gnats and moulters and cocohuts...oh my

[crypticlaman]

Greetings all. All is quiet in the tank. Lee is hanging out in the same spot by the wall where I cant see him now with the pillowcase over that side of the tank, only the edge of his shell sticking out by the wall. Annabelle is still buried deep down, no tracks in the sand around her. Poe has been in the cocohut anytime ive checked but has left tracks to both water bowls at some point. They seem to have adopted pets of their own now and well...im just not ready to be a grandparent. There are gnats in there with them. They seem to be hanging out on the coco hut. When I was a chef and we got gnats or fruit flies in the kitchen we would get a small container of vinegar and cover it with a small hole in the cover. the bugs couldnt resist and would fly in and get caught. Even though nearly every shipment of produce came in with a few they were controlled to the point you wouldnt see one within hours after each shipment....wow I babble. To my question. Could i put such a container in the tank? would that be safe for the little ones or would they...poe tip it and drink it or something? it would be a plastic container with a tight fitting plastic lid about the size of half their water dish (couple inches) with a hole in the top slightly larger than a gnat...lemme know what you guys think. Or if there is something else i should do. I dont want to take poes hiding place if I dont have to.

[ladybug15057]

I'm not sure if the vinegar smell would effect them hermies after a bit or not if put right in the tank? (It is strongly suggested if one cleans a tank with vinegar to rinse until all the smell is gone)
But to place this somewhere outside of the tank to draw the gnats to it instead should work. (and has for other crabbers) Do you have a screen lid on your tank too?

[crypticlaman]

Actually I have three strategically placed pieces of saran wrap duct taped down to hold straight... .

[kgbenson]

I would try the following.

Remove the saran wrap over the tank - the bugs are never going to understand it and it will prevent them from getting out. This is only temporary so don't worry too much. At least remove a good swath of it for the little buggers to get out. This is also important to reduce mold growth and stale air.

Next - set a trap as you described, but, I would cover it with a single sheet of saran wrap and poke very small holes in the plastic wrap - say 3. Too many will reduce the function.

Then you need a slightly more complex flavor palate than just vinegar. Try mixing a little banana (including the skin) and perhaps some honey into the vinegar. You migth even try adding coconut. Most of the fruit loving flies cannot cannot resist the banana vinegar combination.

You might construct a second trap with a piece of shrimp, or fish etc. to catch the protein lovers.

I would put both right up on top of the tank and remove any and all food from the tank for a day. This should get the adults that are present now.

There will be eggs and such in the substrate that will hatch out. Most of these critters have a life cycle that is <2 weeks in duration when conditions are good so if you can catch the adults before they lay more eggs, the problem should become self limiting. Whenever you see and adult, deploy the traps. Misting with some salt water may reduce the viability of some of the species larvae as well. Most of the eggs and larvae will also be in the upper inch or so of the substrate so a partial substrate change will help as well.

Just be diligent and you should get it under control. IF the problem is minor and the infestation is not too bad I would just start with the traps and move to the more labor intensive stuff if that doesn't rapidly get things under control.

[emmac350]

Hm, I'm not sure if all of the fruit mixing is necessary, Keith. Fruit flies are attracted to red wine or apple cider vinegar as it is - they think it's rotting fruit for them to lay their eggs in. I've always used a small glass with the vinegar in it (no more than 1/4 inch needed) with a drop of liquid soap added. The soap breaks the surface tension of the vinegar so they will drown. I've never covered it though, and it's always worked for me and a bunch of other people I know in real life.

[ladybug15057]

And at a restaurant my daughter use to work at they used the red wine vinegar with a little sugar in it. Not sure if I would put the container on the lid of the tank though, it may draw the gnats in the house to the tank too.

[crypticlaman]

Im not too worried about the vinegar being effective. Like I said before I did it before as a chef. Thanks for the info about larvae in the substrate though. I wouldve wondered where the new ones came from. (this is what i get for buying bananas at walmart in a hurry instead of the local grown stuff i usually get) Thats a cool trick with the soap too btw. Ill try that too. It makes sense and seems more effective too!! Ill put both up and let you all know how it goes.

[kgbenson]

Hm, I'm not sure if all of the fruit mixing is necessary, Keith. Fruit flies are attracted to red wine or apple cider vinegar as it is - they think it's rotting fruit for them to lay their eggs in. I've always used a small glass with the vinegar in it (no more than 1/4 inch needed) with a drop of liquid soap added. The soap breaks the surface tension of the vinegar so they will drown. I've never covered it though, and it's always worked for me and a bunch of other people I know in real life.

It may not be necessary in every instance, but it my opinion, it works better. To each his or her own. I tend to like to take care of these things quickly, and taking 3 seconds to toss in some banana is hardly a big deal.

[crypticlaman]

well i set up the vinegar and such and ive been pretty busy so i hadnt paid too much attention to what was what as far as that goes. Upon checking well I noticed the gnats seem to be gone...one in the vinegar and soap...and three in the tiny spider web in the corner of the tank. Ill let m stay unless anyone sees a reason i shouldnt. the crabs dont seem to mind and hes solved my problem

[CrabbyJo]

Oh that's cute. Your hermies have a pet spider.