Biosphere Terrarium Project

[My Alias is B]

Howdy! I have made a similar post to the Myriapod forum as for help on this concept, but to reiterate, I am making a project for my AP environmental science for me and my class to study the effects of pollution on an ecosystem. This thread is a revised edition of the prior one, as before, I did not know the difference between live Sphagnum moss and Peat moss. So the setup has the following organisms;

• Lithobiomorpha Forficatus (Stone Centipede, Common Centipede, Brown Centipede)
• Trichorhina tomentosa (White Dwarf Isopod)
• Peperomia Pellucida (Shining Bush, Pepper Elder, Crab Claw Herb)
• Live Sphagnum moss (Peat Moss)
• Acheta domesticus (Brown Cricket, House Cricket)

My goal is to create a self-sustaining, extremely bioactive terrarium biosphere, then poison the population as stated prior to give an effective lesson on the subject as simply reading on the topic I believe makes it ineffective learning material. The roles satisfied by each organism helps create an active ecosystem, the Sphagnum moss is meant as the main to be the main source of humidity control and retains water so as to provide water for the insects to drink if necessary, It also provides a secondary food source to the Isopods and Crickets. The Crab Claw is the primary food source and helps produce oxygen alongside the Sphagnum, while also being incredibly nutritious for the Cricket, and attracting fungus for the Isopods to take care of when there is not even waste to consume. It also brings a plant not commonly seen by others and may help to be a springboard to study horticulture for certain people due to it's benefits to humans and ease of growth. The Isopods are the detritivores, while also serving as protein source for the other two if necessary while keeping the population stable making sure the population is healthy. The Crickets are the (in theory) keystone species in this environment. The Crickets curve everything except the centipede, as they can check the isopods, the crab claw herb, the moss, and even themselves! So although most of these creatures reproduce rapidly, the Crickets are a failsafe to keep everything in check. Finally the Stone centipede are the main method for keeping population down among the insects and make the overall package more interesting to people who find insects "icky".

The restrictions are as follows

• 300 dollars max budget
• Only have 2 glass tanks
• Finding some resources is discouraged, as to have a more standard environment (leaf litter is probably as good as it gets)
• Having a rather small starting population

The conditions are as follows

• Constant temperature of 70 degrees Fahrenheit
• High humidity
• Poor air flow (tank will be sealed)
• Attempted water cycle inside via transpiration from plants

Is this specific environment self sustainable? One tank will have a control group which will be allowed to persist, but the second tank will be poisoned. Persisting in tank A would mean that classes after mine would not have to use the same cash pool, maybe they could even improve it with a renewed 300 dollars, or even make a new project. This gives other people the chance to learn and do better for the environment by witnessing first hand what can happen, perhaps creating a interest in these fields to make a beneficial impact outside the classroom.

If there are any alterations to this required for it to be as educational, resourceful, and fascinating as possible, I am open to suggestions. Thank you for reading this.

 

[Malum Argenteum]

How large is the main enclosure? The fact that you're only including one vascular plant species suggests its pretty small, and I'll bet bigger is going to be better for population stability.

I've not bred crickets, but keeping them for any length of time usually goes a lot better with middling humidity and good ventilation. They're also likely to experience more "boom and bust" variations in population, which I'm assuming isn't a good thing for a keystone species in a small habitat area.

I've also never kept centipedes at all, but unless they're active underground predators, they're not going to eat many dwarf white isopods, which stay buried most of the time. Other isopod genera (Porcellionides, Armadillidium) stay on the surface more, and might fulfill the roles of both the dwarf isos and the crickets as you describe those roles. Perhaps swapping the Trichorhina and the crickets for springtails and a larger isopod species might be worth considering -- though you'd have to find a species that will tolerate the damp stagnant conditions you're intending, which may be something of a challenge.

I have a little sphagnum growing in a couple vivariums, and it seems to need a good amount of clean water and a lot of light. I've failed to grow it by intentionally planting it, but get some dry sphag sprouting where conditions are right (up top, near the lights and ventilation and misting nozzles). Might not thrive sealed up and only moderately illuminated, I don't know.

You've apparently put a lot of effort and knowledge into the choices you've made for the experiment, so please just take all this as just food for thought, and not authoritative pronouncements of any sort. It really sounds like a workable plan, at least in the broad outlines of it. Also, failures in parts of the experiment are going to be educational, too.

 

[My Alias is B]

How large is the main enclosure? The fact that you're only including one vascular plant species suggests its pretty small, and I'll bet bigger is going to be better for population stability.

I've not bred crickets, but keeping them for any length of time usually goes a lot better with middling humidity and good ventilation. They're also likely to experience more "boom and bust" variations in population, which I'm assuming isn't a good thing for a keystone species in a small habitat area.

I've also never kept centipedes at all, but unless they're active underground predators, they're not going to eat many dwarf white isopods, which stay buried most of the time. Other isopod genera (Porcellionides, Armadillidium) stay on the surface more, and might fulfill the roles of both the dwarf isos and the crickets as you describe those roles. Perhaps swapping the Trichorhina and the crickets for springtails and a larger isopod species might be worth considering -- though you'd have to find a species that will tolerate the damp stagnant conditions you're intending, which may be something of a challenge.

I have a little sphagnum growing in a couple vivariums, and it seems to need a good amount of clean water and a lot of light. I've failed to grow it by intentionally planting it, but get some dry sphag sprouting where conditions are right (up top, near the lights and ventilation and misting nozzles). Might not thrive sealed up and only moderately illuminated, I don't know.

You've apparently put a lot of effort and knowledge into the choices you've made for the experiment, so please just take all this as just food for thought, and not authoritative pronouncements of any sort. It really sounds like a workable plan, at least in the broad outlines of it. Also, failures in parts of the experiment are going to be educational, too.

First, thank you for the assist. Second, The enclosures are both 24in x 12in x 16 in. It may be tricky to grow the Crab Claw herb, and the moss may bring in in Sporothrix schenckii spores, potentially harmful disease if cut on hand or inhaled. That would normally not be an issue, but my teacher is apprehensive about sealing it completely, but I think I can persuade him to let one persist and let the other one go back once it is done with. Third, I believe springtails also have the boom/bust dynamic in their breeding cycle, while tempting, I am aiming for under or up to one hundred dollars on organism, and the crickets are more visible(getting more attention from a bunch of high school students ducking physics) than springtails while giving more food to the centipede who only eat roughly once a week(or so i've found) while eating themselves if they are put out of commision. Designing a terrarium that can sustain a closed ecosystem is difficult, I came here to get multiple, experienced arthropod and closed ecosystem/terrarium insights.

For me, failure would be educational. However I am designing this as a project that may be curriculum for others, so failing on a 300 dollar budget with a third plus some change with soil and similar items makes it really demoralizing to fail. So far, the Centipedes cost 10-20 dollars each, and they are not even captive bred, I am aiming for four centipedes properly sexed while not having them at each other's throats to provide genetic diversity. So a max of 80$ so far, plus 7$ live Sphagnum, 8$(if you are lucky)Crab claw, and that's 95$ right there, finally, the isopods are 5$ to culture at cheaper places and crickets go for like 12 cents per bug. Then take in costs to get soil (half decent mixed soil) that roughly adds up to eight gallons as to create six inches of soil as to ensure enough soil for all organisms without taking into consideration the calculations needed to have the water either evaporate, transpire, or whatever can create clean water for the organisms and it becomes a very delicate balancing act.

Bottom line is, I like the ideas you present. However, I fear for my budget and my own failure ruining such a wonderful opportunity to create something like this. Having really experienced people help something like this along helps immensely, as there is a vast number of them here who know of terrariums, myriapods, feeder insects. Previous posts on these forums have gotten me to this point, I will not allow my own inexperience to hamper this set up, so please, if you know of any user who might have more direct answers, could you point me that way

Thanky you.

 

[Malum Argenteum]

Sounds like you've weighed pros and cons very thoroughly.

Just one little point -- this isn't the case:

I believe springtails also have the boom/bust dynamic in their breeding cycle

Springs reproduce in line with available food, and their population dwindles in the absence of it -- no mass breedings then mass starvation or age-related crashes.

Anyway, good luck with the experiment and keep us posted.