Scuds

I know of one spot where I can catch scuds. I wanted to raise them for fish food or atleast as a point of interest for my daughter at the least. Has anyone tried keeping them? How did you? Did it work? Any info would be great.

Soft bottomed lakes or slow moving rivers. They will be found in weeds and in the sand. Too catch them you just need a fine-meshed dip net/cast net and see what you can do.

I keep mine in a ten gallon tank with java moss and duckweed. I keep a light on a timer for 12 on 12 off light cycle. I don't know that the lighting is necessary though. I have heard light isn't needed. I run an airline to aid in gas exchange. I have never done a water change. I top off with water from an established tank. When I want to feed them to my fish I grab a hunk of java moss out of the scud tank and throw it in the tank I want to feed. I think the fish enjoy stalking the scuds in the moss, especially the mudminnows. The next day I throw the java moss back in the scud tank for "recharging". AS far as feeding the scuds I throw a flake or two of fish food in there maybe every other week or I might add some plankton food leftovers from feeding the daphnia. There are porbably easier and more efficient wasy of doing all this. This works for me though.

THere's no way you'd get away with a flake of fish food every other week without the lighting. They must be eating algae.

You are probably correct. they seem to eat something off of the java moss. I have had the colony going for about six months. I don't harvest heavily but have had a stable supply for the last 4 months.

Scuds seem to eat infusoria that grows on Java moss. They seem to be scavengers like shrimp. If they do need algae you can get algae tablets at the fish store, or algae flakes. Just make sure the flakes sink (which is why they make algae tabs, they sink better.)

Make sure the water is free of ammonia and nitrites. I'm sure they'd like plenty of plants and cover, in the form of large rocks. Make it a scuds only tank, no fish.

I had a minnow net, but was only able to catch larger scuds, which I believe were all female. I have a better net now, like 0.1mm mesh size, but haven't been scud catching with it. (This smaller mesh net is a professional net and ran me about $75us.)

I also added a couple Ramshorn snails to the culture container. I think they help clean up and probably provide some food through infusoria.