Microfauna job? Importance??

[Philsuma]

The notion that microfauna is a 'clean up crew' is a little overblown, I think. That's an idea that's at least in part imported from aquarium keeping (where it does make a lot of sense, but for reasons that don't at all transfer to dart keeping) through the "bioactive" channels. Ultimately, the waste in a dart viv is going to be broken down by microorganisms, flushed out in the waste water, and taken up by plants. Whether that waste passes through an isopod or a springtail on its way out isn't crucial.

Microfauna in a dart viv do help to provide a supplemental food source for the frogs, but even that's not entirely a good thing since unsupplemented prey items aren't nutritionally complete (not even close). Some froglets might depend on springs for a time, though.


^ by Socratic Monologue Dendroboard.