Can you use pumice rock for isopods?

One of the main things I enjoy about isopods aside from breeding them is trying new and different supplements and foods for the isopods I keep.

Back in November, I came across Pumice rock, Pumice is a type of extrusive volcanic rock, these rocks are made when lava with a high content of gas and water come out of a volcano. Whilst reading I thought ‘this is great’ however I became a a little confused as I saw this rock’s most common application was actually filing dead skin from under your feet.

Finally I found a seller on eBay called reefandrock, this seller had a number of different sizes rocks and came from a seller who had a lot of marine/fish items for sale so I thought the purpose of the stones from this seller were for animals so I reached out to the seller to get some more information.

 

Cleaning Pumice Rock Stones Before Use

 

The seller was very fast to respond to my first query which was do these rocks need cleaning prior to use as I read that they should be boiled prior to use. To my surprise the seller advised me that they did not need to be washed/boiled due to the way he prepares the rock for sale. This is what he told me he goes with the rock

 

• Verified and certified by Xray minerals LTD to make sure they are safe to be cleaned before they are then sterilised
• Jet cleaned and steam sterilised using RODI filtered water
• Heat-cured and air dried

 

He did advise me that there may be some dust from the rocks breaking down a bit during transit so advised of doing a small rinse off.

 

I received my box of rocks a few days after ordering and to my surprise along with the 1kg of pumice rock I ordered from him he sent me a number of different sized rocks as well as some powdered pumice rock too.

 

One thing reefandrock did tell me about the rock is that it can be broken down easily by wrapping some of the rocks inside a dishcloth then hitting them a couple of times with a hammer however I have never actually needed to break up any of the rocks, I have tried all sizes from reefandrock by now and 5kg later I am still looking at ordering more within the next few weeks.

 

The seller also kindly sent me a large bag of calcium rock powder which is 98.7% purity (made of calcium carbonate aragonite), I will give you a review on this once I have had it for a few months like I did with the Pumice stone.

 

Throughout the months of me experimenting with this rock, I started off by adding them to 3 types  of isopod, Panda Kings, Diary Cows and Gestrois. These 3 species are very hardy and have been in my collection since 2021 and as with most new things I prefer to try more hardy pods to begin with.

 

As I saw a few months later, the isopods were still doing great and the population seemed to of boomed/grown quicker than previously, I started to add these rocks to every enclosure I have regardless of the species. From Merulanella to Porcellio - each type of isopod currently in my collection has some rock, some tubs depending on size even have more than one.

 

I have noticed that the Cubaris species do hang about on the rock more than some of the other pods but I have found the rock to not be a common place to find them on - as much as cork bark is for example.

 

Something that interests me also however with this is that when I added powdered rock into the same tubs this did seem to disappear quicker. Although the rocks do seem to get smaller over time, I believe that the powder is preferred by them. This is something one day the curious thinker in myself may explore more closely by trying to give the same weight of the rock in powder and solid form to the same amount of pods to see if it does decrease sooner - but that’s another experiment for another day.

 

I was speaking to reefandrock the other day and asked how he got into selling such a thing which is ironic that someone who’s hobby is selling tropical woodlice would question why someone sells rock which is cleaned and prepared with such high standards.

 

Reefandrock said that he started his brand/business due to knowing that ‘Mother Nature knows best’ and he found a serious lack of ethics and integrity within the marine industry and misleading claims about product types, origins and composition. On top of this, reefandrock also cared about the environmental damage that harvesting causes and also the working conditions in order to attain such products.

 

Refundrock felt too many animals suffered because ‘natural and genuine’ products were not what they said they were and as a result, they are not beneficial or safe for livestock.

To begin with, he was just sourcing what he needed for his own projects and confused on stuff that really was ‘genuine, natural, sustainable, high-quality with proof of origins to ensure authenticity and composition.