Mass die off in isopod cultures

[fishguyturnedfrog]

A few weeks ago, I had a huge die off in my booming dwarf purple culture. I picked out as many lives as I could find and started a fresh culture. Today, I lookrd in my Spanish orange culture and had the same issue. Not sure what's going on here. I mist 2-3 times a week, feed fish flakes twice a week, using ABG mix.

[Philsuma]

what's your ventilation like ? They need good air flow.

[fishguyturnedfrog]

Multiple holes around the edge below the lid and a bunch in the lid as well.

[Stu&Shaz]

Multiple holes around the edge below the lid and a bunch in the lid as well.

2 more questions,have you fed yeast...slight chance of CO2 build up? Have the cultures always been kept moist at least at one end?sorry if i'm stating the obvious,but worth mentioning i guess.
regards

Stu

[fishguyturnedfrog]

I've feed fish food and very occasional mushroom. Haven't feed mushroom since about 2-3 weeks before the first culture die off. I mist every 2-3 days and still am in case I have a few that lived but still haven't seen any yet.

[fishguyturnedfrog]

Also be worth mentioning that I keep the house between 72-74. Don't ask me to covert that Stu

[Philsuma]

could you be feeding too much ? Soil should be moist but never wet. Are you using some corrugated cardboard ?

[fishguyturnedfrog]

Food was gone in 2-3 days. Waited a day to feed again. Soil, in my opinion was moist. About the same moisture as what I keep my vivs. And 3-4 layers of food quality cardboard. I work for Dominoes so I grab some when I need it. Moisten it and microwave it.

Container size is 13 cup which would equal 6 1/2 qt glad containers. Should of been good enough to house the oranges but I know it was getting tight for the dwarfs.

Just completely dumbfounded why this happened. I was about to make a larger culture out of the dwarfs since they were booming so much. I literally lost an easy 200 and was about to get on here to start selling some. The oranges, I had right about 50 or so of different sized with maybe 10-15 that were full grown. I was lucky enough to have a few survive in the dwarf culture but still yet to see anything alive in the orange.

[BcsTx]

There is a chance you have some in there. Try putting a piece of mango in the culture, leave the top off and a piece of cardboard on top.

[fishguyturnedfrog]

See if I can find some. I know they destroyed the mushrooms so was thinking of stealing a piece tonight to see if I can lure any out and start a new culture with them.

[Stu&Shaz]

See if I can find some. I know they destroyed the mushrooms so was thinking of stealing a piece tonight to see if I can lure any out and start a new culture with them.

Ha Jon ,
i understand F just fine,its an age thing mate C help me out i think its from europe!!!
talking off the top of my head on plauables,co2 built up because it it heavier than air, vent holes at top?or maybe just maybe some form of invert pathogen,look I have no experience of iso die off other than total collapse due to feeding yeast and co2 build up,culture was unvented . But I am aware of idiriviruses for obvious reasons,but wouldn't want to be scaremongering or go further on the grounds of I simply do not know enough,period.Maybe Beth could chime in with some characteristic symptoms(hey mate),just because it is good to have that knowledge out there,not because I'm implying anything.
I hope this comes over in the spirit it is intended Jon I really think the odds are against anything synaster,but i think it is worth us all,me included, knowing more,just in case

Jon,just as a side note to add to Phil's carboard: edible subs,we use leaves and leaf mould(litter) and rotten wood means your iso always have grub,plus damn they do well on this,it makes culturing very relaxed as there is no great pressure to feed the other stuff
regards

Stu

[Philsuma]

inexplicable die-off's can always occur. Other than temp, airflow and humidity....think about toxins, like aerosols, paint, perfume, cleansers ect.

This is the exact reason that in addition to 1-2 'Master Cultures' of all different feeder insects, I try yo maintain many smaller cultures - for sale, trade and this particular possibility.

[phelsumaman]

what size was/is your culture, if there were 200 in a small space this may be the cause, I have found isopods dont like to be too densely packed together, if I notice that on the sides of the culture I tend to split there & then as I have seen this type of die off with seemingly healthy, booming cultures.

Other than that I would question how much you are misting, unless the culture is very well ventilated it may be a little too wet in there, my cultures have minimal ventilation however they are opened frequently - I only seem to need to mist once every two weeks. One option is to providea gradient of moisture, i.e. dry one end and very wet on the other, the isos will find their own sweet spot.

I dont think anyone will be able to definitively be able to give you an answer as to what happened here but at least you have some ideas on how to move forwards

Ben

[Philsuma]

hmmm...yeah....too wet is bad. What kind of water ? Hopefully not R.O or D.I / distilled.

[fishguyturnedfrog]

Sorry it's been awhile. My purple culture came back strong and thriving well for now. Have hundreds and using them as snacks for the frogs

My orange was completely dead. I pulled 4 out of my tank and started a small culture. I've finally got small ones running around all these months later. Damn do they take a long time to reproduce. I pulled 4 adults back out and waiting for the babies to get big to start a larger culture.

I use tap water with sea chem declorinizer. Only thing I could think of is the wife getting liberal with the cleaning products. Lost 2 frogs a week after my last post

[Philsuma]

cleansers and air fumes are deadly to most everything in our hobby. Sucks.

On isopods - they are remarkably resilient. Just when you think they are all dead and have no hope...a mere 1 year later (who said anything about fast) boom....you have some action. Don't be quick to give up on cx's that appear to be dead or desolate.

[fishguyturnedfrog]

I've banned my wife from using cleaners within 10 feet of my herp corner and she's also to spray directly on the rag, not directly onto the surfaces she's cleaning. I'm surprised my turtles didn't get effected since they have a completely open tank.