Ecosystems in a terrarium

[Ganoderma]

the problem may be that tehy over eat and there wont be any plants left...jsut a thought.

i think sow bugs would be a great one for eating up all teh scraps and making the soil nutritous. any dirt terrarium i use i include sow bugs and earthworms. they just make plants grow, or their poo does.

 

[prankster705]

When I get my own room in the summer I was thinking of making an enclosure with mixed species of animals - was thinking of some fruit beetles, milipedes, cochroaches (b. giganreus), as for the predator I don't know - BTW size 300liters. Any sugestions for the predator?

 

[prankster705]

I thought some more - the dead and waste could be taken care of with some fungus. And I think I will choose some beauitiful looking plants and feed the colonies.

 

[Ganoderma]

carefull with fungus, can be pretty unhealthy at times. although its pretty hard to control want it or not :wall:

 

[prankster705]

I ment fungus as in mushrooms. One more question: is there any danger for the predator if it molts?

 

[Ganoderma]

danger if it molts?

mushrooms are good but keep in mind many will eat up everything leaving very little for your plants to eat. i would suggest using wood lovers like oysters, shitake, GANODERMA and the like

 

[prankster705]

Yes, danger when the predator molts - since there will be cochroaches they might try to atack it... well any good predators anyone?

 

[Stylopidae]

Yes, danger when the predator molts - since there will be cochroaches they might try to atack it... well any good predators anyone?

Read the thread I posted. I'd reccomend platymeris sp. as predators. They're pretty much self controlling, but reluctant to eat each other. In addition, they can hunt in packs to take down larger animals.

Don't forget to put scavengers in there. If something big dies, you want it cleaned up fast.

 

[prankster705]

excuse me, but can I get a link to that thread?
What do you recomend as scavengers?

 

[:wumpscut:]

Naturalistic vivariums for arachnids.

I don't want to come across as rude so keep in mind i'm not good with explaining things.

First off, to establish a nitrogen cycle which is needed for a vivarium or arachnovarium to last
takes many things. benificail bacteria, micro fauna and flora. sow bugs, lacewing larva, hetatrophic bacteria organic materials like plants, wood and real soil. we have vivariums that have been living for 5 years or more just covered with plants that we didn't expect. things that were in the soil that grew on their own as well as the plants we used. it's great. mosses and ferns and such. we have been building vivariums for over ten years, arachnovariums for 2 and in that time the same things are still needed. proper design for the right captives. you can't ensure husbandry with ignoring the animals natural habitat. If you can learn what they need
a multi species unit is able to survive and so are the captives you're housing. if you take a short cut you're only proving to everyone around that you just don't have what it takes. learn about the natural history, duplicate it in an enclosure that was designed for that animal (s)
and you're going to be good to go. it's best to focus on what you really want to house. pick one and focus. we have a few habitats with scorps and beardied chameleons and they are all doing great. fully planted with real dirt, ficus trees and so on. all of our scorps are housed like that. in a real arachnovarium and not a tuperware container with bagged soil. it can be done as long as you offer each specimen the right environment. you can't just cram a bunch of cool looking critters together and expect good health. until you learn about the processes involved for a 3 year habtiat, the actual effects found in captives vs wild ones of housing, the knowledge of what to look for please don't house a multispecies until. try a milli or scorp signularly first.

you shouldn't use fungus to break down the waste. that's not smart. you need decmposers
like isopods for tropicals, maybe some bacteria for the right cycle but no fungus! leaf debris is good, a handfull of outside dirt will help too. fungus eats only the sugars not the waste. the waste will convert and be broken down and in that risk book lungs and such. fresh air is needed.

you need the following:

the right enclosure - not a homemade fishtank but think moving air.
the right landscape
the right soils (you can't just grow mushrooms, they aren't plants.)
the right plants if needed. our Opisto., Para., and Hadog. don't get plants. our tropicals are in well planted arachnovariums.
the right lights, day and night.
the right heat system. heat tape should NOT be used on the bottoms.
notes on what to look for to ensure you're providing the right needs.

I hope this all makes sense.

 

[prankster705]

Ty for clearing it up.

PS: sorry but you really aren't good at explaining stuff.

 

[:wumpscut:]

Ty for clearing it up.

PS: sorry but you really aren't good at explaining stuff.

yeah, it's hard in print form. i'm a kinetic (sp) type person so thanks
for understanding the info...

 

[prankster705]

fortunately I have a forest nearby. I can get loads of savengers, I'm interested in where to get some beneficial bacteria though. Maybe I could try and start a forest ecosistem (of the one here) but there aren't many little creatures in it. I might go look one time if there are more than I think there are (unfortunatly not so soon as my leg is useless thanks to a skiing accident (for now)).

 

[Thoth]

fortunately I have a forest nearby. I can get loads of savengers, I'm interested in where to get some beneficial bacteria though. Maybe I could try and start a forest ecosistem (of the one here) but there aren't many little creatures in it. I might go look one time if there are more than I think there are (unfortunatly not so soon as my leg is useless thanks to a skiing accident (for now)).

Don't know what kind of bacteria you are looking for but they will be present in any soil you find outdoors that showing healthy growth (plant and otherwise) in it.

 

[prankster705]

ty, so some forest soil should be good?
I will probably try a small local forest thing before moving to the big tropical thing.

 

[:wumpscut:]

forest soil is just fine! wwe use a group of hetatrophic bacteria but still
a handfull of outside dirt is good too.