HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hi all! I was looking to get isopods for my tank.
Only issue is my tank is at college and my apartment building probably wouldn't take too well to me shipping live bugs here. They also would prob kill them with rough handling of packages (its kids working the desk).
My home though, is 40min away and I spend a decent amount of break at home.
Is is reasonable to get them shipped home, hope they arrive when I'm there, then immediately head to my apartment when the box arrives? They should make that trip right?
I feel like it's my only option.

Are isopods worth the hassle? They will prob die during summer because ill have to transport my crabs home over that long break so someone can care for them when I'm on vacations. (I will have to remove crabs and a lot of substrate from tank to transport it because it's incredibly heavy.)

Thanks!

They will make the trip just fine. An extra 40 mins in a box will not kill them

This only can speak from experience, I I personally loved having isopods in my tank. Well worth it. Many who have tried it say the same thing, you may not notice much as first but once they become established they do help out quite a bit.

aussieJJDude wrote:They will make the trip just fine. An extra 40 mins in a box will not kill them

This only can speak from experience, I I personally loved having isopods in my tank. Well worth it. Many who have tried it say the same thing, you may not notice much as first but once they become established they do help out quite a bit.

Hi, I am trying to learn the benefits of isopods for my hermies. For example do they eat the mites?

I will get anything that are good for my crabs. Please provide a link to buy them. Thanks!

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I have purchased all of my isopods from Stacy @ isopod connection. http://Www.isopodconnection.tictail.com she has an option where the box can be held at the post office. Also, the box is not marked live bugs or anything like that. It's a plain priority box


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I don't think they eat the mites. I think they compete with them for resources and drive them out.

I breed my own isopods. I have a 10 gallon isopod tank that has 1000's of them in there. I started with about 25-30 that I took from the organic garden next to my workplace and now I've got lots and lots.

I've also got a spider in the tank that eats the occasional iso. I've tried and tried to wipe the spider out, but it keeps coming back.

mool wrote:I don't think they eat the mites. I think they compete with them for resources and drive them out.

I breed my own isopods. I have a 10 gallon isopod tank that has 1000's of them in there. I started with about 25-30 that I took from the organic garden next to my workplace and now I've got lots and lots.

I've also got a spider in the tank that eats the occasional iso. I've tried and tried to wipe the spider out, but it keeps coming back.

Do the isos ever get out of the tank? Since I now have food mites, I want to do every thing I can to prevent them in the future. So I'm all for getting rolly poleys if they will help prevent them. But not if the escape the tank

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If they do escape the tank, they will die. They are crustaceans, and require humidity - they have gills, like crabs - to survive.

My isopods have never escaped--as in climbed out, but they have "hitch-hiked" out when I took something out of the tank. I re-wetted the moss in my shell shop the other day and I had 2-3 isopods crawling around on my kitchen counters. They were in the moss and escaped as I was rinsing the squeezing out the moss. I just scooped them up and plunked them back into the moss.

Also, I've had the isopods in my tank for about 3 months and I still have food mites; less than pre-isopod days, but they are still in there.

Ok I don't want to derail the topic but is there a minimum temperature they can ship in overnight?

PinchersAndShells wrote:Ok I don't want to derail the topic but is there a minimum temperature they can ship in overnight?

They should be packed with a heat pack in the cooler months, also some form of insulation is required. As the seller how they usually ship them. If you don't insulate and/or have heat packs, they might be ok with overnight shipping depending on location. However, try not to let them be shipped when it's below freezing IMO.