Aquatic/freshwater isopods are fun detritivores that have recently become more readily available in the hobby. Those familiar with keeping terrestrial isopods like Porcellio Laevis may be happy to learn there are some non-parasitic freshwater isopods as well.

The advantages of them compared to something like scuds is that they are completely plant/shrimp safe. I believe they are also 100% egg safe as well and I actually breed them in many of my egg trays.

They also happen to be pretty cute and fun to watch run around. They lack the ability to swim, but that doesn't stop them from climbing up high on plants and jumping off with their legs flailing in the air.

I culture them with Neocaridina shrimp and have found them to be quite prolific. I believe they do not meaningfully impact the populations of shrimp due to the fact that the shrimp quite easily out compete them & they have slightly different food preferences when it comes to biofilms and etc. They can reach sexual maturity in around 5 weeks depending on temperature and produce quite a few young that come out as miniature adults similar to shrimp. '

Also similar to shrimp, fertilization occurs directly after the female molts. Due to the short window of time, the males engage in a guarding behavior where they will hold the female underneath them. I will ensure a mix of males and females with this group. There will be an adult pair with some juveniles. Stay small, half an inch probably but the males can get pretty nicely sized if they are doing well.

As far as temperature goes, they are very flexible. I prefer to keep them at room temperatures. Higher temperatures will shorten their live span while also increasing reproduction similar to neocaridina and I keep them similarly.

Fish that are able to will quite happily eat them, but I keep them as cleanup crew and haven't experimented much with them as a live food or keeping them with larger fish.

Alright this was way too much text but hey I really like these guys. Photos taken by me & edited for clarity (brightness & color correction for accuracy)

Definitely a fun addition to the cleanup crew!

p.s., I haven't taken the time to identify the exact latin name, my best guess is that they are in the Caecidotea family.