comments:
OMG thank you so much for providing so much information! Sorry for the delayed response, I waited until I was a little more awake this morning to fully watch the video and taking notes before responding 😅 also I apologize ahead of time as this may be a lot of questions... All of my enclosures are acrylic with vent holes along the top of all 4 walls and a completely vented lid ( like these -> https://a.co/d/9nbT2Fa ) I have anywhere from a quarter to the entire lid covered with tape to cater to the ventilation and moisture requirements for each species (I am realizing while looking at your video that I could probably cover more of some of the lids). I chose them as display tanks as they look nice on my shelves, open easily and can be stacked if needed (Its important for them to be easily visible/accessible to me bc health/memory issues & I enjoy watching the more active species explore) (also while I am interested in keeping stable populations, I am not interested in or capable of housing thousands of isopods) I have an understanding that these are too small (about 2.5 gallons). Not ideal, but acceptable? (I plan on rehoming from any overpopulated tanks if/when that happens, though I am also willing to have multiple tanks for the same species or upgrading some for size) All of my setups have the zilla jungle mix ( peat & sphagnum) as a base mixed with leaf litter, horticultural charcoal, and spagnum moss (my cubaris, cappuccino, & shiros have added calcium via prilled calcium carbonate, others are supplemented with eggshell, cubaris also has organic guano mixed as I read it helps mimic their limestone cave origins?) and they have only been set up for max 5 months. There is a moist "side" with sphagnum moss under cork bark but it does not go under the soil. There *may* be some coco coir in the mix but if there is, it is minimal. I am thinking at least 3-4 of my tanks need a substate update, even if just for added moisture retention. If I upgrade my substrate by adding to it (black earth, worm castings & a little trench for le sphagnum), how should I remove all invisible (buried) pods to avoid injury before mixing up the soil or will they be okay tossed around a little and re-buried? I worry about specifically porcellionides and porcellio scaber as they are not typically subterranean and do not conglobate for safety though I find quite a few visible from the sides under the substrate. Also if I cannot find black earth specifically (at least w/out fertilizers) is terra petra/biochar soil a feasible replacement? I have a colony of rubber duckies, cubaris sp. sakura, and nesodillo archangelii which are all producing consistently for me. duckies and shiru stay hidden underground unless its like 2am (normal) and the sakura seem to like to explore their environment a little more. Knowing these species are delicate and do not handle stress well, is it worth disturbing them to re-do their enclosures/change substrate to more suitable mix or is leaving them for a few more months until a soil change is needed a better idea? Also, partially related to the above, I also have christarmadillidium muricatum "pineapple" and Reductoniscus Tuberculatus "Borneo gator" and am shocked by how small (esp. the gators !) they really are. I am terrified of injuring adults or losing any mancae when doing a soil exchange due to their incredibly small size. Is this something I just need to be careful about and accept some may be lost in the process or is there some tips you could provide to make the transition easier? Thank you so much again for your time and assistance! Me and my little buddies appreciate it 🥰