{"product_id":"pleco-wafers-100g","title":"Pleco Wafers 100g","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe wafers are 16mm across, which is wider than most of the \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/isopods-for-sale\"\u003eisopods\u003c\/a\u003e that will end up sitting on one. It matters more than it sounds. A wafer that holds its shape when damp does not disappear into the substrate overnight, so a colony can work at the same piece for two or three days and anything left over lifts out clean.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese started life as a sinking food for bottom-feeding fish, which is where the density and the shape come from. Knowing that explains what they do well in an invertebrate enclosure and where the sensible limits sit.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat is in them\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHerring meal and soya carry the protein. Wheat and potato bind the wafer and give it the slow-softening texture. Then the plant matter: spirulina, mycoprotein, alfalfa and spinach.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe additive list is longer than most foods aimed at this hobby. Vitamins A, D3, E and C, a mineral premix covering iron, zinc, copper, manganese and iodine, then lysine, betaine, beta-glucan, L-carnitine and omega-3 oils.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eComposition runs to 47.4% crude protein, 4% oils and fats, 3% fibre, 7.9% ash and 8% moisture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThey also contain colourants. Those are in the formula for the aquarium market and do nothing for a woodlouse. I would sooner print that than trim the ingredient list down to the flattering parts.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProtein is a frequency question\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eForty-seven per cent is high, and the hobby tends to react to that number in one of two unhelpful ways: treat the food as dangerous, or tip it in daily because the isopods clearly like it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNeither is right. Protein does not poison a colony. What it does is sit uneaten if you put too much in, and uneaten protein in a warm damp box is how you end up with a grain mite bloom or a fungus gnat problem. The fix is portion size and interval, not avoidance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLeaf litter and decaying wood stay the base of the enclosure. The wafers go on top of that as a supplement.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eHow I feed them\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn my shelves a mixed \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/porcellio-isopods\"\u003e\u003cem\u003ePorcellio\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e tub gets a broken quarter-wafer once or twice a week, put down on a piece of bark or an upturned bottle cap so it stays off the wet substrate. Anything untouched after two days comes out.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCubaris\u003c\/em\u003e take less and take it slower. \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/springtails-for-sale\"\u003eSpringtails\u003c\/a\u003e will find a wafer within hours and graze the surface of it, which is useful if you are running them as a cleanup crew, though it does mean the isopods get less of the wafer than you would assume.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDampening one before it goes in speeds the whole thing up. Dry, it takes a colony a while to start. A brief dip softens the edges and it gets found faster.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFeed less in the winter, or whenever a tub is cooler and the animals have slowed down. At 21 to 26°C a colony works through a quarter-wafer briskly. Below that they will not, and the leftovers are the problem.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat else takes them\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/collections\/millipedes-for-sale\"\u003eMillipedes\u003c\/a\u003e will eat them, with less enthusiasm than isopods, and they want calcium and rotting wood more. Darkling beetle larvae and roach colonies clear them fast. The original audience still holds too, so if you keep plecos, corydoras, loaches, shrimp or crayfish alongside the invertebrate shelf, the wafers do the job they were designed for.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eStorage\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKeep the bag sealed, dry and out of direct sun. Moisture is the thing to watch, because a wafer that takes up damp in the packet will go mouldy in the packet. 100g is a long run of feeds for a shelf of isopod tubs, so this is being stored for months, not weeks.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PostPods","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57780572717438,"sku":null,"price":3.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0759\/0707\/2294\/files\/pleco-wafers-100g-9979871.jpg?v=1785622642","url":"https:\/\/postpods.co.uk\/products\/pleco-wafers-100g","provider":"PostPods","version":"1.0","type":"link"}