Rearing pest roaches (American, Oriental, German) is a part of my job. I've just recently taken over the assignment and am trying to improve the set ups of our roach colonies. I am having difficulty choosing containers and barriers that will work well for these colonies. Previously all of our colonies were in 10 gallon glass aquariums covered with stockinette. I found it difficult to do maintenance in these aquariums due to the stockinette. I am in the process of moving all of our colonies to plastic storage bins, but I am having difficulties with escapes and airflow.
For the American and Oriental roaches I chose Hefty 72 Qt Lidded Plastic Storage Tubs (http://www.target.com/p/hefty-hi-rise-pro-72qt-plastic-storage-container/-/A-50262280?lnk=rec|pdpipadh1|related_prods_vv|pdpipadh1|50262280|1) with two 3" holes cut in the lid and one 3" hole in each end. Each hole is then covered with aluminum mesh mosquito screen. I coated the sides of each container with Fluon. The Americans have shown little difficulty overcoming the Fluon barriers.
For the German cockroaches, I have placed them in 18 Qt Lidded Plastic pails with one 3" hole in the center of the lid. The hole is covered with a piece of very fine brass screen. I've coated the upper walls with Contain Bug Barrier (www.readyreptilefeeders.com). The hole in the lid seems insufficient for airflow, as the dry food I place in the containers becomes moldy very quickly. Also, the Bug Barrier only seems to slow the roaches escape when I open the lid to do maintenance/collect individuals.
Does anyone have any recommendations, tips, suggestions? Does anyone have experience with these species?