Growing Live food in Aquarium

Growing Live food in Aquarium

Buy Scuds locally on Craigslist: 

https://newyork.craigslist.org/search/sss?userpostingid=7391919122

 or buy Scuds on Amazon (paid link): 

https://amzn.to/3IeZgmG

I use scuds for cleaning aquariums and for feeding my fish and newts. 

Scuds are the best fish food that can grow in any size aquarium. 

Simply add scuds into an aquarium and let them be. 

Scuds feed on algae, plants and any kind of organic matter (detritus) keeping aquariums clean.

A speckle sized baby scuds grow up to 1 cm long. 

This adult Ramshorn snail is too large for my eastern newt to eat. 

Here you can see a female Endlers fish is going after an adult scud. 

Scuds are testy swimming protein bars for my fish :) 

The newt seems to found some snack here too... 

It looks more like hit and miss this time. 

This Ramshorn snail is too large for the newt to swallow :) 

Scuds breed proficiently but get eaten very fast by fish and newts. 

Yup, that fast!

 It's necessary to culture scuds in separate tanks for keeping them in constant supply.

 I made platforms for culturing aquatic scuds and terrestrial critters above the water level in this aquarium. 

It's like... a safe paradise resort for critters :) 

Once a month or so, I pick some scuds from one of the containers where I culture them. 

Release the scuds in the water part of the platform. 

There is an open space for scuds to swim, gravel to hold on and land moss to eat. 

I keep the aquarium covered to prevent water evaporation. 

There is LED light on the top of the cover. 

Water is forced from the bottom of the aquarium to the platform above by a submersible water pump. 

I put medium sized gravel under the land moss to keep the moss from floating. 

The water flows from one platform to the other and falls back into the aquarium at the far corner here.

 Please check my previous videos for details about this setup. 

I turn the water pump on only for 1-2 hours every other day. 

Scuds move with the water flow both ways between the aquarium and platforms. 

Water falls into the aquarium at this corner of the platform. 

You can see fish already anticipating some snacks here.

 Some scuds get eaten right when they fall in the aquarium. 

And some scuds make it to the bottom and hide from fish in the gravel or on the plants. 

And some scuds get sucked through the pump back to the platform on the top.

 Here on the platform scuds can breed safely away from fish. 

That is a very efficient way of growing live food right in the aquarium. 

Also, I have springtails and Grindal worms on the land moss.

 I will show more about them in future videos.

 Culturing aquatic scuds for feeding fish in the aquarium is the main purpose of this platform. 

It's simple to set up and works great!

Have fun and happy aquariums :)