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Scud questions


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#1 Guest_Joshaeus_*

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Posted 03 May 2014 - 12:18 PM

'ello all! I just have some questions on scuds:

1: I was planning on my main setup (not decided on the backup culture yet) being a 3 gallon kritter keeper with a layer of leaf litter on the bottom. Would this work? (I was planning to change about 30% of the water each week)
2: Do scud cultures need light?
3: What should I feed the scuds?

#2 Guest_Ken_*

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Posted 03 May 2014 - 02:08 PM

No scuds don't need light. They eat alot decaying plants (leaf litter will work), or live plants if the population exceeds what the decaying plants can sustain. I even give mine hair algae to munch on. They will also eat spirulina pellets, flake food etc. They are not very picky when it comes to feeding them....

#3 Guest_Joshaeus_*

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Posted 03 May 2014 - 03:34 PM

OK, how about another pair of questions...how much do you harvest out of the scud population? And when can you harvest the scuds after the scuds are introduced?

#4 Guest_Skipjack_*

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Posted 03 May 2014 - 03:49 PM

I don't personally think that they are the easiest food to culture nor the most prolific. Daphnia magna are preferable to me, better yet, red cherry shrimp are amazing, prolific, and very easy. You can harvest them from 1/8 inch long to one inch long, so they can feed a variety of fish. They need a heater though to get maximum reproduction. A 20 gallon tank packed with hornwort, a light, and a sponge filter will do it. Bare bottom. Flake food, algae wafers, some leaf litter, etc will keep them going. Best reproduction is 80-85 degrees. 50 shrimp quickly turn into a couple hundred, and you can begin harvesting. I can't endorse them enough. Also if you have excess, you can sell them on aquabid, or if you actually join NANFA, you could sell cultures in the trading dock.

#5 Guest_Joshaeus_*

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Posted 03 May 2014 - 04:29 PM

So would cherry shrimp feed elassoma and other small natives?

#6 Guest_Skipjack_*

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Posted 03 May 2014 - 06:40 PM

Yes, if you harvest then at a very small size.

#7 Guest_Kanus_*

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Posted 04 May 2014 - 04:21 PM

I have an Elassoma tank that had about 20 adult cherry shrimp in it when the Elassoma were introduced. The shrimp population had gotten down to about a half dozen over the course of a year. Brings me joy to think of all the tasty little shrimp my Elassoma got to hunt down and eat. The shrimp are definitely prolific, so that's a lot of food over the course of a year.

I tried culturing scuds once and didn't have any luck. I had all the ones I started with for a few months, yet got absolutely no reproduction out of them.

#8 Guest_centrarchid_*

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Posted 06 May 2014 - 10:13 AM

I am a fan of Hylala azteca. Dried and chopped maple leaves are excellent base for detrital food chain. Apply aggressive aeration. I harvest using two nets. First has course mesh size to allow passage of scuds, especially small ones, and latter collects pulled behind it retains small scuds for feeding fish. Done properly you will protect you brood animals from at least some harvesting pressure and enough small ones will escape to replace lost breeders. More than one culture is advised since they do crash. They make excellent treats for many natives.




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