Food suggestions for amphipods

I've got a little tank that I'm trying to culture amphipods in, but I'm not getting the feeding response I had hoped for. The amphipods in my marine tanks go nuts for anything, but these FW scuds seem to be ignoring or at least not particularly interested in most things.

Things I've tried with little success:
about 4 different kinds of flake foods I had in the fish closet
Reptomin, Mazuri, and Wardley turtle pellets
Spirulina flakes
Frozen Bloodworms, mosquito larvae, tubifex, brine shrimp, and whatever else I'm feeding my fish

Things that went over fairly well:
A piece of driftwood with some algae from another tank(I'm guessing here as it is now clear of algae)
A bit of hair algae that I removed from another tank


So I'm guessing that these guys prefer various types of algae, but I don't really have a constant supply of the stuff to feed them. I think I might try blanched kale or some other dark green next, but I thought I would see if any of you guys culture scuds and what you use for food. Even if you don't culture them does anyone have ideas on cheap and readily available algae alternatives?

My little guys will eat leaves, green or dried; periphyton; and even paper towels (unbleached). I also give them the crumbs from my fish, turtle, and rodent food containers. I'm surprised they're not interested in your other foods. One thing to be aware of is that they do a lot of feeding at night.

A couple of months or so ago, I brought back some scuds from the upper Potomac River and they seem to be surviving (and maybe even reproducing) but not in any great number. I posted a photo to the NANFA e-mai list awhile back, and they were identified by someone as an amphipod.

I kept some in a small container with Potomac River plant detritus and they seemed to be doing ok. Someone who went on the trip remarked that they really seemed to love flake food. I threw in a few granules of Aquamax fry starter, which they ate greedily. They died a few days after that, however.

I'm thinking that, like cherry shrimp, they're sensitive to copper, which a lot of fish foods contain. I had some of the survivers in a one gallon hex filled with green water, which I hadn't fed at all. I've since moved the survivors to a two gallon plastic tank filled with Java moss. The tank sits on a window sill facing south.

Every few days, I crush an aquarium store shrimp pellet and drop it into the tank. The shrimp pellets don't have any copper, and, I'm told by the people in our local aquatic plant club, contain iodide. I'm guessing that since they look like tiny shrimp with too many legs, they require iodide for molting, just like cherry shrimp and grass shrimp. I'm thinking that they feed mostly on algae in the water and infusoria that live in the java moss, and benefit from the occasional shrimp pellet particle.

It's usually dark when I go into the fish room, so I can't observe them on a day to day basis. But when I was in there on Sunday, the sun was shining through the tank, and I saw two of them (they looked fat and healthy) swimming around.

My original intention was to raise them as feeders, but right now I'm just trying to keep the colony going.

Hope that helps.

My little guys will eat leaves, green or dried; periphyton; and even paper towels (unbleached). I also give them the crumbs from my fish, turtle, and rodent food containers. I'm surprised they're not interested in your other foods. One thing to be aware of is that they do a lot of feeding at night.

My cultures are based on Hyalella azteca, a warm season scud / amphipod, that in my opinion adapts better to indoor aquariums operated at room temperature than the cold season gammarus species that are abundant this time of year.

I like to keep a the bottom of the tank about 2/3 covered with filamentous algae which surves as structure and provides some food. No gravel is used. The feed is a combination of decaying maple tree leaves and occasional additions of a sinking pellet based in large part on spirulina.

Sounds like I can't be too far off. Maybe it is like Newt says and I'm just missing the majority of their feeding. I've got some decaying leaves from the area that I picked them up as well I suppose I forgot to mention that.

Sounds like I can't be too far off. Maybe it is like Newt says and I'm just missing the majority of their feeding. I've got some decaying leaves from the area that I picked them up as well I suppose I forgot to mention that.

Mine do not exhibit overt feeding behavior during daylight hours unless fed live baby brine shrimp, then they move up into water column and get busy.

My cultures are based on Hyalella azteca, a warm season scud / amphipod, that in my opinion adapts better to indoor aquariums operated at room temperature than the cold season gammarus species that are abundant this time of year.

I would have to agree there. I recently collected a few hundred scuds from a small stream, cold water. I keep them in a 20 gal bin with heavy aeration, detritus and large gravel. Feed them old flake and put some boiled carrots and other veg. in there as well. They just keep disappearing. Stream collection is so much easier to get large numbers, but next summer I am going to take the time to collect a lot from warm lake dipnetting. I think it will be worth the effort.

They'll eat pretty much all types of fish food, and even dog/cat food or trout chow should be ok.

Also, they'll readily eat blackworms so don't try keeping both together!