Intro to: Aquatic Isopods (in your aquarium)

Have you ever wished that your dairy cows could swim with the fishes? (not in a murderous walk-the-plank way, more of a cute-and-they-know-it detritivore way).

Well you're in luck! Because isopods are coming to aquariums near you and they can't be stopped! #theisopod agenda is here, so BEWARE... or be digested into usable nutrients for your local ecosystem :)

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I want to thank everyone who convinced me to try and make a video about these guys. You may not know it yet, but I'm probably top 10 biggest asellidae fans on the east coat. I've been keeping and breeding these guys for about a year now and I've been pretty obsessed. I wanted to make a video to answer some basic questions / give a simple intro to those who may not familiar. But I would like to get more into the details in the future and dive into the taxonomy with latin names and all that good stuff I can barely read!

So if you're interested in that, or anything else involving freshwater aquatic isopods, cleanup crews, detritivore, meme edits, or debating star wars theology, let me know! Definitely want to make videos on other topics so keep an eye out.

Below I'll list some of the sources that informed this video and supplemented my relatively minimal experience. To the real experts; I did my best, but feel free to correct anything in the comments. It's all about learning so I won't take it personally!

Anyways this was a little bit about what's been going on in my tanks, let me know what's been going on in yours!

Okay okay, enough yapping.

Sources (I will keep updating this over time give me a lil bit):

ia-oceanica-l/36ED6511D9C22F5984B4E1A0B88CF902

JJJreact !

p.s., a lot of studies are on asellus aquaticus, which is a UK species. I believe mine is Caecidotea sp., but so far I find the information on asellus to be applicable.

Song is Aquaria Ost by the great Alec Howler, who composed the music for the game Aquaria which has one of my favorite video game soundtracks.

[obiwahndagobah]

Actually isopods originated in water, precisely in the sea, where most species still live. From there they spread into freshwater and one daring species took to the land during the triassic period, becoming the ancestor to all terrestrial isopods.

[DefaultWoW]

I love how much aquariums have evolved (or devolved - in a good way) since I was a kid. I remember having a 5 gallon aquarium with blue gravel, fake plants, and neon tetras. Algae grew and the shop told us to get sucker fish.. they helped with the algae but I didn't know how to maintain a tank, didn't have the money for chemicals, and the fish ended up dying so I gave up on the hobby.

Cut to: today. I'm seeing videos like yours with beautifully aquascaped tanks, natural substrates, and all kinds of cool and even cute little critters living together in harmony while keeping the tank clean at the same time. It's a wonderful thing to see, and makes me want to try my hand at it again with careful consideration and a totally different, more natural approach.

Great video, if I start a tank I'm gonna have to look for some of these in the wild. Thank you!

[yaboijardo]

Found these guys and scuds in a little spring fed creek today. Saw several egged females even in this cold winter.

[mexicalifishkeeper]

I've been keeping tanks for a while now and didn't know about these guys. Thank you for the information.

[h]

Can find these munching on dead leaves in and body of water, even a puddle. I got mine by grabbing a few decaying leaves from a tiny stream/puddle in the middle of winter. They have a cockroach feel to how they look. Got some interesting behaviours, like cherry shrimp, might even have personalities. Pretty much indestructible. Crayfish don't seem to like their taste much. Males can appear aggressive when mating. Great video!

[Jumajaju]

I have isopods for my terrarium. I decided to get some jars of decaying leaves and water from my pond and I saw these guys! I didn't even know they existed! I'll be putting them into my planted tank soon. They do breed fast so I hope my non aggressive fish can keep the population in check!

[domepiece]

These guys have probably survived every mass extinction event. It’s a bug world, and we’re just living in it.

[tigerbokken]

They deserve to me most know in the hobby, those are very strong and peaceful creatures. In my country they thrive under ice during winter and I succesfully keep them in tropical tanks also. A bunch of dead leaves and wood at the bottom of the tank will make them happy

[strengthbydesign]

I've got these in my ponds here in the UK and our winter temperatures can go below freezing but today for instance it's warmer 28 December at 42f or 6c I moved some of these guys into my internal fish tank and they are doing really well, alongside very small fish with an average temperature of around 60 - 65f

[ESwift-Arts]

Just a few minutes into the video but I’m super impressed by the videography, scientific facts backed with sources!! and tastefully interspersed memes. Great stuff I’m following for sure 👍

[hippothehippo]

The last time I set up a fish tank I took some soil from a local river bed because I was curious to see what would be able to come out of it. I collected the soil in the winter, so whatever was inside of it would’ve been dormant at the time that way I could kind of control if there was anything dangerous in there as it warmed up and hatched, and some of these guys were one of the first things that showed up super interesting and weird I originally thought that they were drowning, but it turned out. This is totally normal for them.

[grumpycricket]

New subbie! First time seeing your channel. You're very knowledgeable, and entertaining with a very smooth, natural delivery. Thanks for introducing me to aquatic isopods. I never knew of their existence.

[Feebelle]

These are SO cute, and yet this is the first I've heard of them as pets/aquarium fauna. Thanks for the video! I'll be on the lookout for these!

[bloodshot]

I love learning about the lesser-known animals (especially inverts) in the fishkeeping hobby. Nice vid!

[PotooBurd]

I enjoy this so much! Amazing content, best wishes to you and your future projects! 🌻

[aquaddiction]

honestly love everything about the vid. very calming and informative!

[edgarsfishchannel]

Love these isopods! Also planning to get them for my ecosystem setup. I enjoyed watching this a lot, you really know a lot about aquariums, mate!
😇🐟

[CaptainDCap]

I have an Asellus Aquaticus culture. This tiny little crustacean looks to be at least related to these isopods. They breed in the same way and look very similar.
You don't need to buy them. Just find a body of water high in vegetative debris and run a fine net or bucket through the sludge at the bottom. You can pick them out of the crud in the bucket from there and culture them. You're likely to find some scuds, there, too, if you need them. Just be sure to pick out only what you want, so you don't accidentally end up with parasitic animals in your tanks as well.

[pattys_aquatics]

Very cool video and I collected some from a local waterway a couple months ago and they are breeding like crazy. Thanks for the info

[Frederiekje]

Thank you! I made a new pond and made an indoor Aquarium version. The only animals I noticed were these guys, and the more I observed, the more I liked them. They are so gregarious and modest and unfussy. I saw al the behavior you describe. Come spring I'll return them to my pond.
I give them willow leaves that are black rotted and they leave leaf skeletons.