PhilinYuma
Well-known member
Someone, Sporeworld? said recently that they weren't much turned on by net cubes. I tend to agree. Even when the netting and plastic sides are clean, visibility is not good, and when they get dirty, they are disgusting. I use just about all net cages, so don't expect to see any "Ooh Ahh!" pix here.
My plan was to set up about 60 feet of shelving with cubes, light/heating and humidification for about $500. When I'd had a thoroughly good laugh about that, I decided to start with half that space and then double it later. I do not keep my bugs in my bedroom, I sleep in my bug room, which make s a lot more sense, and I reckoned that if I could learn to sleep standing up, I could probably squeeze in a further 30' of "emergency" space.
The cubes are racked on Sterilite shelving. A five shelf, 3' long unit, about 14" deep costs about $50, so I started with two of these. They are strong and easy to assemble and clean. There is a clearance of about 4" between the top of each cube and the bottom of the upper shelf, but three cubes are pretty cramped on one shelf, and for the upper few, at least, I stack one humidifier between two cubes to humidify the shelf below.
Cubes cost at least $10 each (yep, the price has gone up!). They have a volume of about 71/2 gallons. They will not support the heavy "furniture" placed inside a 10gal glass tank, but they are cheaper, unbreakable, lighter, better ventilated and much more easily humidified. Fifty will cost you $500 retail (I worked that out myself!), though you can engineer a better deal if you buy that many. They are also much more easily cleaned than glass tanks. I keep a spray jar, with a red label and BLEACH in large letters. I clean a cube by spraying the undiluted bleach on it, inside and out over the bath rub and leaving it to do its thing. This may be a bit harsh for some folks' lungs and skin; I'm past noticing. Ten minutes later, just wash off the cube and leave it in the Yuma sun for ten minutes to dry.
I have no idea if this thread is of any interest to anyone, so I'll stop here and see if it gets any response. If it does, I'll go over heating, humidification and odds and ends. Cheers!
My plan was to set up about 60 feet of shelving with cubes, light/heating and humidification for about $500. When I'd had a thoroughly good laugh about that, I decided to start with half that space and then double it later. I do not keep my bugs in my bedroom, I sleep in my bug room, which make s a lot more sense, and I reckoned that if I could learn to sleep standing up, I could probably squeeze in a further 30' of "emergency" space.
The cubes are racked on Sterilite shelving. A five shelf, 3' long unit, about 14" deep costs about $50, so I started with two of these. They are strong and easy to assemble and clean. There is a clearance of about 4" between the top of each cube and the bottom of the upper shelf, but three cubes are pretty cramped on one shelf, and for the upper few, at least, I stack one humidifier between two cubes to humidify the shelf below.
Cubes cost at least $10 each (yep, the price has gone up!). They have a volume of about 71/2 gallons. They will not support the heavy "furniture" placed inside a 10gal glass tank, but they are cheaper, unbreakable, lighter, better ventilated and much more easily humidified. Fifty will cost you $500 retail (I worked that out myself!), though you can engineer a better deal if you buy that many. They are also much more easily cleaned than glass tanks. I keep a spray jar, with a red label and BLEACH in large letters. I clean a cube by spraying the undiluted bleach on it, inside and out over the bath rub and leaving it to do its thing. This may be a bit harsh for some folks' lungs and skin; I'm past noticing. Ten minutes later, just wash off the cube and leave it in the Yuma sun for ten minutes to dry.
I have no idea if this thread is of any interest to anyone, so I'll stop here and see if it gets any response. If it does, I'll go over heating, humidification and odds and ends. Cheers!
