How big are the adult ostracods and how big are the cysts/eggs? Has anybody else reported them laying eggs on live animals? I wonder if that's a natural behavior or just an artifact of being crowded in a container without enough other suitable surfaces to stick eggs to?
my ostracods
Started by
Guest_Auban_*
, Jul 08 2012 03:39 AM
32 replies to this topic
#22
Guest_Auban_*
Guest_Auban_*
-
- Guests
Posted 18 July 2014 - 11:34 PM
How big are the adult ostracods and how big are the cysts/eggs? Has anybody else reported them laying eggs on live animals? I wonder if that's a natural behavior or just an artifact of being crowded in a container without enough other suitable surfaces to stick eggs to?
#23
Guest_Auban_*
Guest_Auban_*
-
- Guests
Posted 18 July 2014 - 11:52 PM
Good question. I dont have much of my equipment with me right now, only my microscope. I can use software to get a good estimate of the size of the cysts, but alas, my computer died on me a little over a week ago.
So far as other people observing them laying eggs on live animals, I have no idea. I do remember reading a guide to invertebrates in which the author had seen them occasionally swarm objects in their native environments. He postulated that it was a breeding event. I dont think he ever cultured them though. I would guess that your assumpion is correct since I have only seen it in dense cultures.
That said, if they swarm heavily in natural settings, I wouldnt be surprised if a small critter or two got cought up in the mix. And that begs the question: am I triggering a similar swarming/spawning behaviour by keeping dense cultures or do they seek each other out and swarm naturally? Im not sure what makes them swarm, but they always do it in dense cultures at some point.
So far as other people observing them laying eggs on live animals, I have no idea. I do remember reading a guide to invertebrates in which the author had seen them occasionally swarm objects in their native environments. He postulated that it was a breeding event. I dont think he ever cultured them though. I would guess that your assumpion is correct since I have only seen it in dense cultures.
That said, if they swarm heavily in natural settings, I wouldnt be surprised if a small critter or two got cought up in the mix. And that begs the question: am I triggering a similar swarming/spawning behaviour by keeping dense cultures or do they seek each other out and swarm naturally? Im not sure what makes them swarm, but they always do it in dense cultures at some point.
#24
Auban
-
- NANFA Member
Posted 19 July 2017 - 07:04 PM
So, I'm starting my ostracod culture again...
Already have a hundred or so ostracods in a 2.5 gallon tank.
As an observational note, I saw what appeared to be twenty or so ostracods clustering on a piece of algae today. In a different tank. It looked similar to swarming behavior. But, they were not crowded in the least in that tank.
Already have a hundred or so ostracods in a 2.5 gallon tank.
As an observational note, I saw what appeared to be twenty or so ostracods clustering on a piece of algae today. In a different tank. It looked similar to swarming behavior. But, they were not crowded in the least in that tank.
Edited by Auban, 19 July 2017 - 07:05 PM.
"The ecologist is continually having to look at the aspects of nature with which he is unfamiliar and perforce must be an amateur for much of his working time.... professionals may carp at omissions, misconstructions, or even downright errors in these pages. perhaps ultimately they may forgive them for the sake of the overall vision that only the amateur, or the ecologist, blithely sets out to experience."G. Evelyn Hutchinson
#25
mattknepley
-
- NANFA Member
- Smack-dab between the Savannah and the Saluda.
Posted 19 July 2017 - 08:24 PM
I am going to have to reintroduce myself to this topic. 
I find fish food quite interesting,and hopefully someday I'll be able to produce some of my own.
I don't know exactly what they were, but my gambusia pond used to have some tiny swimming invertebrates bust out in population every so often. They were always in a pack, even though, like your ostrocods, they had plenty of room to spread out.
I find fish food quite interesting,and hopefully someday I'll be able to produce some of my own.I don't know exactly what they were, but my gambusia pond used to have some tiny swimming invertebrates bust out in population every so often. They were always in a pack, even though, like your ostrocods, they had plenty of room to spread out.
Matt Knepley
"No thanks, a third of a gopher would merely arouse my appetite..."
"No thanks, a third of a gopher would merely arouse my appetite..."
#26
Moontanman
-
- NANFA Member
Posted 20 July 2017 - 05:49 PM
I am going to have to reintroduce myself to this topic.
I don't know exactly what they were, but my gambusia pond used to have some tiny swimming invertebrates bust out in population every so often. They were always in a pack, even though, like your ostrocods, they had plenty of room to spread out.
I used to grow lots of daphnia and even fairy shrimp, I seem to have lost the knack for some reason...
Michael
Life is the poetry of the universe
Love is the poetry of life
Life is the poetry of the universe
Love is the poetry of life
#27
Auban
-
- NANFA Member
Posted 22 July 2017 - 08:06 PM
I find that when you believe that you have lost the knack for something, you just need to keep trying and you will find success.I used to grow lots of daphnia and even fairy shrimp, I seem to have lost the knack for some reason...
I used to set up a lot of tanks for growing live foods. I was thinking that I am just not good at it a more, but then remembered that I used to put much more effort into it.
My ostracods are doing pretty good now. They are on their fifth tank. Perseverance paid through.
Edited by Auban, 22 July 2017 - 08:07 PM.
"The ecologist is continually having to look at the aspects of nature with which he is unfamiliar and perforce must be an amateur for much of his working time.... professionals may carp at omissions, misconstructions, or even downright errors in these pages. perhaps ultimately they may forgive them for the sake of the overall vision that only the amateur, or the ecologist, blithely sets out to experience."G. Evelyn Hutchinson
#28
NotCousteau
-
- NANFA Guest
- Minnesota
Posted 23 July 2017 - 07:48 PM
I tried raising daphnia indoors, but it was just too much work. It's amazing how easy they (and ostracods) are in tubs or buckets outside, although I know that makes them irrelevant come winter.
#29
Cricket
-
- NANFA Guest
- Phoenix
Posted 02 December 2017 - 08:48 AM
Wow just replying here so I can find this later. @Gerald should I consider these little guys a risk in my aquarium or a food source? The last paragraph freaked me out a bit. I haven't seen diamond in the last few days as my water sprite is way over grown but now I'm worried they egged her 😨
Oops. Sorry I thought the thread was finished but I was likely just at the end of the first page haha. Where you observed in large cultures the seed shrimp swarming a live animal to lay eggs.
Oops. Sorry I thought the thread was finished but I was likely just at the end of the first page haha. Where you observed in large cultures the seed shrimp swarming a live animal to lay eggs.
Edited by Cricket, 02 December 2017 - 08:50 AM.
#30
gerald
-
- Global Moderator
- Wake Forest, North Carolina
Posted 03 December 2017 - 11:13 AM
Neither - from what i've seen ostracods are neither a threat nor a preferred food for Elassoma. Some fish with strong jaws and teeth will eat them, but many fish don't. The fact that they persist so well in Elassoma tanks should clue you in that Elassoma aren't too interested in eating them. I've never the "swarming on live animals" behavior that Auban describes. Swarming on dead ones - yes.
Gerald Pottern
-----------------------
Hangin' on the Neuse
"Taxonomy is the diaper used to organize the mess of evolution into discrete packages" - M.Sandel
#31
Auban
-
- NANFA Member
Posted 18 May 2018 - 07:20 PM
late response, but i agree with gerald. the only time i have even seen ostracods bother live animals was in tanks in which i had concentrated very large numbers. the fish that i saw them do this to was a small heterandria formosa fry, and i think it was kinda weak to begin with. with fairy shrimp, they seemed to bog it down by sheer numbers. but, in both cases, im talking about concentrations that are so high it is difficult to see the back of the tank. in a normal fish tank, i have never seen them reach such population densities.
Edited by Auban, 18 May 2018 - 07:20 PM.
"The ecologist is continually having to look at the aspects of nature with which he is unfamiliar and perforce must be an amateur for much of his working time.... professionals may carp at omissions, misconstructions, or even downright errors in these pages. perhaps ultimately they may forgive them for the sake of the overall vision that only the amateur, or the ecologist, blithely sets out to experience."G. Evelyn Hutchinson
#32
Auban
-
- NANFA Member
Posted 05 July 2024 - 06:22 PM
still keeping the ostracods. still kicking butt as a live food.
they are pretty wild... there are enough that if I toss a dead guppy or something in there, they will strip it down to a perfectly cleaned skeleton in a few hours.
ostracod army. https://imgur.com/gallery/53RgPHK
they are pretty wild... there are enough that if I toss a dead guppy or something in there, they will strip it down to a perfectly cleaned skeleton in a few hours.
ostracod army. https://imgur.com/gallery/53RgPHK
"The ecologist is continually having to look at the aspects of nature with which he is unfamiliar and perforce must be an amateur for much of his working time.... professionals may carp at omissions, misconstructions, or even downright errors in these pages. perhaps ultimately they may forgive them for the sake of the overall vision that only the amateur, or the ecologist, blithely sets out to experience."G. Evelyn Hutchinson
#33
Auban
-
- NANFA Member
Posted 14 July 2024 - 02:14 PM
I came up with another use for the ostracods. ever since I was in Iraq, I wanted a tiny aquarium that I could just carry with me and pull out whenever I wanted. something like sea monkeys, but hardier and more portable.
I have since set up(or carried) tiny aquariums for the ostracods(and triops) in Afghanistan, Kenya, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Djibouti, Somalia, Mali, Chad, Mozambique...
some mother countries in Africa that escape me at the moment.
anyway, they are nearly bulletproof. they can handle high temps, harsh water conditions, they handle physical abuse just fine, and they lay eggs, so if you do manage to kill them, just dry everything out and rehydrate it and you can start again.
so I'll be selling these soon for that purpose. while they are pretty cool as a live food, not all fish eat them. I have had the most success feeding them to some naked gobys and most killifish. but for making tiny novelty aquariums, they really shine.
new type of algae https://imgur.com/gallery/pVCb84b
I have since set up(or carried) tiny aquariums for the ostracods(and triops) in Afghanistan, Kenya, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Djibouti, Somalia, Mali, Chad, Mozambique...
some mother countries in Africa that escape me at the moment.
anyway, they are nearly bulletproof. they can handle high temps, harsh water conditions, they handle physical abuse just fine, and they lay eggs, so if you do manage to kill them, just dry everything out and rehydrate it and you can start again.
so I'll be selling these soon for that purpose. while they are pretty cool as a live food, not all fish eat them. I have had the most success feeding them to some naked gobys and most killifish. but for making tiny novelty aquariums, they really shine.
new type of algae https://imgur.com/gallery/pVCb84b
"The ecologist is continually having to look at the aspects of nature with which he is unfamiliar and perforce must be an amateur for much of his working time.... professionals may carp at omissions, misconstructions, or even downright errors in these pages. perhaps ultimately they may forgive them for the sake of the overall vision that only the amateur, or the ecologist, blithely sets out to experience."G. Evelyn Hutchinson
0 user(s) are reading this topic
0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users
NANFA Youtube Channel 
