alexx
New member
As title states, I'm after a scud colony to try and breed for axolotl food.
Any advice is welcomed.
Thanks
Any advice is welcomed.
Thanks
I wouldn't care that much about that. EVERY wild caught live food could be a vector for parasites (slugs, daphnia, cyclops, scuds, terrestial&aquatic isopods, probably earthworms too) and still most breeders recommend them as great source of food. I don't say that captive cultured foods are better, but it's just too much to say "do not use wildcaught food, it's dangerous". Commercially bought bloodworms are also considered so dangerous because of heavy metals and/or parasites, most people use them and nothing bad happens.I´d be wary of wild populations, as these animals are vectors for a number of parasites. It´s hard to know if a given population is safe or not.
Hi I have a local source for scuds in the east midlands its a local stream fed by a spring over limestone the stream flows into a river via a weir so its fish free.Its full of water cress and is cold and full of O2.They are very abundant I culd send some but they will most likley die in transit I have been told you best transport them wet wraped in sacking any use regards KB
Hi I have a local source for scuds in the east midlands its a local stream fed by a spring over limestone the stream flows into a river via a weir so its fish free.Its full of water cress and is cold and full of O2.They are very abundant I culd send some but they will most likley die in transit I have been told you best transport them wet wraped in sacking any use regards KB
Hi,
if you want to breed amphipods as food, I'd recommend to breed Hyalella azteca (Mexican scuds).
They are much more hardy than European amphipods, they don't need as much oxygen as Gammarus pulex and similar species and they reproduce much faster, too.
They are smaller than Gammarus pulex, around 8 mm (0.3 in) maximum and they need higher temperature to reproduce. But if you want to breed them indoors that could be an advantage, too.
As they really eat everything, they can be dangerous for eggs and very small larvae of newts. So I would not recommend to introduce them into a tank with eggs or recently hatched larvae.
One other disadvatage is: If they are introduced into a tank with lots of hiding places, they will reproduce and it will be very difficult or even impossible to get them out there ever again.
And if it is a planted tank they might eat the plants then.
There is also the danger to introduce them unintentionally to other tanks by moving plants or other things from one tank to another. So plants from a tank with Hyalella azteca should not be used in other tanks unless you want to have these critters there, too.
It should be rather easy to get a colony of Hyalella azteca. At least here in Germany these "Mexikanische Kampfkrebse" are quite common as food for bigger fish and newts.
Here you find some information about breeding this species:
• View topic - Pardon my Gammarus!
And some additional information:
Hyalella azteca - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Peter
P.S.: If you breed them, then please never let them get into natural waters like ponds and streams. They can be very dangerous for native critters like Gammarus pulex and others.