display tank---5 parthenogenic species "no boys allowed"

[Master_Roach]

Hi everyone!

So I came up with a new concept viv, dart frog style. It will be a Paludarium, with the water section connected to the false bottom (egg crate method). I am planning to, of course, seed it with some sick exotic plants... I hope this might not be a problem.

On land:

Mourning geckos

Pycnoscelus surinamensis (feeder/cleanup/cool inhabitant)

P nigra (same as above)

In water:

Marbled crayfish

Mts (food source, will help irrigate, cleanup)

I was thinking about adding a few more all female species.. But I dunno. Any suggestions?

Can this work?

[thesavageprojects]

Sound like it Should work. But it will be a balancing act. Over time it will sorta stabilize but i expecct u Will need to supplement feeders here and there and remove roaches if they get to plentiful. More work than a single speicies tank but also more interesting. Snap some pics when/if u get it set up.

[Master_Roach]

Yeah it will certainly be hard, especially because the mourning geckos will eat mostly fruit with the occational roach. Do you think that they will eat all of the plants?

I'm thinking about a stream dividing the two species of roaches. Would they be able to cross via branches or the false bottom/background? Also do both species of roach reproduce at the same rate?

They would drown/stay long enough to be eaten in the water feature, right?

[Master_Roach]

I got these kinds of responses:

I have some Pycnoscelus surinamensis in my crested gecko tanks. They produce really fast and are a pain the the ass. They do not leave the substrate so the geckos cant eat them. They will flock to water features and drown I kill tons of babies with a small cup of water. The roaches don't bother the geckos or the gecko eggs unless they are bad or the gecko has left the egg.

This is by far the most intelligent forum I have ever been a part of. On that note, I quote Ian Malcolm, "Life will find a way." By that statement I mean that it is very difficult to keep species from interacting when kept in the same environment and expected not to interact. And they will eventually find there way and the end result could either be harmless, or catastrophic.

Adam

I am just remembering my buddies tank,It was desolate. I can not imagine gecko eggs making it to hatch. All I can imagine is a swarm of roaches eating themselves into a desolate wasteland, while in the water the crays eat and devour any roach that ventures into the water.

Though I have seen my marbles cannibalize each other so at least there will be some osrt of population control

that is the dramatic side of me though.

I would be concerned about the roaches eating anything sitting still as they begin to over populate the tank. I am not a roach guy but I had a freind of mine in Chicago who was a entomoligist and he LOVED roaches had a huge tank of them. The tank was a barren tank with wood. nothing else lived in there even the raw wood had to be replenished. He once put another species of roach in there and the larger species took over. Roaches eat and breed.

Marbled crayfish - I actually own this species of cray. Fantastic animal cooler than life story (appeared out of no-where and is truly self cloning) I picked up a 2" specimin just to throw in a sump and eat detritus and see what happend. Turned into a 4" preditor. She eats anything that enters her reach. She also berries 1-2 times a year for me and at this size I get an estimated 1000+ eggs. I grow mine out in a garbage can and feed them to my oscars. I have seen them berry as small as 1.5" they are smaller eggs and the babies are very fragile but do hatch and grow This is the reason why this species of cray is illegal to own in places and ANYONE who does have one should take ALL means necessary to be certain that the crays NEVER get inot local waterways. I do all of my water changes on the garbage can into nets to verify and make sure that nothing gets in the drains or in my wifes bushes (fish water is awesome for plants)

I am not going to weigh in with my thoughts but PLEASE know these are FACTS not made up esitmations. You are talking about some of the fastest breeding animals I have ever seen

My response to this one:

I realize this. All five species breed extremely fast. Mourning geckos included. 2 eggs every 2 weeks per gecko adds up- and by the time the babies grow up it is a swarm. That's why they were kindof popular as feeders a few years back.

And don't get me started on mts I think they may be the fastest breeder of the bunch

Actually if you provide a source of protein, they will eat it if they are hungry... the gecko is a large source of protien... And it's pretty clear you didn't understand my point about after the lights go out..

I've thought of solutions for all of the above, if anyone is interested.

[Master_Roach]

Picture of basic layout (minus branches/Decoration/plants, etc)

[pierre72]

I got these kinds of responses:

I have some Pycnoscelus surinamensis in my crested gecko tanks. They produce really fast and are a pain the the ass. They do not leave the substrate so the geckos cant eat them. They will flock to water features and drown I kill tons of babies with a small cup of water. The roaches don't bother the geckos or the gecko eggs unless they are bad or the gecko has left the egg.

This is by far the most intelligent forum I have ever been a part of. On that note, I quote Ian Malcolm, "Life will find a way." By that statement I mean that it is very difficult to keep species from interacting when kept in the same environment and expected not to interact. And they will eventually find there way and the end result could either be harmless, or catastrophic.

Adam

I am just remembering my buddies tank,It was desolate. I can not imagine gecko eggs making it to hatch. All I can imagine is a swarm of roaches eating themselves into a desolate wasteland, while in the water the crays eat and devour any roach that ventures into the water.

Though I have seen my marbles cannibalize each other so at least there will be some osrt of population control

that is the dramatic side of me though.

I would be concerned about the roaches eating anything sitting still as they begin to over populate the tank. I am not a roach guy but I had a freind of mine in Chicago who was a entomoligist and he LOVED roaches had a huge tank of them. The tank was a barren tank with wood. nothing else lived in there even the raw wood had to be replenished. He once put another species of roach in there and the larger species took over. Roaches eat and breed.

Marbled crayfish - I actually own this species of cray. Fantastic animal cooler than life story (appeared out of no-where and is truly self cloning) I picked up a 2" specimin just to throw in a sump and eat detritus and see what happend. Turned into a 4" preditor. She eats anything that enters her reach. She also berries 1-2 times a year for me and at this size I get an estimated 1000+ eggs. I grow mine out in a garbage can and feed them to my oscars. I have seen them berry as small as 1.5" they are smaller eggs and the babies are very fragile but do hatch and grow This is the reason why this species of cray is illegal to own in places and ANYONE who does have one should take ALL means necessary to be certain that the crays NEVER get inot local waterways. I do all of my water changes on the garbage can into nets to verify and make sure that nothing gets in the drains or in my wifes bushes (fish water is awesome for plants)

I am not going to weigh in with my thoughts but PLEASE know these are FACTS not made up esitmations. You are talking about some of the fastest breeding animals I have ever seen

My response to this one:

I realize this. All five species breed extremely fast. Mourning geckos included. 2 eggs every 2 weeks per gecko adds up- and by the time the babies grow up it is a swarm. That's why they were kindof popular as feeders a few years back.

And don't get me started on mts I think they may be the fastest breeder of the bunch

Actually if you provide a source of protein, they will eat it if they are hungry... the gecko is a large source of protien... And it's pretty clear you didn't understand my point about after the lights go out..

I've thought of solutions for all of the above, if anyone is interested.

I love roaches myself and if you have an overpopulation of any species, you can sell me some or to others on the forum. My address is Jeffrey Juli P.O. Box 154 Auburn, NY 13021. Your buddy in Chicago sounds on a par with me. I'd be interested in contacting him.