culturing scuds

[islander]

Re: culturing scuds

Polly and all,

We usually have them hitch a ride on the hornwort we sell at the HAS auction but wil not be attending this one because will be out of town on spring break.  It is easy to grow them in the horse tank like what are talking about; have lots of hornwort or anacharis floating on the top.  Once a week pull the hornwort & anacharis out and put in a dish pan (you can even rinse with a little water).  Wait a few minutes and many will fall off the plants into the water that is dripping in the pan.  After 10 minutes put the plants back in the tank and you will have scuds in the bottom of the pan.  Screen these scuds through a brine shrimp net because they will get caught in the holes of a regular net.

What is more fun to raise as live food that breeds faster and is almost as easy is the daphnia on green water.  We use the regular fish nets for harvesting the adults and leave the young ones to grow up and brine shimp nets to harvest the adults and babies.  Our fish love scuds but feast on the daphnia. We raise them outside or inside year round in 5 gallon buckets.

We always have cultures of either ones of these going if you need some.  Mark uses both for science fair projects and supplied a handful of other students this year with daphnia (they call them water fleas) for their science fair projects.  
later, ken/mark

[Spot86t]

Re: culturing scuds

I was thinking of setting up a plastic ex-horse-watering tub for them on the patio, with some plants. Figured they'd do okay, but have to admit I wondered how I'd catch them out for anyone to eat. If they can hide out and breed in the tanks too, that sounds good.  One articles I found talked about them prefering the alkaline lakes up north, so I did wonder about them making it in old planted places. Sounds like anything goes. Great. Now all I need is to get a start.  I hope people who have them and plan to attend the  HAS auction will bring us poor, scudless others some to try. :)

Polly

I work in Deer Park - not too far from La Porte.  I can bring some scuds for you to try.  pm me with what type of schedule you have and we can work something out.  I'd like to get my hands on some Daphnia and/or Moina.  I've gotten Daphnia at the auctions twice now and must be doing something wrong, cause both times it all died out.

[Nickintex]

Re: culturing scuds

but scuds are a type of copepod right?

Nope, they are amphipods, as are beach hoppers.

[Nickintex]

Re: culturing scuds

I was thinking of setting up a plastic ex-horse-watering tub for them on the patio, with some plants. Figured they'd do okay, but have to admit I wondered how I'd catch them out for anyone to eat. If they can hide out and breed in the tanks too, that sounds good.  One articles I found talked about them prefering the alkaline lakes up north, so I did wonder about them making it in old planted places. Sounds like anything goes. Great. Now all I need is to get a start.  I hope people who have them and plan to attend the  HAS auction will bring us poor, scudless others some to try. :)

Polly

Or you can catch some yourself. Go to Lake Houston, Lake Sheldon, or Lake Conroe, rake up some submerged plants and place them in a container of water and shake them. A large amount of flea sized critters will swim off the plants. Those are scuds.

[High-PH]

Re: culturing scuds

Aquatic Adventure !  It's going to sound like a lot more fun when that north wind stops blowing !
Thanks for all the good pointers.

[nacra99]

Re: culturing scuds

I was thinking about trying to keep some of these going, if I got a chance at a culture of them in the near future, and was wondering what ranges of temperatures they can tolerate.

They're pretty hardy.. they sit in my unheated garage all summer and all winter. They make great mandarin food.

[Tiapan]

Re: culturing scuds

ok so they are what mandarin gobies love so much, im not crazy.

[islander]

Re: culturing scuds

Mary Beth I forgot to mention GREAT pictures of the scuds!

Spot, 3rd time must be a charm for raising the daphnia, because you bought the daphania culture twice at the auction I will give you a free daphnia culture.  We only have had them crash once in the last two years and it was my fault.  Get a good source of green water going and we will hookup some time.  We won't be at the auction so it might be later in the month.  later, ken

[Mzungu]

Re: culturing scuds

 Thanks!

If Ken and Mark aren't going to be at the auction, maybe I'll bring along a bag or two of scuds to keep the tradition going.  :)

[Spot86t]

Re: culturing scuds

Thanks Islander - I'll grab some pond water and set it aside this evening.  I'll have to cover it because of all the pollen tho or I'll have funky green water.  

both times in the past, I split the culter, and kept half outside, the other inside on the shelf of the boxwindow on the south side of the house (lots of sun, cooler temps in the a/c).  

Let me know if I'm doing something wrong in that respect.  I'm always open to suggestions/advice!

[islander]

Re: culturing scuds

Mary Beth, yes...keep up the tradation of scuds at the auctions!

Spot, all of our cultures are outside in 5 gallon buckets, some are white some are translusent.  We but glass lids on top so sun can get in and to keep the trash out.  In the winter it takes a week to build up the population high enough to harvest some adults with the regular fish net, and some times we can get two harvest from a bucket in a week.  The buckets now are lasting 2-3 weeks before we totally change the water to fresh green water.  Summer shade they peek in a week and change the water every 10 days or  you can do a partial water change and there is less schock with the culture (put the old daphnia water in outside fish tanks because there still daphnia in it).  If you don't have any good green water we can give you some.  Do split the cultures and try different ways to do it.  later, ken