Fruit beetles?

[jamest0o0]

Anyone know if it's possible to get any of these in the US? I heard they were illegal? I'm looking to add more to my substrate, tired of the usual springtails and isopods. Anything else out there?!

 

[Andee]

Fruits beetles likely won't do much in your substrate, and the larvae won't survive well from what I know of them. They can be bought in US... At least I can own them in Cali

 

[jamest0o0]

They won't clean it if that's what you mean, but the grubs will turn the soil over and add diversity and nutrients to it. I read they survive fine and easily reproduce?

 

[Andee]

The thing you will need is fresh fruit and give it not only to the adults but small amounts likely to the larvae depending on the species you get. But when they rotting wood it is full on rotting oak chips, and the best way to do that is make fermented kinshi because in a short time nothing else would be made regularly. They eat a large amount, and you can't allow the grubs to get over crowded or else they will cannibalize each other.

 

[jamest0o0]

Sorry just getting back to this, not sure what kinshi is, I'll have to Google it. I heard you could just leave fruit in for them and they'd also eat decaying stuff in the dirt? The larvae can also be fed off to our Chams, but have a nasty bite(those things are disgusting!) So I'd break their jaws if I ever fed them.

On a side note @Andee do you think the dwarf isos or gcis do a better job of cleaning? The size of GCI's makes me think them, plus they seem to reproduce fast, but I have no idea!

 

[Andee]

Depends. Dwarf isopods do an amazing clean up job, but they don't make good feeders for larger species if you also want that in combo. I think GCI as long as they don't get too overcrowded do just as good as a job.