Isopod Care sheet?

[brittperry89]

I am going to be upgrading to a 75 gallon tank from a 20 gallon over the next few months. Our household decided we want little helpers for the tank. I have seen such cute pictures of the variety of isopods you can have. We have a 10 gallon tank that I wanted to turn into a isopod colony but I don't know where to begin! WE want to get an established colony and start putting them in the 20 as well before the 75 is a go. Where would I find the BEST information on isopod care? Thank you for the help!

[parrothead]

care of wolfnipplechips

http://alaskahermit.com/information-cen ... opod-care/

[wolfnipplechips]

On that caresheet, there are links to other caresheets on the bottom, too. Mine is if you want to have your isopods living in a mansion, sipping pina coladas, and riding around in sports cars with hot babes. They can survive on a lot less.

Depending on how many your colony starts with, it will take a few months for them to be able to be moved to the crab tank and not slow down breeding in the isopod tank. I know people expect them to breed like crazy, and they do, but it just takes a while to get started. Good luck! They are really fun to watch.

[parrothead]

Mine is if you want to have your isopods living in a mansion, sipping pina coladas, and riding around in sports cars with hot babes. They can survive on a lot less.

you crack me up

She's right though, I have a medium size KK with about 2-3" of substrate (the same as in the crabitat) and on top of that I have misc pieces of oak bark. I also scatter leaf litter and moss in there. I mist it daily and feed about ever 3-4 days. That's it.... They are fun to watch though

[brittperry89]

you crack me up

She's right though, I have a medium size KK with about 2-3" of substrate (the same as in the crabitat) and on top of that I have misc pieces of oak bark. I also scatter leaf litter and moss in there. I mist it daily and feed about ever 3-4 days. That's it.... They are fun to watch though

I do want my isopods in luxery! One last question though. I went to this site... http://shop.bugsincyberspace.com/Isopods_c15.htm ... and was very excited to see the different types. Am I able to have multiple breeds in one tank?

[wolfnipplechips]

You can have diff species in one tank. Just know that the species that can't interbreed will displace each other through competition. That sounds confusing...uhhh... If you have more of one species in a tank, that is that many less of the other species you can have. So both may reproduce slower than a pure population as a result. Tell me if that makes sense to you. I'm pretty sick today, and in a nyquil haze. lol.

[parrothead]

You can have diff species in one tank. Just know that the species that can't interbreed will displace each other through competition. That sounds confusing...uhhh... If you have more of one species in a tank, that is that many less of the other species you can have. So both may reproduce slower than a pure population as a result. Tell me if that makes sense to you. I'm pretty sick today, and in a nyquil haze. lol.

Wolf, I have my Cylisticus Convexus isopods (rollie-pollies), but just placed an online order for springtails (for the new tank) and they are mixed with the Trichorhina tomentosas (Dwarf White Isopods). Will this be a problem having both species in the same tank? It's a small culture and I probably have 50 of the Cylisticus Convexus already in there.

[wolfnipplechips]

I don't think so. The isopods will surely be competition with each other, but I doubt the displacement will be significant if you feed them well since they are such different sizes (the space issue is less so than with similar sized species).

[parrothead]

I don't think so. The isopods will surely be competition with each other, but I doubt the displacement will be significant if you feed them well since they are such different sizes (the space issue is less so than with similar sized species).

I was hoping the difference in size would help alleviate competition issues. Thanks for the speedy reply!