Terrarium without Springtails
Hi, I am a newbie to terrariums, owning some pretty plants (monstera, Epipremnum, mosses etc) and an old aquarium (30x30x50cm) I wanted to set them into the aquarium as opposed to a planter. I don't plan on keeping any animals in there, which is very much my (likely self-made) issue. Any tutorial on terrariums I watch/read up on suggests to add springtails to consume mold and rotting biomass. But I am not comfortable with keeping these little bugs, because I worry I'll forget to do maintenance and they all die or that keeping them in an enclosed space is unethical.
Is it possible to maintain a terrarium without springtails? What if I keep the container without a lid? Will the humidity escape fast enough to avoid mold growth?
I haven’t tried a terrarium without springtails. I can tell you that I struggle to keep moss alive without a very humid enclosed terrarium. You can always give it a shot if you’re really certain you don’t want springtails.
The ideal behind terrariums with springtails is that they should be mostly self-sustaining (minus having to trim back plants when they get too big). So if it’s set up right, you can secure a tight lid that will keep springtails and moisture in. If you don’t add extra food in there they should self-regulate their population. I don’t think I get any springtail escapees. I also keep isopods, and they do escape, so definitely avoid those guys.
Can always give it a shot and then post how it’s going.
From my understanding, the inclusion of some bugs and snails and such is to help keep the mold down, recycle dead plant material back into useful nutrients for the plants, and convert the oxygen the plants make back into carbon dioxide that the plants need.
Without any bugs in a sealed ecosystem, I don't think the plants will survive all that long. You have to provide some balanced level of a limited variation of the circle of life..