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My Attempt At A Botanical Method Aquarium

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 Aquariums come in all different shapes, sizes, forms, etc. We all have seen them, sterile glass boxes turned into ecosystems. When done right, an aquarium in my opinion are super rewarding. You can make low maintenance, high maintenance, etc. Personally, I enjoy aquariums that closely replicate what the inhabitants of it live in nature. Like a biotope type thing. I have definitely tried different styles aswell, but I really enjoy the ones that are low maintenance and look closer to how the inhabitants naturally live in the wild. On the 24th June of this year I decided that I wanted to make a botanical method aquarium. Its pretty much like a blackwater setup (true blackwater generally uses RO water and really low hardness and pH). My tap water luckily is pretty soft and acidic. It has a low kH, gH, and standard pH which is good for these setups. My tap water could easily go down to a pH of probably about 6.2 just with botanicals and aquasoil. This is how I set it up: I started with...
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Scalida latiusvittata, a truly slept on species?

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Around early October 2025, I went nearby a fishing area to look at some wild fish. There was a large population of guppies around the area. It was kind of like a sewer system but pretty clear and taken over by nature. I got curious and did start flipping the stones around the place, and seeing the large amount of moss growing on the surface and sides of the water, so I was quite sure I'd find something. I spotted some little dark red colored insects darting very quickly, and they turned out to be these little nymphs of a roach. I found about 5 or 6 individuals. They were these little roach nymphs. I caught a few in some little deli cups and brought them home. I was pretty sure they were either pre-adults or a species with vestigial wings as seen here. I set up a little cup with some substrate, bark, some moss, and other stuff. Soon enough, they matured! And I realized this was a species I have seen before. They were these Scalida latiusvittata, a small Ectobiid species that origina...
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Homalosilpha sp. Colony Report

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 Hello everyone. Welcome to another post, its been quite a while. So about more than a month ago on 3/7/2025, I got a package containing a small colony of an unidentified Homalosilpha species. Upon opening the package, it was this little bottle with some stuff inside and of course, the roaches themselves. I refer to them as Homalosilpha sp. "South Sumatra", as it is their collection origin based on the seller. This genus is generally known as Asian Flat Roaches, based on their native range in the continent of Asia and being particularly flatter compared to other roaches. In my opinion this is pretty unique and interesting Here they are, very nice looking species and definitely one of my favorite genus of roaches. I received probably about 5 nymphs and 5 adults. In the past, around October 2024 I had gotten a few specimens of Homalosilpha ustulata, but I had failed keeping them. I think my main mistake was keeping them too warm and way too humid. They do enjoy humidity but I t...
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