MUST READ - Getting Rid of Pests in terrariums

[Marty]

I posted this last night on few other frog forums. Since this applies to terrarium's and since I got few requests to show some pictures, I figured I'll re-post a detailed version with pictures. Originally I used 4 containers, I repeated the procedure with 3 dry ice containers.

Here's somewhat edited original post
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Just wanted to update everyone on my recent successes !!! You guys might already know that I was fighting with infestation of slugs and millipedes in one of my tanks. This was in my 90gal diamond shaped. Millipedes got so bad that I had probably hundreds of them crawling all over the tank...it was disgusting !!! I did not want to rip my tank apart because I put a lot of work and money into making the background and water features, foggers, lights, etc.

I wanted to kill only millipedes and slugs, but nothing else. Pesticides were out of the questions, since my frogs had to eventually go back into the tank, I would not consider any toxic chemicals either.. I started experimenting with CO2 . It's heavier then air, thus easy to put into a tank. Any bug will eventually need air...I looked into getting a CO2 tank, but it turned out too expensive and not worth the hassle.... I used dry ice instead.

Here's what I did....I'm extremely excited, because my idea worked flawlessly for me and I'd recommend it to anyone with similar problem.

I was a bit concerned with using dry ice, because I was afraid it will lower the temp and kill my plants in the process, so I took a few precautions.





I put 3 x 32oz containers partially filled with dry ice. I didn't want to leave them in my tank and let the dry ice naturally sublime into CO2 for the fear that I will lower the temp and kill my plants. After all they're all tropical and dry ice is -78.5'C = -109.3'F. I decided to make the CO2 really fast.



I poured hot water over it. ... it was quite a show. I wanted maximum CO2 production without slow temp reduction. It looked great and there was a lot of CO2 produced.

While I was doing it I made sure I had the top of the viv slightly open, so the CO2 could displace any air that was there.



I then took the containers out and placed them right above the tank and let the CO2 slowly by gravity fall into the tank to further displace any remaining air.





Once I was satisfied that all air was displaced, I closed the viv. In 30 min, all the millipedes were dead or dying... All slugs were dead...Plants are so far a OK! I will reply in a few weeks to let everyone know how the plants are doing. I'm leaving the tank filled with CO2 overnight to make sure everything is killed in there.



Tomorrow I will shop vac all the dead millipedes and any slugs I can find. I'll exchange the air, etc

I will repeat the process in a few weeks to make sure that anything that hatches from eggs is also killed.

This sounds to me like a safe way to get rid of any nuisance you have living in your viv or on your plants. If you have some bug on your plant, why not put it into a tank filled with CO2 for a day?

Make sure that you are in a ventilated room... You don't want to do yourself in. Contain the CO2 to the viv only!!!

Ahhh, victory at last !!! I waited a long time to see this next Picture...DEAD MILLIPEDES !!!! YIPPPPEEEEE !!



Let me know what you guys think of my un-orthodox, pesticide free method
Marty

[Tindomul]

great pics!!! That looks like a great viv too. Looks like it worked like a charm.

[Oscarman]

That really has the gears turning Marty. I guess the plants must have enjoyed the time they spent in a CO2 rich environment - be like a little holiday for them!

Are all the bodies on the surface, or will there be many underground...so what are you going to do with all the corpse? An image comes to mind...


I am fascinated by all the terr/vivs photos that are posted. They are very amazing and I find the creativity really inspiring.

[Marty]

There were probably some eggs in the soil. But I'm going to repeat the treatment in a few weeks. As for the dead bodies, an image comes to mind...

Originally Posted by Oscarman

That really has the gears turning Marty. I guess the plants must have enjoyed the time they spent in a CO2 rich environment - be like a little holiday for them!

Are all the bodies on the surface, or will there be many underground...so what are you going to do with all the corpse? An image comes to mind...

I am fascinated by all the terr/vivs photos that are posted. They are very amazing and I find the creativity really inspiring.

[Ray]

Insect bodies = natural nutrition!

[Oscarman]

Originally Posted by Ray

Insect bodies = natural nutrition!

Hmm, let me see, where did I put my recipe for Fried Millipedes with Garden Dip.......

Now if we are talking Crickets, there is nothing better than a Curried Cricket Stir-fry with Basmati Rice! That sounds Cicada-licious!

Nutrition wise, they are a great choice.
100 grams of crickets contains 121 calories, 12.9 grams of protein, 5.5 grams of fat, 5.1 g. of carbohydrates, 75.8 mg. of calcium, 185.3 mg. of phosphorous, 9.5 mg. of iron, 0.36 mg. of thiamin, 1.09 mg. of riboflavin, and 3.10 mg. of niacin.

[Marty]

Not only plants liked the CO2, check out this little family that came out of nowhere ! I think that looks just awesome !

Originally Posted by Oscarman

That really has the gears turning Marty. I guess the plants must have enjoyed the time they spent in a CO2 rich environment - be like a little holiday for them!

Are all the bodies on the surface, or will there be many underground...so what are you going to do with all the corpse? An image comes to mind...

I am fascinated by all the terr/vivs photos that are posted. They are very amazing and I find the creativity really inspiring.

[Oscarman]

That is really neat. What a great picture! What is the reddish-orange stuff on the ground? Looks like the mushroom's mycelia - but what a color! With a few (million) spores it won't be long before you need to fire up the saute pan!

“Nature alone is antique and the oldest art is mushroom.”
~ Thomas Carlyle

[Marty]

Just an update on the millipede problem...

I haven't seen a single one yet. I did see a few tiny snails that I had before. It seems that the snails were initially killed, but then the eggs developed and snails reapeared.

I repeated the process again just to get rid of any remaining snails. I will do it again in about a week and then I'm going to reintroduce the frogs into my tank.

Seems like it worked really well for the millipedes though !!!

Marty