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Raising Scuds - specific methods?


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#1 Guest_jase_*

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Posted 10 February 2010 - 03:15 PM

I've seen a number of posts suggesting that long-term culture of scuds is quite easy, but not as much detail as I'd like. Here are the best threads I've found:
There's a lot of good info in Newt's thread. I see elsewhere that Centrarchid mentioned having a 10 year culture of one scud species, and it looks like BLChristie also successfully cultures them, but I can't find specifics on their methods. Guys?

Anyone else have tips for how you've maintained a healthy scud culture over time? How you housed them and what you fed them?

I tried once in a sweater box with some detritus and occasional feedings of flake food and spirulina tablets. The scuds lived a long time, but I wasn't getting much if any reproduction.

My other question -- sure it's possible to collect scuds all over the place, but I assume some species do markedly better in captivity than others. Is this true in others experiences? Wondering if it's worth buying a starter culture rather than trying to find my own.

#2 Guest_Newt_*

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Posted 10 February 2010 - 03:32 PM

I usually seed my colonies from several sources, in hopes of getting at least one species that will like the conditions I provide. I would guess pond/swamp scuds would do better in captivity than stream scuds. I've never bothered to ID my guys. I believe Hyalella azteca is the major species available commercially, but there may be some Gammarus or Crangonyx out there too.

My major breeding scud colony has been eliminated; I flushed the whole tank out because it was infested with Wolffia. I intend to restart it this year. It was a cement tank with a 36" X 48" footprint, filled to about 18". This was a bit extreme for my needs, but I had access to the tank and it allowed me to raise scuds and daphnids together. I prefer big tanks for raising bugs. I bet one of those round, rope-handled plastic tubs from Lowe's would work great.

The colony was in a greenhouse that was not kept at a constant temperature; air temps varied from about 50-90F according to season. The colony went through productive and unproductive phases, but I could see no correlation with temperature.

I fed my colony leaves trimmed from plants in the greenhouse, bread, filter squeezings, yeast (the latter two for the daphnids, mainly) and koi pellets. I believe the scuds also spent a lot of time grazing on whatever biofilm/aufwuchs managed to grow on the tank walls and the stones, stumps, and plants I added.

#3 Guest_jase_*

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Posted 10 February 2010 - 03:40 PM

Thanks, Nate. Good info.

#4 Guest_Newt_*

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Posted 10 February 2010 - 03:43 PM

Did you have a power filter in the tank? If so, you may have been losing young scuds to that.

#5 Guest_mikez_*

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Posted 11 February 2010 - 11:17 AM

Did you have a power filter in the tank? If so, you may have been losing young scuds to that.


Ironic you say that, I once had an african Cichlid tank that had a thriving colony of both scuds and some very small snail living in the canister of a magnum [I find all kinds of stuff in those, including healthy killie fry]. Never would see either in the tank but the filter pad was crawling with scuds and littered with empty snail shells.

I have had low numbers of scuds become established and survive for years in heavily planted tanks. You'd rarely see any unless you pulled out some plants or changed filter floss. I'm partial to the old fashion corner box bubble up filters to supplement a mostly plant based filtration system. I leave the tops off and let the floss get just about fully clogged with mulm before changing. Those clumps of walmart polyester become refugia swarming with critters. A single squeeze into a fish bowl and left in the sun makes awesome infusoria. But my point was scuds seem to find shelter and food in dirty filters. Never in big numbers but persistent even with accomplished scud eaters - assuming a heavily planted tank rich in mulm.

I should add that I frequently collect wild foods and wild plants and intentionally add them to tanks in the hope of establishing any cool critters, food or otherwise. Years ago I went on tropical forums and made that claim and caught a shtstorm of dire predictions of deadly plagues. Hasn't happened to me yet [3 decades] but be forwarned.

#6 Guest_Newt_*

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Posted 11 February 2010 - 11:30 AM

:D

[tangent]The typical tropical hobbyist's fear of the outdoors is a wonder to behold; yet if it comes from a store, it must be OK! I've often wondered at the attitudes towards store-bought driftwood and stones (apparently collected from some magical sterile wonderland, or at least guaranteed inert and disease-free by the FDA) versus self-collected ones (dripping with pathogens, parasites, and possibly nuclear waste). There is also a worrying obsession with the vinegar test as a way to verify the safety of a stone. Stones that "fail" this test are fine in the great majority of tanks, and stones that pass it may leach things far more dangerous than CaCO3.[/tangent]

Filter media does make a great scud haven. However, scuds may be chewed up by the impeller, especially in HOB-style filters, before they reach the media.

#7 Guest_jase_*

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Posted 11 February 2010 - 12:07 PM

Did you have a power filter in the tank? If so, you may have been losing young scuds to that.

No, no filtration. It was a pretty large amount of water for the few scuds I added.

I'm not saying I made an especially good effort that one time, but would like to have more of a clue what I'm doing if I try again.




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