# How Long to establish Isopod Culture?



## Ilovebugs (Jul 28, 2012)

How long does it take a starter isopod culture to establish it's self? I have a container that is 10" by 15" by 5". I have about 15 isopods in there now, when should I start seeing them really goin?


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## gary1218 (Dec 31, 2005)

With that few bugs to start with I would say 2-3 months, maybe more.

I start my cultures with a few hundred bugs and I notice them starting to produce well after about a month.


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## Golden State Mantellas (Mar 12, 2011)

It also depends on the species. _P. laevis_ breeds extremely fast, Giant Orange isos breed slower, dwarf whites seem to be in the middle of the two. This is all IME and may be a result of my culturing techniques.


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

I haven't worked with P. laevis. With the ones I am working with, I find the dwarf whites breed fastest, closely followed by dwarf purples. Dwarf grey/striped are slower yet with Giant Oranges being the slowest.


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## Ilovebugs (Jul 28, 2012)

Great! Thanks for letting me know. I looked around on the web, but could find much on how fast to establish them. I have the skirted grey, giant spanish orange, and Porcellio orange morpho. I am guessing the Giant orange will take the longest to establish.


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## Pacblu202 (May 8, 2012)

Pumilo said:


> I haven't worked with P. laevis. With the ones I am working with, I find the dwarf whites breed fastest, closely followed by dwarf purples. Dwarf grey/striped are slower yet with Giant Oranges being the slowest.


Doug, I had bought some dwarf whites and giant oranges from you back when you had your big sale in march(?) I bought 2 starters (30) of the oranges and I think it was like 25 -50 dwarf whites and my oranges are just going crazy. I gave some to my brother and made two additional cultures out of it and seeded a tank and probably have another 100 or so in the original. Where as my oranges seem like there's maybe 50 in the original and 15-20 in the 2nd one.


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## WendySHall (Aug 31, 2010)

Hmmm...my experience is different...

For me, the greys far outcompete everyone else. Whites are next. Purples seem to me to take much longer (maybe because they're just so tiny). Oranges seem to reproduce quite often once they reach subadult size...but that takes a while.


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## Ilovebugs (Jul 28, 2012)

I noticed that the grey ones seem more active than the orange. But, that could be because they don't blend in as much with the leaf litter.


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