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Centipedes in my terrarium

M

memento

Guest
Hello,

It's been a month since I've had a terrarium - an aquarium with a ping, drosera and nep, in a mix of 70% sphagnum peat moss and 30% gross sand, growing in their pots.

I changed pots after I bought them, I keep most of the previous soil not to harm the roots, and added spagnum + sand.

Some days ago, I found a small silver bug, like a centipede, 1 cm long (1/3 inch). It ended up in the Ping.

This morning, two more centipedes, the same kind. Sacrified in the ping and in the drosera. For the moment, this bugs are live food supply (LFS
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), but I wonder if they can harm the plants ?

Is this fauna normal in a terrarium ecosystem ? If not, how to get rid of them ?

Thanks
 
Hiya,
no, they are no harm to your plants because centipedes are carnivorous (they feed on small mites). I am thinking of adding some springtails to my terrarium (springtails feed on decaying materials). Once the springtails population increase i am thinking of adding a few centipedes. Making an ecosystem. i notice that my sundew usually have no problem catching springtails. Once they jump onto a dew, then they are stuck.

jason
 
Thanks.
I finally identified them : Silverfish
I think they cannot harm sprouts or roots. For information, they manage to escape when placed on ping leaves !

Are you really considering breeding insects ? How big is your terrarium ? Do you have any pictures ? It makes me feel weird when thinking that my terrarium is a nest for hundreds of eggs and larvas...
 
yuck! i hate silverfish
centipedes are cool though.

i have some that are about 8" long and it is fun to watch them hunt and eat.
right now i have a species of roaches (lobster roaches) that i raise to feed to my plants, tarantulas, and centipedes.

jason
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If the silverfish escape they will eat any paper or starch in your house.
 
memento,

These are all originating from the peat moss. It is full of eggs and cysts and dormant critters.
What I do for insided growing stuff is microwave the peat moss to try and eliminate some of the un-ordered critters. You can't nuke it too long, as peat is flamable(I started some smoldering before). A small box for six minutes is not too much and maybe it does not need it that much.
If I am really ambitious, I run that after it's cooled down some and dried a little through a screen and sometimes, I take the stuff that goes through the screen and run that through a flour sifter.

Regards,

Joe
 
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