55 gallon vivarium

rockpython

rockpython

Fourth Instar
I am going to be starting a 55 gallon planted terrarium for my hissers and I am looking for some opinions. I used to have a setup with a breeding group of crickets, a marble gecko, a golden gecko, a salamander, and a rose hair tarantula... That went well until I moved and I broke it all down... My goal is to do something similar with cockroaches (minimal cleaning/disruption of the tank and just watch life happen)

1)what do you suggest for a clean up crew?

2)planned plants would be pothos, bromeliads

and ivy. Any other suggestions on that?

Thank you!

RockyP

 
Ps. I am not concerned about plants being eaten.

Pps. I may be adding a preditor (tokay gecko maybe?) otherwise I'll be culling as necessary.

 
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I "seed" the enclosure by putting a few of each (20-50). If the environment is good they will reproduce in the appropriate numbers. The isopods will need substrate that is moist. The giant springtails do better if the moisture is higher but it you have moist areas with cover (e.g., plants and leaf litter) and some dead wood they will do fine. Both like to eat the fungus that grows on the leaf litter and dead wood.

 
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Sounds cool though you may think about finding a sub for the ivy if you are talking true ivy with pothos and bromeliads. What kind of lighting are you planning for this setup? If you are going to have good light levels then you might try a creeping ficus with the bromeliads and pothos as they would all thrive with more tropical conditions.

 
My roaches ate the plants faster then they could grow. The ferns were the first to go, followed closely by the ivy and then they even went after the Pothos. I've got like Pothos sticks in some of the tanks now, and have basically given up on live plants all together for the roaches.

If you're serious about not caring if they eat through the plants, then I would suggest keeping them potted to make them easily replaceable. That way once whatever you are keeping ate through whatever you have in there you could swap it out for something new and pretty again without having to dig out the old and then replant everything.

Aside from the plants you listed, I've had really good luck with philodendron as well. That, the pothos, and a small fancy fern have done so well in my scorpion tanks that I'm constantly having to trim and split them to keep them manageable. I also like spider plants, although they are slow growers.

 
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Jacen said:
Sounds cool though you may think about finding a sub for the ivy if you are talking true ivy with pothos and bromeliads. What kind of lighting are you planning for this setup? If you are going to have good light levels then you might try a creeping ficus with the bromeliads and pothos as they would all thrive with more tropical conditions.
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I was going to use English Ivy. Why sub it? I plan on using CFL's or MAYBE an LED array. Thanks for the tips!

 
wodesorel said:
My roaches ate the plants faster then they could grow. The ferns were the first to go, followed closely by the ivy and then they even went after the Pothos. I've got like Pothos sticks in some of the tanks now, and have basically given up on live plants all together for the roaches.

If you're serious about not caring if they eat through the plants, then I would suggest keeping them potted to make them easily replaceable. That way once whatever you are keeping ate through whatever you have in there you could swap it out for something new and pretty again without having to dig out the old and then replant everything.

Aside from the plants you listed, I've had really good luck with philodendron as well. That, the pothos, and a small fancy fern have done so well in my scorpion tanks that I'm constantly having to trim and split them to keep them manageable. I also like spider plants, although they are slow growers.
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Thank you! great idea to keep them potted! I have an over abundance of plants and It'd be win/win if some were eaten... :D )

 
rockpython said:
I was going to use English Ivy. Why sub it? I plan on using CFL's or MAYBE an LED array. Thanks for the tips!
Click to expand...
I am just not a fan of using it , plus unless the roaches single it out it will prob outcompete the other two plants and smother them. When i think ivy I do not think of the tropics but of temperate woodlands or growing up the side of a house. How about using one of the forms of Asplenium nidus otherwise known as birds nest fern? They are pretty easy to grow and can be found in the hissers natural habitat? Plus the leaves should be strong enough for the roaches to climb up them.

 
Jacen said:
I am just not a fan of using it , plus unless the roaches single it out it will prob outcompete the other two plants and smother them. When i think ivy I do not think of the tropics but of temperate woodlands or growing up the side of a house. How about using one of the forms of Asplenium nidus otherwise known as birds nest fern? They are pretty easy to grow and can be found in the hissers natural habitat? Plus the leaves should be strong enough for the roaches to climb up them.
Click to expand...
I've never heard of it.... I'm off to a googlin'...

:)

 
It is a common potted fern sold even in the grocery stores. It can be grow as an epiphyte as well. Some are to big for a 55 gallon tank but others even full grown would fit in nicely and still leave room for other plants.

One thing i would worry about with leaving the plants potted and rotating them in and out of the tank is the nymphs escaping in the soil inside the pots every time you switched out.

 
I currently have a large Chinese mantis, small American toad and a fire belly toad in my vivarium. My favorite is the mantis they are a blast to feed.

 
This is my vivarium.

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