# Planted Tanks > Vivariums >  Insects problem in a terrarium

## carlfsk

Hey guys, recently I have just set up this 'terrarium' if this iswhat it should be called. It's base is a mix of coco pest and soil bought at he nursery top up with a layer of Gex soil. I kept it enclosed with the substrate moisturised.

I do not intend to keep any living thing in the tank, it's kept dry but just a little bit moist. I have it enclosed totally with an opening which I will be fixing a computer fan to draw air from within so as to ensure some air circulation. I also planned to add a mister to mist the plants few times a day.oh, btw, this is a 4ft standard tank. The lighting is also enclosed within.

With the lightings ready, still searching for the mister and fan, I thought I can at least start to do some planting. But, just only, I realized there are lots of these small little insects flying and moving around in the tank. I believed there are quite a few types inside.

My question is, where do they come from? Are they harmful to us in anyway? 

I am now contemplating giving up this project because of the insect. Can anyone advice me?

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## dkk08

Hi bro, most probably the insects are fruitflies, which I do have a fair amount of them at home  :Grin:

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## carlfsk

It's small in size, smaller than a grain of rice, and black in colour. They flies too. Is it safe to have them in the house? I am wondering should I continue with the project. Seeing loads of them flying around looks like a rubbish chute.

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## dkk08

They should be ok, fruitflies don't bite humans, at least mine don't haha, trust me no matter how clean you try to keep your tank there'll bound to be some sort of insects around  :Laughing:

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## Merviso

bro... since you do not intend to keep any living thing in the tank, maybe you can nuke it with bygone!  :Evil:

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## raytan12

> They should be ok, fruitflies don't bite humans, at least mine don't haha, trust me no matter how clean you try to keep your tank there'll bound to be some sort of insects around


but then isn't there maggots? 
had this problem before... before flies-worms and maggots that's why decomp tank cos looks gross...
thinking of setting up vertical vivarium... only plants and shrimps... so won't have such problems... usually from decomposed uneatened food like crickets/mealworms and even frogs' droppings.

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## Fuzzy

Catch a few geckos (chichak) or common spiders to put in your tank, hehehe.

Fruit flies do not bite though, at worst they are an eyesore.

If you add a circulation fan, you might want to put it on a timer, to draw fresh air in for a few minutes every 3 - 4 hours at the most, otherwise even with a mister
you're going to have problems keeping the humidity up.

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## dkk08

Maggots? Never had maggots problem or rather I don't ever remember seeing any. Even if there they would have been eaten by the tank inhabitants  :Grin: 

I do agree uneaten food/dead crickets/dead worms/animal droppings can be the root of the problem, but in this case Bro Carlfsk don't have any fauna in the tank so most probably it might be dead plants or the compost/substrate that's attracting the flies

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## carlfsk

> Catch a few geckos (chichak) or common spiders to put in your tank, hehehe.
> 
> Fruit flies do not bite though, at worst they are an eyesore.
> 
> If you add a circulation fan, you might want to put it on a timer, to draw fresh air in for a few minutes every 3 - 4 hours at the most, otherwise even with a mister
> you're going to have problems keeping the humidity up.


Actually that's what I intend to do. I will probably set it running for a few times a day to draw air out. After each and every run, the mister will be set to mist the plants.

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## carlfsk

I'm quite relieve to hesr that the insect is not harmful to us. Will check later to see if they are gone.

Btw, have another question. As you know, my light set is enclosed in the tank. As such the temperature will be rising within, just like a green house. How do you guys cope with this temperature issue? Or it doesn't really matters? I had the 1st round of planting some HC and hairgrass, but all died. Could it be the lighting too strong, the substrate, or the heat? I'm using 2 36 watt FL tube fomerly. But I have since changed to a single 36 watt FL tube.

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## blue33

You need misting and fan to circulate air and moist.  :Smile:  if you want to kill those flies, you can place a insect killer for temporary remove of those flies, such as the the one below.

source: novita

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## ranmasatome

Flies are fun! :Smile: 
dont worry la they can't do anything to you or the plant. Sometimes just don't look good only. Its funny how people automatically associate flies with uncleaniness or lack of hygiene. Not all flies are so. In fact, most of them are good..even the maggots.

Anyway, have you taken a physical measurement of the tmeperature? if so, what is it ranging around now?

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## carlfsk

The original 2 36 watt FL light set is spoilt. I have set to install the replacement single tube light set. So the tank was enclosed with no lighting. I opened up the cover yesterday wanting to do something, and o was shocked to see so many insects flying out. So now, I have left the cover opened, hoping the insects will just fly away.

As such, have not measure the temperature yet. But it could be ranging at 30c.

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## ranmasatome

Oh you probably have midges or just some fungus gnats.. no worries la.. they are everywhere one actually.. just can't see them all the time.

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## dkk08

Ya most of the flies are harmless, most of them are attracted by uneaten food like how my big bucket of 400grams of crickets have quite alot of flies, most of them fruit flies not to mention I've 3 big bottles of Garbage Enzymes with lots of fruits in them, just this morning I found a swamp of dead fruit flies near the Garbage Enzymes

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## carlfsk

Guys thanks for the assurance. Any comments on the temperature thingy in the tank and any concerns with that, and also why the plants died in my 1st trial?

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## dkk08

Well try to bring the temperature down a few deg at least to 27-28, and try misting them once daily

To me, plants is a lot of trial and error (at least to me) because someone having very good results with a certain plant may not have very good result with another type of plants.

I'm sure most of us here have a "always die plant species" Aka "Jinxed Plant" where we've tried many ways and condition but they just cannot grow or survive, so it's a lot of luck invovled too.

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## Fei Miao

If the insects is really a bother, using dry ice is one method.....remove any fauna in the tank, cover the tank tightly and with the dry ice on container pour some warn water to get it smoking, the CO2 will depict all the oxygen in the tank killing the insect but harmless to the plants.  :Smile:

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## carlfsk

> If the insects is really a bother, using dry ice is one method.....remove any fauna in the tank, cover the tank tightly and with the dry ice on container pour some warn water to get it smoking, the CO2 will depict all the oxygen in the tank killing the insect but harmless to the plants.


Wow, sounds really a very good idea. Man, thanks for the tips!

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## Merviso

> If the insects is really a bother, using dry ice is one method.....remove any fauna in the tank, cover the tank tightly and with the dry ice on container pour some warn water to get it smoking, the CO2 will depict all the oxygen in the tank killing the insect but harmless to the plants.


This is really a cool idea!  :Cool:   :Well done:

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## limz_777

my vivarium do get tiny insects too , i recently introduced a smaller feeder frog ( not the bull frog ) into the set-up to control the tiny insect population

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## dkk08

> my vivarium do get tiny insects too , i recently introduced a smaller feeder frog ( not the bull frog ) into the set-up to control the tiny insect population


do take note the small feeder frog will grow into a big feeder frog as I've tried this method and after 3 months I found a huge frog instead of small feeder frog. How huge? From a small half inch to 2.5in SVL (Snout Vent Length)

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