horrr0r
Achatina achatina
Posts: 75
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Post by horrr0r on Aug 29, 2015 2:36:30 GMT
I use Ecoearth (coconut husk coir) in my terrariums. The maintenance I do is just to remove uneaten food and pieces of poop as I see them, maybe 2-3 times a week. And I also clean it as needed by filling the tank with hot water, swish with natural "hand wash" (not soap), then skim all the old slime(?) & little pieces of debris off the surface of the water, then rinse, strain, &wring out.
I've seen tiny almost invisible white bugs in the coir before, but the population has grown to an infestation. If I push the coir aside, I'll see hundred or thousand little white bugs moving super fast then in a second, they're gone. I think they retreat a few mm down. I've never seen them on the snails they just seem to hide into the coir.
It's at a point where I have to throw away the coir, it wouldn't be worth it to trying sanitized however I can't go get more for 4 to 7 days ? So in the meantime should I just not have substrate? Or should I use something else for now?
I experimented with making coir and got it similar but not as finely ground so there's little bit of the fibers/hairs. Is that too rough? I could also use coconut husk bark chips like what's used for orchids. Or I can use rabbit bedding (those papery crumbles ) soaked in water? Or shredded newspaper or flat newspaper soaked in water? Or bagged garden compost? Or dry uncooked rice or beans? Or... any advice here?
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Post by muddydragon on Aug 29, 2015 7:51:07 GMT
They could be springtails. Do they bounce?
What's in the handwash? i'm a bit concerned about the coir being soaked in that.
Can you not just wait 4-7 days before throwing it out. You could try baking the coir either in the oven or microwave that would sterilize it and get rid of the bugs if you're desperate.
Being without substrate is bad for snails as is changing/cleaning the substrate too often. When you remove the old substrate since you do nto wish to keep any of the old don't do a poo clean out for a few weeks if possible (save some once they've been moved off the coir) to save the bacterial flora required for them to be able to eat their food.
What do you mean experimented making coir? what from? it might be OK but i'm unsure from your description
No substrate (short term) is better than the other options you listed. Don't use orchid chips, certainly don't use rabbit bedding they can eat that and cause blockages, shreded newspaper is worse they can also eat that and the ink is toxic, unless the bagged garden compost has absolutley no fetilisers in (which they usually do) then do not use that either, dry rice will kill them as will beans.
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horrr0r
Achatina achatina
Posts: 75
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Post by horrr0r on Aug 31, 2015 15:03:03 GMT
They could be springtails. Do they bounce? What's in the handwash? i'm a bit concerned about the coir being soaked in that. Can you not just wait 4-7 days before throwing it out. You could try baking the coir either in the oven or microwave that would sterilize it and get rid of the bugs if you're desperate. Being without substrate is bad for snails as is changing/cleaning the substrate too often. When you remove the old substrate since you do nto wish to keep any of the old don't do a poo clean out for a few weeks if possible (save some once they've been moved off the coir) to save the bacterial flora required for them to be able to eat their food. What do you mean experimented making coir? what from? it might be OK but i'm unsure from your description No substrate (short term) is better than the other options you listed. Don't use orchid chips, certainly don't use rabbit bedding they can eat that and cause blockages, shreded newspaper is worse they can also eat that and the ink is toxic, unless the bagged garden compost has absolutley no fetilisers in (which they usually do) then do not use that either, dry rice will kill them as will beans. I thought so about the rice, beans, and newspaper but decided to ask for a long shot. What I thought was "compost" now that I checked is actually "Premium Topsoil - derived from premium organic matter and sphagnum peat moss" and the ingredients listing says "This product is regionally formulated from composted forest products and sphagnum peat moss. (May contain one or more of the following: peat, aged rice hulls, or compost). I'm pretty sure there's no chemical additives because I can't find anything about that on the packaging. The only thing about fertilizer is it says "For spectacular results supplement with... *a list of the names of different fertilizers the company sells*". As for the bugs, I've pretty much always had them in all of my tanks, but it was always only a little bit. Now, it's so so many. Like, if I lift up an object or scoop up some coir, there's just a swarm of them quickly scattering. I'm not sure if they jump or not, they're super super tiny and hard to see. Also, idk if it's related, but I've also seen an increase in these weird hard white crystal-like grains in the substrate. I used to see a few larger pieces (looking like rock salt) but now there are thousands of tiny grains (looking like table salt) and a few big grains. Idk what it is! And today, I just found worms in someone's poop it was so gross I just have to change it. Plus I think one of my snails is pregnant. They could be springtails. Do they bounce? What's in the handwash? i'm a bit concerned about the coir being soaked in that. Can you not just wait 4-7 days before throwing it out. You could try baking the coir either in the oven or microwave that would sterilize it and get rid of the bugs if you're desperate. Being without substrate is bad for snails as is changing/cleaning the substrate too often. When you remove the old substrate since you do nto wish to keep any of the old don't do a poo clean out for a few weeks if possible (save some once they've been moved off the coir) to save the bacterial flora required for them to be able to eat their food. What do you mean experimented making coir? what from? it might be OK but i'm unsure from your description No substrate (short term) is better than the other options you listed. Don't use orchid chips, certainly don't use rabbit bedding they can eat that and cause blockages, shreded newspaper is worse they can also eat that and the ink is toxic, unless the bagged garden compost has absolutley no fetilisers in (which they usually do) then do not use that either, dry rice will kill them as will beans. I thought so about the rice, beans, and newspaper but decided to ask for a long shot. What I thought was "compost" now that I checked is actually "Premium Topsoil - derived from premium organic matter and sphagnum peat moss" and the ingredients listing says "This product is regionally formulated from composted forest products and sphagnum peat moss. (May contain one or more of the following: peat, aged rice hulls, or compost). I'm pretty sure there's no chemical additives because I can't find anything about that on the packaging. The only thing about fertilizer is it says "For spectacular results supplement with... *a list of the names of different fertilizers the company sells*". As for the bugs, I've pretty much always had them in all of my tanks, but it was always only a little bit. Now, it's so so many. Like, if I lift up an object or scoop up some coir, there's just a swarm of them quickly scattering. I'm not sure if they jump or not, they're super super tiny and hard to see. Also, idk if it's related, but I've also seen an increase in these weird hard white crystal-like grains in the substrate. I used to see a few larger pieces (looking like rock salt) but now there are thousands of tiny grains (looking like table salt) and a few big grains. Idk what it is! And a couple of hours ago, I just found worms in someone's poop it was so gross and if anything, because of the worms I want to change it. Plus I'm 99.9% sure one of my snails is pregnant. Since I found those worms I've had the snails in that tank just hanging out on the lid of the tank with some food, I guess I'm going to put them on that soil for tonight and I think I'll be able to get into town tomorrow to go to the pet store. But now I have a whole new problem, the worms... I have to figure out how to isolate them and how to figure out who it came from and also my first ever pregnant giant african land snail! Exciting but worrisome with the worms :S
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