Newbie Here with questions

Newbie here with a couple questions. Looking to pick up an Emperor Scorpion in the next few days. I have a 10 gal Aquarium I bought for keep it in with wire top. Gonna pick up a Reptile water dish also for it. About the dish, does it need to be big enough for the scorpion to fit in completely? I was thinking maybe an inch deep or less to keep it from drowning. Substrate is another question. I read about the "organic potting soil" that some people use. Got a bag yesterday, but it's Miracle Grow brand. Says natural fertilizer. Would this work, or should I try to find something else? I read about these blocks coco fiber. Where can I get it, whats it cost, and how much would I need for a 10 gal.

I use coco fibre which is a type of soil. costs around £1/$3 for a block. In my opinion the best soil substrate. I don't know where you live and so i can't say where you can buy it from.

Water dish needs to be shallow enough for the scorp to stand in.


As for the miracle grow with natural fertilizer, i wouldn't use it and i would go get some coir (coco fibre).
But wait for someone else on the forum to agree with me before you get coco fibre and not use the mircale grow.


Hope this helps

I appreciate the quick response. I'm in Kernersville NC. I did a little searching and see that Petco has it, but they call it Eco Earth. How many bricks should give me what I need in a 10 gal? 5-6 inches deep is what I've read.

Those bricks I use give me 5L-8L (1.3-2.1 gallon/UK) substrate depense on what I use (coco or humus/soil)
So, 2 bricks will give you enough substrate IMO

In my experience, one brick of coconut fiber is plenty for a 10-gallon.

I honestly don't like using potting soil in any case, mainly because of the decayed wood that would tend to give me splinters when doing tank maintenance. (Ever find tons of tiny splinters in your hands after gardening?)

Also, for the record, "organic" does NOT mean pesticide-free.

Regarding the water dish, emps can submerge themselves completely for hours or days without drowning. The important part is that it's arranged in such a way that they can climb back out. That being said, almost none of my tanks have water dishes, because they get enough moisture from the substrate being kept humid and because water dishes tend to get gross pretty quick unless you're very vigilant about keeping it clean (something that gets harder and harder the larger your collection becomes).

Oh, and moved to emp forum.

Went out this morning and picked up a 3pk of Coco Fiber Bricks (Eco Earth from Petco). Gonna use one of them first to see how it goes, will add more if needed.

I'm sure that'll be more than enough

never heard of an emp drowning.

My scorpions aren't stupid enough to lie there and die lol