DreadMan
Arachnosquire
- Joined
- Apr 4, 2021
- Messages
- 119
I promised to make a thread on making self sustaining ecosystems to someone a while ago, so here I go. Just a reminder, I am making this thread simply because I enjoy making enclosures such as these, and I want to teach people on them. If I miss anything, please tell me.
Step 1: Setup
The enclosure itself is very important, especially if you would like to have different environment types. The larger the enclosure, the better your creatures will thrive. A 10 gallon is probably the minimum depending on what ecosystem you will be making, but as I said the larger the better. The material is also important, as heat preservation and ventilation are upmost important. Having a mesh top enclosure would let humidity escape on enclosures such as tropical ones. Tote bins work well, but if you have a desert enclosure that needs light you will have to hot glue a screen onto the top. Because your tank will most definitely have small, wall climbing critters such as springtails, you might want to rub vegetable oil around the sides to prevent them from escaping. Drill holes onto the SIDES of enclosures to assure that you will have proper ventilation without much humidity loss. Refrain from using heat pads if your houses temperature goes over 80 degrees and if you have a outside enclosure (note
nly keep your enclosure outside if you are keeping things that you have collected from around your house, and keep it in a place that will get less than a hour of sun each day to make sure your critters and plants dont die). Ants are the major cause of ecosystems failing, so make sure to put your tank on a stand with fluon coated on the legs.
Step 2: Substrate
Substrate is also very important when it comes to ecosystems, and using the wrong substrate can cause your ecosystem to perish. A friendly reminder that you cannot just dump random potting soil into a enclosure into a tank and call it a day. Different ecosystems require different substrates. I will talk more about finding substrate in a little bit. For desert enclosures, use a mix of sand, gravel, soil, coconut fiber and charcoal to make sure that the creatures can borrow. You can use many store bought substrates as well.
Step 3: Plants and decoration
For me the hardest step is finding the correct plants for the ecosystem. Plants are the first order of food for the critters in there, and without them all you creatures will be dead. Plants also need to be accustomed for their environment. You cant put a cactus in a tropical enclosure, or a spider plant in a desert enclosure and so on. Choosing the right plant can be very time consuming, and its the one thing I can´t give you a straight answer on. You have to have multiple plants in order for your creatures to thrive, and you must research on every single one to make sure they are compatible with your ecosystem. The most important plant to have for every enclosure (except for desert ones) is moss. Moss keeps moisture and provides a never ending food source for your little critters, and is very easy to keep. Two other needed food sources are leaf litter and wood (If you have a desert environment, use less leaf litter and more dry wood). Not only do these act as hiding spaces for your critters, they also provide a very good source of food for decomposers. While these sources of food are NOT self sustaining (you will need to put in more eventually), they are important parts of the ecosystem. Rocks and plastic plants can be used to make the place more pretty, but they wont add any positive features.
Step 4: The critters
This is by far my favorite part of making ecosystems, yet it takes the longest. Before you go outside to collect your critters (or online depending on what types you want), remember that when putting in the critters, you can have zero margin for error. Collecting insects can be quite a hard process, and finding them can be even harder. While I cant tell you exactly what to put in there, I can give you a little bit on insight on how it should work. Always have correct ratios. 3:2:1 is the ratio of plants to first level consumers to predators, with decomposers scattered down there. Isopods and springtails should be bought in bulk because of how important they are. Grasshoppers and cockroaches, beetles and flies are all important as first hand consumers. Spiders, centipedes, praying mantids and scorpions are all important as predators. Biodiversity is key, the more there is the better. Make sure to have at least five of each species to ensure breeding happens. Try to add soil and leaf litter from your backyard to add creatures you dont even see (if you have a backyard type setup).
Step 5: wait
Wait a few weeks, see what happens. Dont just give up on it, make sure to check it here and there.
Note: While it may seem cool, try not to make very exotic enclosures. Desert and aquatic ecosystems can be hard to replicate, and make sure that one single creature in the ecosystem isn't massive compared to the others. Follow this, and you will have an amazing time
Step 1: Setup
The enclosure itself is very important, especially if you would like to have different environment types. The larger the enclosure, the better your creatures will thrive. A 10 gallon is probably the minimum depending on what ecosystem you will be making, but as I said the larger the better. The material is also important, as heat preservation and ventilation are upmost important. Having a mesh top enclosure would let humidity escape on enclosures such as tropical ones. Tote bins work well, but if you have a desert enclosure that needs light you will have to hot glue a screen onto the top. Because your tank will most definitely have small, wall climbing critters such as springtails, you might want to rub vegetable oil around the sides to prevent them from escaping. Drill holes onto the SIDES of enclosures to assure that you will have proper ventilation without much humidity loss. Refrain from using heat pads if your houses temperature goes over 80 degrees and if you have a outside enclosure (note
nly keep your enclosure outside if you are keeping things that you have collected from around your house, and keep it in a place that will get less than a hour of sun each day to make sure your critters and plants dont die). Ants are the major cause of ecosystems failing, so make sure to put your tank on a stand with fluon coated on the legs. Step 2: Substrate
Substrate is also very important when it comes to ecosystems, and using the wrong substrate can cause your ecosystem to perish. A friendly reminder that you cannot just dump random potting soil into a enclosure into a tank and call it a day. Different ecosystems require different substrates. I will talk more about finding substrate in a little bit. For desert enclosures, use a mix of sand, gravel, soil, coconut fiber and charcoal to make sure that the creatures can borrow. You can use many store bought substrates as well.
Step 3: Plants and decoration
For me the hardest step is finding the correct plants for the ecosystem. Plants are the first order of food for the critters in there, and without them all you creatures will be dead. Plants also need to be accustomed for their environment. You cant put a cactus in a tropical enclosure, or a spider plant in a desert enclosure and so on. Choosing the right plant can be very time consuming, and its the one thing I can´t give you a straight answer on. You have to have multiple plants in order for your creatures to thrive, and you must research on every single one to make sure they are compatible with your ecosystem. The most important plant to have for every enclosure (except for desert ones) is moss. Moss keeps moisture and provides a never ending food source for your little critters, and is very easy to keep. Two other needed food sources are leaf litter and wood (If you have a desert environment, use less leaf litter and more dry wood). Not only do these act as hiding spaces for your critters, they also provide a very good source of food for decomposers. While these sources of food are NOT self sustaining (you will need to put in more eventually), they are important parts of the ecosystem. Rocks and plastic plants can be used to make the place more pretty, but they wont add any positive features.
Step 4: The critters
This is by far my favorite part of making ecosystems, yet it takes the longest. Before you go outside to collect your critters (or online depending on what types you want), remember that when putting in the critters, you can have zero margin for error. Collecting insects can be quite a hard process, and finding them can be even harder. While I cant tell you exactly what to put in there, I can give you a little bit on insight on how it should work. Always have correct ratios. 3:2:1 is the ratio of plants to first level consumers to predators, with decomposers scattered down there. Isopods and springtails should be bought in bulk because of how important they are. Grasshoppers and cockroaches, beetles and flies are all important as first hand consumers. Spiders, centipedes, praying mantids and scorpions are all important as predators. Biodiversity is key, the more there is the better. Make sure to have at least five of each species to ensure breeding happens. Try to add soil and leaf litter from your backyard to add creatures you dont even see (if you have a backyard type setup).
Step 5: wait
Wait a few weeks, see what happens. Dont just give up on it, make sure to check it here and there.
Note: While it may seem cool, try not to make very exotic enclosures. Desert and aquatic ecosystems can be hard to replicate, and make sure that one single creature in the ecosystem isn't massive compared to the others. Follow this, and you will have an amazing time
