Buy Scuds locally on Craigslist:
or buy Scuds on Amazon (paid link):
Small aquatic critters feeding on algae and plants are the foundation of food chain in sustainable aquariums.
Here you can see about one year old aquarium populated with pond snails and scuds.
The size of this jar can support only small population of critters.
I trim the plants once every 2 months or so to keep them growing.
Scuds and snails feed only on what they find growing in this aquarium.
Land plants growing with roots in water filter the water.
This is the simplest and the most effective natural setup for aquariums with fish as well.
We have to use larger size aquariums for fish based on the fish sizes.
Originally for this purpose I breed my own strain of dwarf guppies.
They have two distinct characteristics.
They grow up to 1 inch as adult at the age of 2 years old.
And they bring 1-2 babies in their lifespan - which is much less than any other guppies do.
So, I don't have to move any fish out of my aquariums.
And the demand for the food remains always on the same level.
I setup aquariums with critters and plants (even land mosses) a couple months in advance before adding fish.
It takes about two months for population of snails and scuds to grow any noticeable.
And it gives time for plants to establish themselves as well.
Here you can see the same aquarium weeks later with young and adult scuds.
Adult scuds grow up to 1 cm and they are too large to be eaten by my small fish.
Small fish enjoy eating baby scuds.
At this point the aquarium is ready for housing fish.
Notice a bunch of adult scuds dash down from the plants.
I pick a young breeding couple of dwarf guppies - one female with two males.
Here they go.
I can leave this aquarium as it is now without any addition feeding for a couple weeks.
The fish will nibble on plants and hunt down baby scuds.
Adult scuds keep breeding all the time adding more babies for fish to eat.
The population of scuds stays stable but never grow big in aquariums with fish.
So, I have to culture scuds in separate from fish 1 to 5 gallon jars for feeding fish on regular basis.
Scuds truly the most versatile critters the most suitable for any aquariums in my experience.
Once in a month I add scuds to each of my aquariums with fish just to keep the scuds population going.
Here you can see the same aquarium about one year later.
Healthy fish, healthy plants and all looks great.
Here is another two years old sustainable aquarium with fish.
I also keep cherry shrimp in this aquarium.
Please check my videos about shrimps for more details.
And here is another about two years old sustainable 3 liter jar aquarium.
I also have larger size sustainable aquariums with Blue Star Endlers and Least Killifish.
All those fish grow the same or smaller than 1 inch size.
Most importantly they all feed on baby scuds.
Scuds (scientific name Gammarus) are the main source of food for fish in my sustainable aquariums.
Have fun and happy aquariums :)
No comments:
Post a Comment