Cleanup Crew:
Most of the bugs mentioned and available as cleanup crew (or custodians) of a bioactive setup are tropical inhabitants and humid lovers. Desertic bioactive setups have not been used enough to establish thriving invertebrates for such habitats, so it is still in the steps of experimenting. In my first attempt of bioactive, I had left patches of the substrate with just coco-fibre and compost mixed with leaf litter, and kept moist under flat rocks and wood, in order for the custodians to have a humid retreat. I introduced springtails (tropical and native), woodlice (tropical and natives), mealworms, lesser (mini) mealworms and their beetles. The springtails survived for a week at and around the moist patches but died off eventually. The tropical woodlice survived for a while longer but followed the same fate eventually, leaving the native woodlice, mealworms, lesser mealworms and their beetles to survive the longest. For a while these last custodians were doing a great job eliminating the wastes, pieces of shed and leftover food from the setup.
Eventually, the substrate was too dry for even these invertebrates and the big majority died off soon. When I redid the setup, I laid a bottom layer of humid coco-fibre and compost soil to provide the invertebrates an underground moist layer throughout the whole setup and not just in patches. I have also provided a moist patch of humid soil directly linked to the bottom moist layer, hidden under a flat rock as well as, a humid corner covered by pieces of wood, bark and withering plants. Was hopeful that this would provide a better chance for the invertebrates and so far after a month, they are starting to show signs of breeding. I have mealworms, lesser mealworms and their beetles; and native woodlice as the cleanup crew for my desertic habitat and I have witnessed wastes and left over food disappearing in one night.
(Moist patch under a flat rock with mealworms, lesser mealworms and their beetles. Photos by Sheriyar Bokhari)
Other custodians that can be used for desertic setups, though I haven’t tried them myself yet, are superworms (morios), dermestids and their beetles. After a bit of research, it would seem that the most effective of all dry setups custodians, would be the blue death feigning beetles (Asbolus verrucosus), but it seems that due to their high difficulty in getting the larvae to pupate in captivity, they are rarely imported outside of the U.S.A.
Conclusion:
Doing a bioactive setup for desertic to dry inhabitants is still in the path for trial and error, there are still no foolproof ways of doing this kind of setup. For this reason, all observations and anecdotes are welcomed in regarding the setting up of the enclosure as well as the running of the setup. The substrate should be more sand or any other dry substrate than humid-retaining substrate and plants should be those species able to withstand the very low levels of humidity. Although the invertebrates mentioned above will tolerate the dry environment, they will still need moist retreats, and the more accessible retreats they have, the better toensure their breeding. All aspects need to be carefully monitored in order to have the environmental and behavioural requirements of all living beings in the setup met in a common scale.
Originally Posted by baldegale
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