed to roots unless i was 1000% positive the plant was quarantined and is free of artificial chemicals. I would research how to clean plants to put in your tank or buy them off a natural grower. Once you have them clean I would plant them in a small pot and plant the pot in the sub. That's a real good way to keep the plant you can remove it easy or relocate it to another spot in the tank. Watering will be easier as well. Keep in mind the t's living needs not the plant. I'd go with pothos they require very little maintenance.


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## great mormon (Aug 7, 2013)

Hi there,

As the others have mentioned, adding live plants into your tank involves additional maintenance and problems.

As for your Ts, they each belong to a different distinct habitat.
G. rosea - New world terrestrial 
H. lividum - Old world burrower
avic avic - New world arboreal

New world terrestrial - I havent seen much enclosures being decorated with plants, perhaps just a segment of a creeper. Epipremnum aureum (Money Plant) can be used i guess... its hardy, requires little sunlight. But you have to take note that your 8 legged friend may do some interior design of its own, like piling up substrate on the plant, stepping on them to flatten them, etc.

Old world burrower - This environment will be easier to set up and manage. H lividum is a renown pet hole, so you can decorate the substrate without worrying too much about the T, which is sitting comfortable in its borrow. Note: your T will need to establish its home (burrow). What you can do here is to encourage it to make its burrow and then put the plants around it. Do not put the plants too close to the entrance of the burrow as the T will doing some digging and you dont want the substrate to pile on the plants. As for the plants... you can have a look at this thread.. http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?247118-Plants-in-your-Enclosure

New world arboreal - How about placing Bromeliads or Tillandsias on a corkbark? Try not to choose the spikey ones as they may hurt your T.


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## edgeofthefreak (Aug 7, 2013)

josh_r said:


> most people that have any knowledge and experience in planted vivaria try to encourage springtails and other organisms to colonize the vivarium. Why would you go through all that trouble to get rid of sprintails and "centipedes" ¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿  They will keep your substrate clean.


Ahhh yes, they WOULD keep my substrate clean, if it weren't for the near tidal wave of mold I had. About 1/3 of the enclosure was wrapped in a thick film of mold, which being attracted to light, wasn't in the burrow of scorpion. I'm trying to get that ecosystem back, but it's been tough so far. I should have kept a small amount of my old sub, to take critters from and add back into the new one. I was quite scared of taking that mold with me.

Really, I miss those little centipedes! (pretty sure they're just garden centipedes)


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## Louise E. Rothstein (Nov 12, 2013)

Most molds are not at all attracted to light.
Since most algae LOVE LIGHT IN CAPITALS your mold might have been at least partly algal.

Baby centipedes would not have eaten either.
They might have been eating (tiny) critters who would have.
And they might have all been too small for your scorpion.

But we will never know now.


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