Estivation Crisis....Please advise

[Sandy Bear]

At the moment, I am partial to the Fluval Filters. We have two of the 405 models, a 105 and an FX5. The FX5 is on our South American Cichlid/Arowana tank and one of the 405's is on my work tank. The other 405 is not being used at the moment, and the 105 is for my dart frog tank (D.auratus) that is sitting in pieces waiting to be assembled. Our local pet shop doesn't carry Eheim products for whatever reason, but it's something that I would look into getting some day when our Fluvals die on us.

You should do something with that extra filter! Get some of those Suriname Toads, "Pipa pipa". They are an aquatic frog, and very unusual looking, they are flat, have long fingers and have a prominent "T" mark across their chest. They basically look like they have been run over and had an autopsy done and the coroner stitched them back up. Very neat aquatic frog, I would love to have some of those in my collection one day.

When I do go about drilling the tanks, the first one I am going to get done at a glass cutter in town. They charge around $12 a 1" hole, but it depends on the size. I checked out some drill bits at our local Home Depot, and they had one or two diamond drill bits (larger ones anyways), and I think that they started at $50 each for about a 1" size.
I'm not exactly sure what size I need, so that's why I'm going to get it done there for at least the first one.

[aceras624]

as for the pipa pipas, WEIRD! hahaha... most LPS's dont carry Eheim. Theyre a high end brand that doesnt sell too well in america except amongst more serious aquarists(hope that doesnt somehow sound condescending
thats a great price for drilling holes. Id probably use the guy if he was local to me! they charge like $50- $75 here! for the size, just measure the outside diameter of the bulkhead/s you plan on using for the pipe size. most of them also come with a sticker that has the dimensions on them. these are the ones I use
Slip Bulkhead Fitting Kits

[Sandy Bear]

If you are interested in breeding feeders at home, but aren't able to "baby sit" them because you are busy, there are other feeders out there that require little care/effort.

Vermicomposting worms, such as Red Wrigglers (small worm) and European Nightcrawlers (medium worm) are great choices. I feed these to my frogs and my cichlids and they love them. I keep them indoors at room temperature in Rubbermaid tubs. They are fed paper/cardboard and table scraps (like bread, veggies, fruits, used coffee grounds/tea bags, etc...). I feed them maybe once every two weeks, and I change out their bins maybe every 6 months or when it is getting full.
The other up side to them is that they make the BEST all natural fertilizer and you are doing something good for the environment. You can also make some money off of the castings. The red wrigglers breed pretty fast too, they will double their population every 90 days. I'm not sure how fast the European Nightcrawlers breed, I've only had them for a couple of months.

My pill bugs are doing well too, I only feed them fish flake food and rotting lettuce, and I make sure that their substrate stays wet. My colony is starting to take off, I noticed a new batch of babies last night. I probably only check on these guys once every 2-3 weeks. I'm keeping them in a sterelite shoe box at the moment, but I think I might get them a bigger tub eventually.

Mealworms are also really easy to breed, not my favorite feeder but they're good to have as a back up. I think I neglected my colony for almost a year, and there was still lots of mealies alive. I am taking better care of them now, but they are tough little guys.

Roaches are also great feeders. They like heat and you have to make sure that they don't run out of food or water as some species will cannibalize each other or their young. A cat/small dog gravity fed feeder filled with water gel crystals and one filled with food like cat/dog food, dry cereal, chick egg laying mash, etc..., would be a good way of making sure that they don't run out of food.
Dubia is a good starter roach and comes highly recommended by many keepers. They are very nutritious, they don't bite, they don't smell, they don't climb glass/smooth plastic, they don't make noise, they also don't run fast like pest roaches do. Females give birth to 20-30 nymphs every month. Tubs should be cleaned out once every 6 months or so.

Cardboard egg carton is a must have when breeding feeders. You can buy the large flats on line, but you can also get these from restaurants. Anywhere that serves breakfast or bakeries will have tones of these, and will probably appreciate people taking them off of their hands, that way they do not take up space in their dumpster.

[aceras624]

wow! good read! im kindof excited about how easy it seems to be to make feeder animals! hmmmm now to convince my better half to let me keep some creepy crawleys in a box INSIDE any advice on THAT!? hahaha

[Sandy Bear]

Well, start with one thing at at time. Invest in the vermicomposting worms, since you have a Budgett's Frog, I'd go with the European Nightcrawlers (they don't get as big as the Canadian Nightcrawlers do). Good points about them:

+ No Smell ...........(unless you feed them wrong)

+ They will self regulate - meaning the worms won't become so overpopulated in their bin that they start crawling out - if they do crawl out there is a problem with their bedding/food

+ Doing something good for the environment......you will dispose of a lot of house hold waste, or "reducing your carbon foot print" I think that is how the saying goes anyways.

+ 1 pound of worms can eat 1/2 a pound of properly prepared food every day

+ Safer at disposing documents then just shredding the paper! I have a friend in my building that brings me all her shredded bills and personal documents (shredded). I feed that to my worms. She worries about "sketchy" tenants in our building, as she's caught one of them searching though the garbage bags in the garbage shed.

+ The worm castings are fabulous, your plants will grow 3 times better in worm castings then they will with any other kind of dirt or fertilizer, plus it's "organic"

+ The European Nightcrawlers are a very "up and coming" bait fishing worm, and will out last any Canadian Nightcrawler in summer time fishing, also can be used for ice fishing, and brackish water fishing. Extras can be sold to fishermen.

+ Lots of people are doing it now! haha, always the best excuse :P And a lot of people are actually keeping their bins in the kitchen, like the pantry floor or under the sink for convenience. Other people keep then in the basement or on the porch.

This is my care sheet I wrote on them:
Vermicomposting - Red Wriggler Care Sheet - talk to the frog

I have 4 worm bins set up in my apartment, and I have given starter colonies to a lot of people that I know (all girls) and they just love them. Some are keeping them for food for their animals, others are keeping them for the composting side.

You can check your area for Gardening clubs that promote Vermicomposting. I bought one of my starter colonies of Red Wrigglers from one of these places. Some of them give starter colonies away for free, others you will have to pay for, usually by the pound.
If you are Canadian, you can purchase your worms both the European Nightcrawlers and Red Wrigglers from Cathy from Cathy's Crawlie Composters. I bought 1 pound of European Nightcrawlers from her for about $110 Shipped. She is a fantastic lady, and very passionate about worm composting:
Cathy's Crawly Composters - Products
Videos:
Cathy's Crawly Composters - Video - Town and Country Ontario
Cathy's Crawly Composters - Video - Town and Country Ontario