IsoFancy

22/02/2022

I’m back again with terrarium plants and isopods 🤗 I am slowly working my way up with the isopod collections as I trade plants for them. So far I already end up with 6 species 😅. Starting from bottom so I will have to sell my plants to save up and get back on track with iso.
——Picture below is Sonerila sp. Vietnam if anyone interested, it is $100 and I have multiple available, the plant that I’m selling is actually way bigger than what I have shown here——

27/11/2021

My keeping isopods day has come to an end. It was awful when I sold my collections off but guess what? A new hobby chose me 😂again I am in a new trouble. Plants are my new things and of course rare and exotic only 😉

04/01/2021

Isopods substrate mix that we are currently using. Fluval stratum is using as bedding on the moss section so don't mix in. You will need to adjust the amount of stratum for Cubaris(more) and Porcellio (less). The more Stratum u have, the greater water gonna spread through out ur isopods enclosure, so be aware.

04/01/2021

We are no longer offering wholesale on Panda King and P. Hassi HY since they have been sold out. Jupiter and Platinum Ducky are up for grab if y'all interested. Shipping is possible by the end of today and Tomorrow.

03/01/2021

This is probably my secret in keeping isopods but I'mma let y'all have it 😆👌.Snails???
Yes! I do culture these Oxychilus cellarius. But why snails? I mean springtail is good but once their population is exploding your isopods may not able to competing food with them. Here is why I let isopods cohabitating with these little snails

-They act as clean up crew just as good as springs and they do better job for me from my observation.
-When they died the shells become calcium source for the isopods, specially for mancae. Even though I always dusting calcium food just incase.
-These snails go after gnats larvae 😉 my nose is now gnats free.🤦

If you are going to try this method, just don't get confused between oxychilus draparnaudi and Oxychilus cellarius. Since draparnaudi is bigger and also carnivorous, which you don't want.

Good luck and have fun.

03/01/2021

My Purple Giant started to producing since last week . If you received them from me, they should doing the same. Here is what you need to do, be careful when watering, you do not want to have water flooding around the edges because that's where u will find most of the mancae(babies). Should never change substrate when they are in breeding season. Do not lift any heavy objects such as, bark or lime stone or coral rock if you spotted mancae, since you don't want to crush them. Feeding whenever u don't see any food left with just the right amount and makes sure to place food on the dry side to avoid mites and other unwanted pests that may compete with the mancae.

Good luck with your culture. 😉👍

23/12/2020

Hello! You crazy pod heads people. Sorry, that I been away for so long, things got out of hand and I couldn't post much like I used to. But I'm back with more tips and guides on some easy species.
Let's start out with Dwarf Whites(DW), one of the most common and popular in many hobbies. They are affordable and work as clean up crew better than any fancy isopoda you ever owned. Many many reptile stores carried them all years round, DWs sold out very fast and always high on demands. These cultures are done preparing and to be delivery as early on January to the local stores. The substrate that I used in here is different from your local pet stores, where they have a mix of ABG or basic AF cocofiber or peat moss. To be honest, I have tried way too many things as this point but this mix is best for species that requires high humidity, it's basically 1 part of peat moss, 1 part of wormcastings, 1 part of vermiculite, 1 part of orchid bark, oyster powder and last but not least charcoals. Trust me it held moisture for so frking long.

Tips:
*It's better that you keep your DWs in a small enclosure, that way you can easy keep track on them.
*It will save you so much time on sorting them, rather doing that you can possibly go back and rewatch 2020 election 🤦.
*They eat literally anything, but I found out that banana peels and zucchini work best.

For those that are new to the hobby If you somehow decided to count Dwarfwhite you are insane. 😂

03/12/2020

28/11/2020

It's quite easy to tell if a Cubaris sp. purple giant has reached the adult size. Their back will look rougher than juveniles and subadults and each section from middle towards the skirt will get darker.

As for mine colony they will get ready sometime late December and will begin to breed throughout March and probably stopped producing around Summer 2021. However, they only breed once a year for me but it's worth the effort.

28/10/2020

Group of 10 counts Cubaris sp. Opal (extremely rare) specie is now available.

Plz! dm me with an offer and just a reminder they are not cheap.

27/10/2020

Available
x2 cultures of Cubaris sp. Jupiter (1 culture left)
x3 cultures of Cubaris sp. Platinum Ducky
*Each culture is 10 counts*
Shipping is 15 via USPS priority 3 more for heat pack
Dm for further info

15/10/2020

This setup I have had for a month now. The test subject is Isopoda sp. Dream, possibly Merulanella species. This type of setup is to provide high humidity and also be able to propagating moss, I did not using Sphagnum moss for this, since not only live moss couldn't get water directly but also gonna be an eyesore. As for ventilation there is one on top which will help when heat being trapped inside. I picked Dreams because I have seen a weird pattern where lots of mancae didn't make it and I will keep you guys posted in a few months.

22/09/2020

TheGroveAquatics.com

22/09/2020

Cubaris sp. Amber. Not sure about the name but I will cuddle with them anyday.
+Reproduction: Moderate to high.
+Temperature: 75F-82F / Heat tolerant up to 102F
+Humidity/ Ventilation: 63%-67%/ low
+Diets: Mostly high protein sources such as, Fish flake , zucchini, Dried peas and shrimps, dusting calcium powder to food.
+Substrate: Wormcastings+Repti jungle mix+small pieces of charcoal, shreded sphagnum moss, 1 table spoon of oyster powder. *Must let the mix dry out completely before use*.
So, I got this culture of C sp. Amber last year it was just 11 counts for about $300. Insanely pricy isn't it? Since this specie was new to me back then, so I have to asked the seller how they kept their. I was being informed that this species should be keep drier than other species. So, without hesitation I followed the instructions, 4 months in I have the very first brood but they kept dying on me. Now I don't know if this culture is imported or captive bred but i have my doubt, since the seller said they have only 20 counts on his stocks, which means my culture could be WC lol. With that being said, they took awhile to established to the new environment they are in now. And they been stopped breeding since Dec, 21 last year, at that point I almost gave up on them, but luckily I been able to keep in touch with *Johnathan Fekete* he gave me some suggestions on this species and they started to breeding quite well,importantly all babies survived.
Here is what I did to turn the table for them.
-changing substrate
-providing live moss
-increasing moisture in their enclosure from 30% to 75%( which is similar to rubber ducky but half wet and dry).
-placing more coral rocks for them to feel secure since they are cave specie after all.
*Misting the entire container twice a week to trigger them to think it's raining season* -- this right here is the killer method and it worked so well😁.
At the moment I am seeing 40+ on mancae and couple dozen adults. I know it's quite a late start but believe or not they are not often being offer in the trade, only a few dozen keepers are able to keep them going. If you are decided to get yourself a culture, again ask the seller to show you their colony.

P.s video below is just me showing how I done the ventilation, I'm not showing off I swear 😳.

18/09/2020

Upgrading setup + substrate.

On the wet side corner I have decided to you Fluval stratum(aquatic sub). This type of substrate allowed the water to pass through quickly without flooding and it's also holding water in place very well without concern when it comes to certain species that dislike humidity. This setup works wonderful on all type of Cubaris tiger species

P.S do not mist on any Tiger species, they do not like it.

17/09/2020

Cubaris sp. Amber guides and tips coming to you guys next week :).

22/08/2020

I am currently doing a raffle and we have 6 slots left if you guys want to fill in this is for US residents only, join us on discord @ https://discord.gg/P9b94Em

10/08/2020

Can't catch them all? Just set a trap and wait 👌

02/08/2020

Today we will be talking about our unwanted guests in isopods enclosures.

-Soil/grain mites, these guys will always appeared if we overfed the isopods. They are pretty much just another clean up crew like springtail, I personally dont have a problem with their presence whatsoever. However, if the population is too great then actions are needed. To be honest you cant get rid of them thats for sure XD but you can control the amount of food given to your isopods or a trick to lure them out of the enclosure. What you need is vaseline :), just apply the gels on the side of the setup as high as you can to avoid mancae happened to get trapped, anyways you then place a piece of fishflake right in the middle(see picture).
the mites will likely going after for that smelly stinky delicious food and get stuck in the vaseline. I did this 1 everyweek to control their numbers.
-Earwigs are one of my worst nightmare, they are so hardy and persistent. Once they got into your isopods enclosure, they will slowly wipe out your springtail and the mancae. Earwigs can be found in group and damp area, the juvenile earwigs can fly with their tiny wings, as they grow into the adults they lost ability to do so. These little wigglers are fast AF, sad to say but I suggested that you redo the setup to prevent them from taking over your isopods enclosure.
-Garden Centipedes/ Brown centipedes , YIKES!!. Ever wonder why they are being included? some barks and moss that you collected or bought may have carried them. For extra precaution I highly recommended that you soak these items up to 1-2 weeks before use.
-Ants, You know what to do *Whispering Flame Thrower* just kidding. To prevent ants from getting in your isopods enclosure you can apply vaseline around the setup. If you already spotted ants from the inside then check the bark and even underneath the moss area "Lair"
Some ants species can cohabitate with isopods as well, but of course as their colony grow larger it will require more food source and ur isopods is totally on the menu.
-Last but not least, the guest with nostril fe**sh aka. Gnats. Just use the mosquito bits 🙄or install sticky trap on the lid.

01/08/2020

Porcellio Hoffmanseggi(P.H) and Porcellio Magnificus(P.M) , The two titans.
+Reproduction: High for (P.H) breed all year round/ Moderate for(P.M) they will breed once reaching adult.
+Temperature: 75F-82F / Heat tolerant up to 102F
+Humidity/ Ventilation: 63%-67% wet spot(only) the rest is bone dry, As for ventilation see picture below.
+Diets: Mostly high protein sources such as, Fish flake , zucchini, Dried peas and shrimps, dusting calcium powder to food.
Substrate: Wormcastings+Repti jungle mix+small pieces of charcoal, fine sphagnum moss, 1 cup of sand. *Must let the mix dry out completely before use*
These 2 species have very similar care thats why I put 2 in 1 for the care sheet . Porcellio Hoffmanseggi breeds so fast that I end up parted ways with 3000+ counts last year. People kept telling me they have had a hardtime keeping Hoffmanseggi as well as Sevilla. And so, I went through many photos that people sent me for recommendation, I found out that these 3 reasons why they didnt do so good for most people.
-1. Your culture are not equally in s*x ratio, thus when repairing for shipping I have to hand picked 50/50 for both males and females. As soon as they reach subadults you can already tell their s*xes by looking at the uropods.
-2. The culture you received as adults are probably too old. I am continuously reminding my costumers not to get the adults because you dont know how old they are neither do I 🙄. And since people insisted breeders to get the adults for fast producing, then the risk is upon yourself. 😅
-3. Your substrate/ crowded space, as i mentioned above, the substrate has to be completely dried out before use. These big porcellio species like big space and tense to become aggressive towards their own colony in an effort to guard things they consider their possessions, such as hideouts, foods and to protect offspring.
The females of both Porcellio Hoffmanseggi and Magnificus are very aggressive once they become gravid. She would picked an area that has enough moisture to release her brood, I strongly suggested that you put some Pillow moss near those spots.
The Mancae(babies) will stay remain with their mommy for about 3 -4 days. Once their chitinous exoskeleton become hardened, they then went separate way to scavenger for food. Mancae specialty is playing dead so dont be fool by them.
Coloration development on P. Magnificus is quite interesting. Within 1 and a half weeks the mancae will become orange but when they get to juveniles, they developed white skirt and continuously carrying that trait to subadults. However, once they are fully matured, their white skirt completely disappeared.

Tips: Be sure to feed them enough food as your colony is growing, 3 times a week is recommended.
Provides lots of hideouts but stay away from heavy objects. Last tip is kinda yucky but if you spotted "fresh"dead body of a gravid female, try to open her pouch and see if you can save some babies.

28/07/2020

Porcellio Expansus Orange, one of my favorite species of all time. I'm amazed how they look and their sizes.
+Reproduction: Moderate/ They breed as soon as they reached adulthood.
+Temperature: 78% / Heat tolerant up to 86F, they don't burrow so becareful with the temperature.
+Humidity: 75% throught out half of the enclosure.
+Ventilation: 2 vent round about 2" on each end.
+Diets: Fish flake, pumpkin, zucchini, dried shrimp, carrot( dusting calcium powder to food sources).
+Substrate: Wormcastings+shredded leafs litter+ fine charcoal+fine sphagnum moss+ oyster powder, then mix well and let it dry.
This is the first Porcellio species that I provided much higher humidity environment. I mist their entire enclosure slightly at least 3 time a week on the surface and onto the leaf litters however, you must avoid the water getting on them. I done this to get the soil released all the hot air being trapped in the substrate out for better air circulation. I learned this the hardy way with my bedroom since, it's facing towards the sun 😅 window fan works best for me instead of the AC😆.
Porcellio Expansus can give birth to a large amount of babies around 30 to 40, they look very pale at birth but getting a lite brownish almost translucent after 2 weeks. As for the Orange morph they don't develop the orange phase right until subadults. The orange will start out from the mid body and then will cover the whole entire body. Some will have bright orange but some remains little, it's likely to which breeders u got them from. The truth Expansus orange is supper bright in color, mine isnt close to that stage. Make sure you ask them to show their colony and what are the adults look like, before empty your wallet.💁🏼
These guys have a very cool defense mechanism, where they will release a sticky substance from their uropods(the tails if you wanna call it) if being threatened. Some people told me Porcellio scaber also has this mechanism but I couldn't confirm since I don't own them.

Tips: Around March you should try to feed them more protein food to ensure the soon to be gravid females stay healthy, she could die if being too stressful from ur ugly face and her colony, make sure you give them a lot of hideouts.

P.s The female is very protective towards the mancae if being bothered by her colony she will headbutt them out the door without questions.

27/07/2020

Amadilidium Gestroi. Where do I start? They are absolutely massive.
+Reproduction rate: High/ Breeds all year round.
+Temperature: 75F-80F / Heat tolerant up to 103F
+Humidity: 67% at wet spot and the rest completely bone dry.
+Diets: Fish flake, carrot, zucchini, dried shrimp, kelp, water spinach(Asian market),dried peas as well as dusting calcium powder to their food sources.
+Substrate: 2" sub is required / Wormcastings+ Repti jungle mix+fine charcoal+ fine sphagnum moss+ oyster powder.
I highly recommended you start out with 20 counts, they aren't expensive so why not?!?🙉 With that decent culture you will likely to see mancae in 2 months.
A. Gestroi is s*xually dimorphic species, you can tell the differences by their skirts, females skirt are light grey and males are completely black. Due to their massive size, each brood could hold up to 60+ mancae.
In other to keep them happy, I suggested that you change substrate ever 4 months,or you could do a little maintenance in between 2 months 😤
I am usually starting on the dry side and then removing all the unwanted matters. After that I dipped my beautiful hands in the substrate and stir stir mix mix.. so the bottom layer that is still "fresh" can be destroy by them, which will end up saving you sometime for the next substrate change.

Tips: When setting up their enclosure you gotta let substrate complete dry before use, and always provide them with leaves litters.

P.s. People keep asking why I wore gloves. It's because wearing gloves not only protecting my beautiful hands but also easy to picking up isopods 🤏 💁.

27/07/2020

Cubaris sp. Purple Giants(PGs). Taro smoothie here I come:).
+Reproduction rate: Moderate
+Breeding Age: Adult/ Breeds all year round
+Temperature: 75F-80F/ Heat tolerant up to 98F
+Humidity: 68% through out the setup
+Ventilation: 2" vent round on the dry area.
+Diets: Fish flake, dried shrimp or minnow, zucchini, Morning Wood, sea w**d(dusting calcium powder to food sources is always a must)
+Substrate: Wormcastings+1 scoop of Repti jungle mix+fine charcoal & sphagnum moss+ oyster powder(mix them well and let it dry out before use).
These badass looking purple yam is ancient AF with their skirt expanded out towards to the sides. Purple Giants are very calm, they dont do the death drop and run like Isopoda sp. Capira(next on the care sheet). I acquired PGs and White Tiger at the same period of time. Both have had their first brood also at the same time but the PGs are more stable it was due to the substrate I kept them in, its mainly due to wormcastings 🤗. They love moisture in their bedding but also requires some dry spots, to fix this you can add rotten wood piece or limestone. For this species I dont use coral rocks since they will get stuck in between the sockets due to how wide they are comparing to other Cubaris sp.
When feeding I like to mist slightly on the dried food to help mancae digesting food faster so that they can take in more food each time. In other to keep them happy you want to provide them with live moss, thats where u will find most of them in :D.

Tips: Spray/mist the substrate daily to soften the soil. And dont bother them too much.

27/07/2020

Isopoda sp. Dream, okay im not an expert but I'm sure they belong to Merulanella family. This bae is a vouge dancer, death drop is their specialty.
+Reproduction rate: High/ Breeds all year round.
+Temperature:75F-80F.
+Humidity: 70%/ Ventilation on the dry area only.
+Substrate: Wormcastings+repti jungle mix+fine sphagnum moss+charcoal lump+ large amount of live and fresh moss on top of wet area if possible.
+Diets: Fish flake, zucchini, dried shrimp, rotten Magnolia or oak leafs.
I would like to say thank you to Dale DellaTorre for this species 😘. Dreams like rotten wood and munching on rotten leafs litter as well as some high protein sources. Mancae can be found near moss area where the temperature is around 75F, as for adults they will stay on drier side 79F. Egg crate can be a good substitute for rotten wood if you can't access to it. These don't need limestone nor coral rocks but more hideout is always welcome. Fun facts, Dreams are found in Vietnam and they been discovered in many different locations.
Morphs? Yes please!! One of My friend has been able to isolated a few different coloration on them( see pictures below).

Ps. Change substrate every 4 months to avoid 💩 become unbearable 😆 or add earthworm to clean up their 💩if you are that lazy.

Photo credits: 林鸿展

27/07/2020

Cubaris sp. White Tiger, most popular tiger stripe species.
+Reproduction rate: Moderate/ late March.
+Temperature: 75F - 80F, Mancae can't handle 86F
Ah here we go the expensive and rather high in demand Cubaris species out there. Luckily, I got myself a culture of 12 about a year ago with fairly good size. But the waiting game was awful 🙉, it took them 7 months to actually started to breed. Well, normally people would be excited but not for me 😅. The first brood I seemed to have problem with, where 30% of the babies died to unknown causes. It happened again with 2nd brood so I decided to move ventilation around (see pictures below) and bam it worked. This species definitely need coral rocks or limestone. Their diets are mainly focus on high protein such as, fish flake, dried shrimp, zucchini, fish skin, sea w**d powder and of course dusting with calcium powder.
For setup it looks very familiar to most breeders, half wet and half dry and I provided a ton of fresh moss for them.
+ Tips: don't spray water on ur White tiger 🥺, just think ur 🤏💩 as Begonia plants, if you water on the leafs they will get rotten and die off. Don't poke ur scary face to check on them too often..leave them be Human.

27/07/2020

Cubaris sp. Rubber Ducky, I called them the basic bitch species.

+Reproduction rate: High/ breeds all year round but mainly mid March.
+Temperature: 75F / 78-80F for breeding / heat tolerant up to 95F.
They are a burrowing species so don't expect them to be crawling around like P. Hoffmanseggi. Ducky do well in high moisture and humid environment with little ventilation, however if you live somewhere already hot and humid AF, kindly provide them with more ventilation.
As for substrate, I use mainly worm castings, mixing 80% castings+ 5% fine sphagnum moss+ 10% dirt or fine sand+ 5% small pieces of charcoal and 1 table spoon of oyster powder. Mix them all together and let it sit for 24 hrs before use to avoid molding. Their diet consists of dried shrimp, minnow ( the stinky, the better), fish flake (Omega One), Morning Wood 💁, zucchini, carrot. Here is a tip to avoid bad shedding, dusting their food with calcium powder.
Is limestone and coral rock really necessary? My answer is no. I have only kept Cubaris species for 2 years but what I have learned so far is heartbreaking. I'm afraid to lift any heavy objects in their containers since chances of crushing them is very high🥺. They use limestone and coral rock as an anchor for easy molting, however egg crate works pretty much the same way. Better yet they can also hold moisture well, which is very beneficial when it comes to molting. Therefore, I've been switching to egg crate for the most part.
P.S When you do a setup for any Cubaris species, provide them with 2 inches of substrate and allowed the setup to cycling for at least up to 3 days before introduce ur 🤏💩. Be mindful when using pure worm castings, misting regularly to soften the substrate if you don't, you will have a fun time crushing those hard 💩.

26/07/2020

Cubaris sp. Opal, my beloved brown sugar boba tea. I know I am talking about food all the time 🥴.
+Reproduction rate: moderate/ Breeding all year round.
+Temperature: 69F-78F/ above 80F will kill mancae.
+Humidity: 75% / with good ventilation.
+Substrate: Wormcastings+fine charcoal+ fine sphagnum moss+oyster powder( mix well and let it dry out completely before use.)
+Diets: fish flake, dried minnow and shrimp, morning wood, zucchini, dusting calcium powder to food is recommended.
I have kept this Malaysian Cubaris dwarf species on and off for about 2 years. I noticed they grow rather slower comparing to Cubaris sp. Platin TS, whose is also a dwarf species. At the beginning I thought they would be like Rubber Ducky(RB)so, I had them in a very same setup as RB for almost 6 months and they werent doing all that great. I did some changes to address with the following issue where the mancae kept dying on me. I would often found 3-6 dead bodies every 3 months for the first year. So, I knew something was off, I then proceed and installed 1 more ventilation to the wet area for more air circulation. I placed them in different room for much cooler temperature. After a year I have a decent colony and rarely seen anyone dying.
This species is by far the hardest to keep in my collection. If you are able to get ur hand on a culture, just becareful with temperature.
P.s Opal loves moss and rotten wood, coral or limestone aren't needed 💁🏼.