Freshwater Copepods/Amphipods?

[eklikewhoa]

I got some floating lettuce plants from bikeguru out of his holding pond and when I got home and soaked them I saw a ton of bits darting around... closer inspection I found what looks to be Copepods/Amphipods! I've only seen them before in my reef tanks so this is the first for me but seems it's common.

http://www.alltropicalfish.com/content/view/134/101/


Wonder if I could actually sustain this in my wet/dry like one would do in a reef sump setting and provide additional food for the fish.

[ometh]

hmmm i wouldn't see why not. could be beneficial if you have sand too so they could breed and you could have a micro clean up crew basically my wet dry have slots for another baffle if i wanted to put on. it was originally used for salt so I might take this idea up and try this out myself with my trophs tank.

[eklikewhoa]

You could run a refugium, I got some water lettuce for this purpose but the little space I have won't suffice.


What worries me is properly identifying these things and introducing them to my tank.

[ometh]

You could run a refugium, I got some water lettuce for this purpose but the little space I have won't suffice.


What worries me is properly identifying these things and introducing them to my tank.

thats what i was wondering too. I was thinking what if they were some type of insect larva that look similar to amps/copes. another thing to worry about is disease being passed through them or carrying parasites.

[eklikewhoa]

Well they closely resemble them but not sure if it's a good one or bad.

Heres a pic I managed to snap

[ometh]

Well they closely resemble them but not sure if it's a good one or bad.

Heres a pic I managed to snap

its an amp for sure but, i'm stumped as well to tell if it's bad or good. From what I've found digging around it seems to be just a regular beneficial amp that is a detrivore.

[eklikewhoa]

Yeah, same that I've been getting

[ometh]

Yeah, same that I've been getting

might be some in your tank already from the previous lettuce.

[eklikewhoa]

The lettuce before was dwarf and it was tank kept floaters, this is the first outdoor/pond plant I am introducing to the tank.

I killed off quite a bit of the pods when I dipped the plants but these I'm guessing made it passed that.

[ometh]

The lettuce before was dwarf and it was tank kept floaters, this is the first outdoor/pond plant I am introducing to the tank.

I killed off quite a bit of the pods when I dipped the plants but these I'm guessing made it passed that.

IMO I'd just do a lil more digging before I get right and comfy with these lil guys.

[Totenkampf]

its godzilla!

[mnemenoi]

Its a Gammarus or Scud, not sure what specie. They are quite common in the area and heavily infest submersed roots and detritus. They are excellent fish food and can survive in aquariums, especially heavily planted tanks. I catch them anytime I head out to a creek or ditch.

[eklikewhoa]

Next time you go collecting lmk!

I wanna set up a little tank for local darts and stuff and if my halfbeaks don't sell throw them in there as well.

[mnemenoi]

Sounds great, I go whenever I have company that wants to come. I'll let you know when I get in next and we'll get together for a collection trip

[Mzungu]

Scuds are awesome!