u/Lucky-Beautiful2083

Bioactive tank is now thriving! After research and your guys’ help I decided to go for it and get rubber duckies. I Added the duckies on Tuesday and they seem to be doing very well from what I’ve seen of them. They’ve been pottering round the surface at night and been burrowing in little tunnels or under moss. And boy do they LOVE pellets! I put three custodian pellets in the first night and they were mostly gone by morning!

Hi all! I just set up a new terrarium and I am planning to add some little friends in a few months time when the plants have settled properly.

My tank set up:
- 40x40x60cm exoterra terrarium with mesh top
- 2x 25w full spectrum bulbs (on a timer 8am-7pm)
- floor is leca>activated charcoal> worm castings>soil>leaf litter
- walls are made of clay, worm castings and soil mix
- hardscape: bark strips, slate (walls) and dragon stone (floor)
- plants: asparagus fern, Boston fern, parlour palm, trandescantia, maidenhair vines, hypoestes, carpet moss and cushion moss all spread evenly in ground and floor (and some air plant urchin shell jellyfish which are pretty cool)
- resin tree (aquarium safe) centre piece which I’ve covered in clay soil to plant moss and plants.
- full tub of springtails
- about 2ft away from window for fresh air

I (personally) think I’m off to a great start to have a very healthy thriving terrarium, so in maybe 3+ months time, after doing some research I would like to add mandarin cubaris isopods first (i really wanted rubber ducky ones but i don’t have any experience and read they can be more complicated to care for), then 1-2 bumblebee millipedes, then finally emerald cockroaches months after the isopods have settled.

Are these species easy for a new starter?
Would these 3 be okay cohabiting and in this environment?
How many should I start with and what do I do if they breed and overwhelm the tank?
Are there any first time isopod (and millipede if there’s any millipede owners here) owner tips I should know in advance? I have done a LOT of research the last few days but anything from your experience I need to be aware of.

I have experience in plant care, reptiles and i have a thriving dubia roach colony, locust tank and morio worms (these are breeding feeder bugs for my reptiles- and DISCLAIMER: I have zero intention of using any of the isopods/emerald roaches as feeder bugs before someone assumes😭). I also read the 3 of them would benefit from calcium and occasional fish flakes which I already have handy for the other bugs.

Thankyou in advance! And pictures of tank below!