Keeping the Cocoa fibre clean

[Brunok9]

When it comes to substrate, I perfer cocoa fiber by far, only because I live to keep a natural/planted viv. However, I've been having issues keeping it clean. For people who use this substrate, how do you clean it? Spot clean, springtails, or something else?

[finaldecember]

I tend to just spot clean as necessary, then change the whole thing every 10-12 days, depending on how quickly the stuff dries out.

[Brunok9]

Is there a way to avoid changing it as often?
The reason I ask is because I am planning to make a water feature in my 20 gallon long that I'm using, where 1/3 of the tank will be water, while the other side remains cocoa fibre.

[Zephyr]

Cockroaches.

[Brunok9]

I can't keep those in my house.

[Zephyr]

Springtails or isopods then.

[drache]

Cockroaches.
this is new to me - please explain

[Zephyr]

this is new to me - please explain
I just started using dubias as a clean-up crew in one of my coconut fiber enclosures. If the snakes poops, by the next morning the cockroaches will have eaten all of it.
They ARE decomposers in the wild; this is actually more of a "natural" diet than various pet foods or even fresh fruits/veggies.

[Brunok9]

I see another problem with that though. How strong are the mandibles on the cockroach? People who try to use them in an enviroment with frogs/snakes usually end up with nasty bites on their animal. It works fine until they get hungry, theres no waste to eat, so they eat the next organic matter.

It sounds far fetched, but we had a problem with crickets biting animals last year, and it may be the same with cockroaches if their bite is just as strong.

[adamanteus]

Yeah, I'm with you on this, Ashley. I've lost geckos to micro-crickets in the past! Proper cleaning is the way to go, bugs can't be trusted!

[DrKate]

I get that you're using naturally poo-eating bugs to eat the snake poo. But... What about the bug poo? It stands to reason that some portion of what goes into the bug comes back out. I'm sure the bugs make finer grained droppings that are much less visible on something like coconut fiber, but it doesn't seem like it would actually reduce the necessary cleaning interval all that much. (And if you can't easily *see* the substrate getting dirty, you might end up letting it get much dirtier before cleaning than you otherwise would have...)

[Zephyr]

I get that you're using naturally poo-eating bugs to eat the snake poo. But... What about the bug poo? It stands to reason that some portion of what goes into the bug comes back out. I'm sure the bugs make finer grained droppings that are much less visible on something like coconut fiber, but it doesn't seem like it would actually reduce the necessary cleaning interval all that much. (And if you can't easily *see* the substrate getting dirty, you might end up letting it get much dirtier before cleaning than you otherwise would have...)
Cockroaches are decomposers. They, and isopods, are used for cleanup because their droppings are generally so low in potential energy that it's basically dirt.