Pseudoglomeris magnifica- Can I see some enclosures?

T

Tea

First Instar
Hello all. My name is Tea & I'm new here as of today. It is my search for enclosure inspiration that has led me here! Nice to meet you all 😁

I have a small colony of Pseudoglomeris magnifica that I've had since August of 2020 & I'd like to upgrade them into a nicer enclosure. What I have them in currently is functional, but it's an eyesore, so I'm trying to decide how best to go about providing ideal conditions in a glass enclosure which got me wondering how other keepers house theirs! Their current setup is a 10 litre translucent plastic bucket that I've cut panels out of on opposing sides and in the lid. I've then hot-glued very fine polyester mesh in place which keeps things like fruit flies and fungus gnats out & gives excellent cross ventilation and air flow. I don't really have an issue with mites because it's not a bioactive setup so the P. magnifica are the only inhabitants, and all the feeding is done in a divided petri-dish which makes spot cleaning really easy, especially as these guys don't seem to drag their food out of the dish. They have a fair few cork bark slabs leant up in there as well as lichen covered sticks, some rotting wood and a floor of coco-fibre substrate and dead beech leaves. I've attached a pic which hopefully hasn't been annihilated when I resized to fit. 

In an ideal world, I'd like to have them living in something planted with live plants, but that's heading in the direction of bioactive, and I worry about an excess of bioactive custodians causing issues as per some of the better info I've read online. Do any of you keep yours in bioactive environments? If so, any tips? Even if not bioactive or fancy, I'd still be curious to hear about how you all house yours & what sort of successes you've had with your various methods.

Thanks in advance!

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Wow I think that looks great 😆. Glass would be much clearer as you stated. Another clear option would be something like WarrenB's "Oxyhaloa duesta renovation" just a few posts older than this one.

 
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Bhjjr said:
Wow I think that looks great 😆. Glass would be much clearer as you stated. Another clear option would be something like WarrenB's "Oxyhaloa duesta renovation" just a few posts older than this one.
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Thank you! I saw the post you mentioned & I have to say it looks great! I am aiming for something a little larger eventually though, and would really like to move away from plastic. Having spotted an adult pair mating in their current setup this evening, however, I am loathe to move them just yet as I’ve not seen any breeding activity in there for a while now. If they’re happy, I’m happy 😂

 
Please update if you do decide to do a planted tank! It's something I've been thinking about doing myself. I don't really know much about this species but I think you could definitely go bioactive as long as you don't keep large numbers of isopods. Springtails surely wouldn't bother them either--especially if they are able to climb and get away from the substrate like this individual is. If you do decide to move them to a glass tank you might see about modifying a 5 or 10 gallon aquarium with a screen lid (modify the lid to be escape-proof) since it will offer good ventilation. 

 
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I will certainly update, though it’ll be a little way off yet, for two reasons. First of all, they’re doing well where they are at the moment and I’ve seen mating activity for the first time in a while recently so I don’t want to disturb them yet in case I upset them and cause problems there. Secondly, I’ve decided to have a vivarium custom made for them, which I need to put some money aside for first. I’ve been discussing the design with a guy who makes beautiful glass enclosures that will be fruit fly/fungus gnat proof (therefore nymph proof as well), with a top vent, and side vents, to echo what I’ve done with the plastic tub. I’m discussing an idea I’ve had for adjustable ventilation so I can tweak the conditions to suit both them and the plants I choose 😁 It going to be a while before it’s ready but hopefully it’ll be worth it!

 
Tea said:
I am aiming for something a little larger eventually though
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Definitely! 10l to 4l would be a bit of a downgrade. The narrowness is also a pain to clean out. The closest I've come to a bioactive setup is dumping a lot of Stratiolaelaps mites in there, because the duesta bodies all the way at the bottom proved a hit with grain mites. (Also wondering if I should throw some isopods or dermestids in there to combat the cause, not the symptom)

Also, dead jealous of your magnifica. I've no idea what to suggest for glass vivaria, I'm still going with plastic boxes. To pass it along, I'd say see some of @Martin 's enclosures. Check out his roach entries here:

https://www.thewildmartin.com/

 
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