500/500 in a 10 Gallon

[Albula]

Was wondering if it is possible to store 500 1/2" crickets and then 500 1" crickets all in one 10 gallon fish tank or will the 1" eat/bully the 1/2"ers? Thanks

 

[camimom]

you cant store that many crickets in a tank that small.

they will just die.

 

[Killer Chams]

i keep over 1000 large in a ten gallon and they do just fine. i buy 1000 every week and only 20-30 of them die each week

 

[NHenn]

I keep my smaller crickets (1000 ish @ 1/4") in 10 gallon tanks. Once they get a little larger though (1/2") I move them all to a 20 gallon tank.

I recently had 2000 @ 1/2" in my 20 gallon and they did fine so I guess in theory you would be able to have 1000 in a 10 gallon.

 

[absolutbill]

I store that many crickets in a 10 gallon container, but I also make sure to have plenty of egg crates so they have spaces to crawl around. My concern would be this - you have 2 sizes of crickets for a reason, presumably. How are you going to separate out the size you need at a particular time? If you just are getting a new batch to replenish your supplies, and can use either size of cricket, then it's fine - I've never seen different sizes bully each other as long as there is plenty to eat and drink.

 

[Albula]

Only have 2 reptiles and go thru about 120 crickets a week, so the 500/500 crickets would be in the 10 gallon tank for a while. Know that the petshops keep the large and small separated, but not sure if it is because of sorting purposes only or if there was a problem of keeping them together. Was going to put a piece(s) of small soaker hose or something similar in the tank only big enough so that the smaller crickets could climb in and hide for sorting purposes.

 

[absolutbill]

The petshops separate the sizes because they charge differently for each size. I like your idea of the size-specific soaker hose to give the small ones a place to hide. However, I also think that unless your reptiles are full-grown, you may have a problem with even the smallest ones getting too big by the time you feed them off. If you are only going through 120/week, how about only buying 500 crickets at a time? Just my two cents, but if it works for you then go for it.

 

[Albula]

For those of you that keep 1,000 crickets in a 10 gallon tank with screen lid, do you get many escapes? Thanks

 

[pssh]

Only when the egg crates were too tall and they jumped out. It was a pain in the butt to use the tank though, so I just glued some screen onto a plastic tub/tote lid and used that. Its much easier now.

 

[NHenn]

I don't have any escape from mine. Just rip the egg crates in half so they are only about 1/2 the height of the 10 gallon tank and you will be fine without a screen top. I don't keep screen tops on any of my tanks.

 

[absolutbill]

That's what I do too - I cut the egg crates in 1/2, and overlap them by 1 hole, so they take up 2/3 of the cage lengthwise. The other 1/3 is the dish of water crystals and food. The only problem I've had with escapees is when I accidentally bought a batch of banded crickets, and didn't realize their jumping capabilities!

 

[TIMMYBOY]

500 crix

Ok so im recieving 500 in mail tomoro what is my best bet to keeping most of them alive i can put them in an exta 30 gal with a screen top do they need heat lamp ?
And i guess ill use my normal potatoe carrots greens and rèpashy superload,,,im done with pet store going every week and overprced

 

[DanSB]

Ok so im recieving 500 in mail tomoro what is my best bet to keeping most of them alive i can put them in an exta 30 gal with a screen top do they need heat lamp ?
And i guess ill use my normal potatoe carrots greens and rèpashy superload,,,im done with pet store going every week and overprced

I would skip the potato and it sounds fine.

Unless your house gets really cold (below 40 F) or you're trying to breed them you can skip supplemental heat.

I personally use mostly those little dollar store plastic shoeboxes with a bunch of holes poked in the top. I easily keep 200 1/4 - 1/2 inches per box and 100 3/4 inch plus per box. I do lose some when feeding but I solved that by just setting whatever box im accessing in an 18 gallon tote.

I like the shoeboxes because it is easier to store lots of crickets and I can separate them to experiment with different gutloads / foods from the same batch plus being able to keep them divided by size is way easier.

I have been doing this for over a year with very few problems.

 

[TIMMYBOY]

500crix

I would skip the potato and it sounds fine.

Unless your house gets really cold (below 40 F) or you're trying to breed them you can skip supplemental heat.

I personally use mostly those little dollar store plastic shoeboxes with a bunch of holes poked in the top. I easily keep 200 1/4 - 1/2 inches per box and 100 3/4 inch plus per box. I do lose some when feeding but I solved that by just setting whatever box im accessing in an 18 gallon tote.

I like the shoeboxes because it is easier to store lots of crickets and I can separate them to experiment with different gutloads / foods from the same batch plus being able to keep them divided by size is way easier.

I have been d
oing this for over a year with very few problems.

Thanks for the advise dan, do females come in that so they could mate?
Or how do u breed

 

[DanSB]

Thanks for the advise dan, do females come in that so they could mate?
Or how do u breed

Yes females will come in your shipment. They are the ones with the big the ovipositor (a long thing sticking directly out of their rear, do a google search for cricket ovipositor).

I don't breed right now but it isn't too difficult. To easily breed you will need a little space though. Figure 2 - 3 18 gallon totes, a smaller tote 10 gallons or so, a dirt bed, and a warm / heated spot. There are tons of places on the web that give good cricket culturing advice. Do a search on this site, or google in general for cricket culturing.