First Vivarium!

Post Trimming:
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Test 1 is the one mentioned above: Clipping of new growth cut below the node placed in a small glass of soaked peat.

Test 2: Clipping of new growth cut below the node placed in a small glass of water with plastic wrap streached over top and a rubber band holding it in place. There is a small hole in the top to allow the stem to exit the container.
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Test 3: Clipping of mature leaf cut below node (there are 1-2 nodes on each leaf not counting where the leaf connects with stem) and placed directly in soil.
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Test 4: Clipping of mature leaf cut in the middle of the petiole placed direcly in soil.
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On another note, I am not sure if it is just the way of the pincushion, but a large portion of the plant has died back. One side is still going strong but the other has been turning brown (starting with berries) and I had to remove a large portion of the plant but still the other half is growing great. I think it has to do with the lighting because the half that is doing well is closer to the light but the half that isn't doing so great is away from the light. Also the inner portion of the plant (covered by thick leaves and dense stems was completly dry so I think the plant may have to be split in half to help it.
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Another thing that I just remembered that I never mentioned was that a few weeks (2-3) ago I recieved a starter culture of springtails and have since put them in the tank. That is also where the burnt wood came from.
 
Strange critters....

Hello all!

After a little close inspection of my vivarium I spotted four different critters crusing aroung my tank.

Critter 1: These are the springtails that I put in and are doing well. They are growing in numbers and feeding off of fish flakes.

Critter 2: These critters are a colony of gnats that have been displaced since I took out a portion of the pincushion plant.

Critter 3: A third is a small black beetle like creature. They are about 1 mm long and I assumed they were young gnats. Well after finding the fourth critter I discovered that these are not young gnats.

Critter 4: These are the larvae stage of the gnats which are Fungus Gnats (order Diptera).

So now that I know the gnats are breeding and I know what they are, I went to this site:
http://www.umass.edu/umext/floriculture/fact_sheets/pest_management/fungnat.html

I am concerned that the dammage to my pincushion plant may have been due to the larvae of these bugs. I am also concerned about the larvae feeding off of other plants in the tank. I found two out in the open no where near my pincushion plant and they were close to my N. ventricosa. I have no idea what to do about it. Accoring to the site, there are several predatory bugs that can help control the population but I still need to look them up before I commit to getting them.

If anyone has ever delt with these in an enviornment where frogs will be put, any help would be appreciated.

I'll be back soon with some info on the various pest control insects listed in the link soon.
 
Alright so after a little more research on natural fungus gnat control, I have selected three species that may or may not be used together.

Species 1: Hypoaspis miles. These predatory mites are know to feed off of both gnat larvae first then once the populaion has declined, they will feed off of algae. The drawback of this species is that it tends to be better at prevention rather than curing the problem. It can, however, be paired with either of the following species.

Species 2: Steinernema feltiae. This predatory nematode seems to be better at curing large scale infestations and will not cause harm to my springtail population. This species can be paired with H. miles but not with the following control species. These are also known be be fine alongside springtails without causing too much dammage to their population. One drawback is that I cannot find out what would happen if they were to get into the water. Would they prey on baby guppies?

Species 3: Atheta coriaria. This species of beetle called the rove beetle seems to be good at helping with large scale infestations but once the proplem has been solved (more likely conroled) they will eat each other. They can be paired with H. miles but will eat S. feltiae. One drawback here is that they will also consume springtails.

I know I will never be able to rid my tank of fungus gnats and I am ok with that. I figure if I add a predator their numbers will stay under control.

I also added a buch of fish food to the land to help spark fungal growth and, according to articles, these flies prefer fungus to plant roots.

I never would have guessed that I would have this many decions when starting the tank! Honestly, I thought I would get the plants, set up the aquatic section and the be good to get frogs.

All in all I don't want to rush so no matter what happens, frogs (or crabs since I am still on the fence) will come after EVERYTHING is sorted out.
 
So what does everyone think I should go with?

ATM I am thinking a combo of H. miles and S. feltiae. I feel like that will be the safest way to control their numbers without hurting my springtail population all that much.
 
This is what I was looking for!

http://www.rebeca-net.de/downloads/Hierachical%20system%20case%20studies%20Sf%20and%20Hb.pdf

On page 4, the Non-Target effects are listed by group and it seems that they are harmless to frogs and fish. This article does, however, state that they do not limit themselves to prey that are soft bodied so springtails may be eaten but I doubt they could put that much of a dent in the population.

I would still like to hear everyones thoughts as to the species described or even species that I haven't listed that could work better.
 
Anyone?

I'm going to start looking for small cultures of H. miles and S. feltiae.
 
I just placed an order for S. feltiae and am currently looking for a lower price on H. miles.

I just hope they will arrive before my pincushion dies, as it has declined further...
 
I recieved my culture of S. feltiae. today!

The site I got them from mainly sells them for outdoor use in gardens and fields so the smallest package they had was 1 million +/- nematodes. After letting them warm up I made a mixture of distilled water and the nematodes and put it in my spray bottle. I then applied them to the viv focusing on the effected pincishion, the area where I found the fungus gnat larvae a few days ago as well as the base of all the plants in the viv.

I took pictures but they aren't even worth putting up. The nematodes are so small they look like little bubbles swirling in the water.
 
Wow, that is very interesting the only problem is the gnats can fly up to the top of the tank (which is screen) and breath from there. I also wanted a prevention too. The nematodes seem to be doing a good job with the exception of them attacking my springtails as well. I think if I had a lower dose of nematodes (<1 million) my springtails would have been fine but I do have a backup culture that I have kept going so it's not that big of a problem.

About the CO2, wouldn't that kill my fish as well since it would sink down to the water level cutting of O2?
 
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