ISOPOD SUBSTRATES DEMYSTIFIED: How to decide what will work best for you

A question that comes up regularly is how to make a proper ISOPOD substrate. Demystifying all the differing components available.
Whats good? Whats bad? What helps and how?
Hopefully this video will clear up a lot of those questions you may have that will help you achieve better ISOPOD success.
What other components do you use and why in your mix? Let me know in the comments.
Thanks for watching, sharing and commenting my friends.
Biggs

[@k2a2l2]

that way of cleaning rot wood is awesome! great idea and thanks for sharing all this knowledge

[@themadaquarist]

That’s very kind thank you

[@SupremeGecko]

Amazing video. Complete and detailed too! Thank you for setting the standard on this.

[@themadaquaristsrealmnatura2556]

That’s overly kind my friend but thank you

[@marikah6198]

I agree 100% of your methods. Isopods need microorganism to soften organic matters before they decompose to smaller pieces for more microorganism. I didn’t know how to kill harmful things without killing good microbes, so your video really helped! I’ll use water soaking methods today. Thank you! May I ask rough ratio of the major ingredients?

[@oun6661]

1st time finding your videos. I appreciate you sharing your knowledge. I subscribed right away, and I’m about to see everything else you’ve been sharing. Thanks again!

[@themadaquaristsrealmnatura2556]

Welcome aboard! There’s also lots of isopod type content on the original channel. I think not split the channels 6-8 months ago. Here’s a link to the other channel. youtube.com/@themadaquarist?si=4Z9zZXTJnMiyWMBU There’s a playlist specifically for isopods

[@cupofjae]

this is an EXCELLENT video and I appreciate you so much taking the time to go through all these substrate components. Also, do you do that drowning method to santize your leaves too? or just the wood bits? I usually bake my foraged supplies on a low temp but I imagine that ruins the microbes in the wood that the pods would enjoy?

[@themadaquaristsrealmnatura2556]

Thank you, that’s truly kind. Our knowledge base on the care of these incredible invertebrates has come full circle In such a short time. Yes I do soak all fresh collected Materials. I have two identical plastic totes for this Purpose. The first one I place all the items in and then fill the tow with water. The second tote I place on top and use it to force all the material under water. I usually place a cinder block or something to hold it in this position for say 24. Long enough to kill off any potential harmful insects wets like centipedes etc… but the living beneficial biologicals and fungi survive the process. This is key! But yes in the beginning I did do what you are doing and baked stuff. I even had a permission slip from my Wife to use the kitchen. Hopes this helps you on your pod journey. FYI you may have noticed nothing has come out in a fair while. I shall be returning full force within a Couple months with some insane news and we’re gonna go huge! Thanks for watching

[@discofish7821]

Use quite a lotta bogwood in my aquariums... excellent microflora/fauna and sediment starter. When it's broken down enough ta be really soft then it gets dried for buggie setups. Isopods and beetles ❤ it!

[@themadaquaristsrealmnatura2556]

Solid plan too

[@mk_cichlids]

Great idea for a video! This is one of the most confusing parts for people new to terrariums of any kind.

[@themadaquaristsrealmnatura2556]

I get asked so often about this very question

[@sixbirdsinatrenchcoat]

Thank you for all of your really helpful videos! I love how to-the-point and immediately useful they are. Question: (Hoping you still see comments on old videos) if I use a stump of dead coral, do I need to soak it or do something else to get the salt out? Also, is it necessary to mix powdered clciuminto the substrate as well if you have a “solid” source of it in there?

[@themadaquaristsrealmnatura2556]

Corals generally aren’t porous so I wouldn’t expect them to hold any volume of salt so a quick rinse should be fine. I’m the wild there’s multiple Sources of calcium. My latest system is that I place about a half layer of calcium carbonate or something similar on the bottom of the totes then put all the substrates on top. I still also use the old school cuttlebones in each as well

[@AquaGardenZen]

Excellent video and great advice on substrate thank you for sharing ❤

[@themadaquaristsrealmnatura2556]

Thank you my friend

[@ChantalsCritters]

I don't know how to tell if it's hard wood. Great information.

[@themadaquaristsrealmnatura2556]

If it’s white rot like I should in the video clip they won’t care,

[@siyg]

Hardwood is just any wood that isn’t pines/firs/spruce/ etc. If it has leaves that fall in the winter it’s probably hardwood

[@sarahferreira4992]

Hi there! Thank you very much for this video. I would like to harvest my substrate from the woods too bc my enclosure is super tiny. I've been wondering if there's any type of concern with decaying/rot wood since it could add up a significant amount of mold to the enclosure?And also what other kinds of wood could I use? To solve all of this I thought of using straw but I haven't heard of anyone using it. Thank you

[@themadaquaristsrealmnatura2556]

I’ve had no issues using white rot wood whatsoever. Driving down country roads or walking in the woods it’s like striking gold when I find a tree down with white rot. I’ve never considered straw. Using it on the farm however I would think it would become a slimy soggy mess

[@marievaillant216]

Are ground or broken down egg shells sufficient for providing calcium to isopods?

[@themadaquarist]

Yes an excellent source I use as well as we have a farm. Nothing goes to waste

[@themadaquaristsrealmnatura2556]

What that really handsome guy above said lol

[@exilbayer6377]

Great video! I´m only wondering, why you, like many others, always explicitly say HARDwood, when talking about leaves and rotten wood? This would exclude e.g. trees like aspen, salix or apple . Maybe it´s just a translation issue? I´m German and we consider these species (and many others) as softwood and species like oak, beech, maple or ash as hardwood. I don´t see a reason, why not to give softwood to my pod, do you?!? My experience as a newbie: I have a big culture P. laevis orange and smaller ones with white/purple dwarfs and a local species. They all feed on leafs of beech (of which I have most), but they clearly prefer oak. And aspen seems to be like candy... Same with all four species.

[@themadaquaristsrealmnatura2556]

No you are 100% correct. I too use leaves of many of those ‘soft woods’ just nothing coniferous.

[@baix1693]

what about coconut fiber?

[@themadaquarist]

Coir offers nothing to them. Indigestible. I tend to avoid it in my mixes

[@loooongneck]

Offers nothing of nutritional benefit. Coco coir is generally used in growing media for its moisture retention properties, so unless you’re keeping your isopods in a tropical bioactive there isn’t any benefit to having coco in the substrate. If you do use it you MUST mix in organic material. The substrate I use for my setups is only about 25% coco fiber and I’m considered cutting it down even more in favor of adding organic soil. Currently I add a ton of sphagnum moss, charcoal, orchid bark, worm castings, leaf litter, and powdered eggshell