I would love to get these little buggers as a cool addition and free food in my aquarium, I read a few posts from Darrel on the subject and was wondering how to start, care for and sustain a population. Any help would be greatly appreciated thanks - SMIGUMZ
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Copepods & Ostracods
- Thread starter SMIGUMZ
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- Wiltshire UK
Hi all,
There must be a commercial source for Asellus aquaticus, (and the similar, but slightly larger, N. American Caecidotea communis) as they are used as bioassay organism.
Ostracods occur world wide, anywhere you collect Asellus, or Daphnia, from will also have Ostracods.
cheers Darrel
I've never seen either for sale, but If you are in W. Asia, Europe, or W. N. America, you should be able to collect your own Asellus aquaticus. They occur in nearly all slow moving, or still, vegetated water, and are quite pollution tolerant. You might find some via Axolotl keepers. Have a look here <http://www.caudata.org/forum/f1173-...odlice-etc/61384-asellus-aquatic-isopods.html> & <http://www.caudata.org/forum/f46-be...1440-can-my-hatchlings-survive-ostracods.html>.
There must be a commercial source for Asellus aquaticus, (and the similar, but slightly larger, N. American Caecidotea communis) as they are used as bioassay organism.
Ostracods occur world wide, anywhere you collect Asellus, or Daphnia, from will also have Ostracods.
cheers Darrel
Thanks Darrel, I live in new york, I did some poking around and found this website http://www.aquaculturestore.com/ they have some available, I think Im going to purchase some from them, any Idea if I should get 100 or 1000 of each I have a 29g aquarium
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is there a chance of introducing a parasite or pathogen with feeding live foods?
Rico Suave
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o snap where in nyc u live at?? i reside in brooklyn
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Yes wild-caught or pond-grown plankton raised with fish might possibly carry fish parasites. So can frozen foods. Thats one advantage to culturing your own Daphnia, Moina, Ostracods, Copepods, Mosquito larvae, Grindal worms, etc - you can grow them in controlled conditions without fish and minimize the parasite risk. Bacteria can of course be anywhere, with or without fish.
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didn't think frozen foods could carry parasites, I've always felt frozen foods would be safe. thought they would all be dead from being frozen
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Most parasites have some kind of egg, spore, or cyst stage than can survive freezing, and I'm pretty sure most bacteria and viruses survive freezing too. Brine shrimp eggs stay viable for many years when frozen, as do human sperm. A potential problem with frozen foods (especially bloodworms) is you may not know how/where they were grown or what condition they were in at the time of freezing. They may have been raised as a fish-farm by-product, grown on fish waste and dead/culled fish, or they could have been dead several hours and growing bacteria before freezing.
BTW thats a really nice blue borellii in your avatar. Are you breeding those perchance?
BTW thats a really nice blue borellii in your avatar. Are you breeding those perchance?
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hum, i have a hold tank for plants maybe i should throw some live foods in it for the fish. when i buy frozen foods i always buy certain brands, that have good names . imo its always best to vary foods, dry and frozen. i kind of stay away from live because after i feed with it i always get a little worried about if i introduced something to the tank.
and thank you, no i don't breed apisto's I'm new to apistogramma's thats my boy blue, his GF is goldie. I've only had him a short time bought him from wet spot tropical's almost all the fish in his tank came from there. he quickly became a favorite fish, he's just so personable . i put my hands in he comes right to me. so the tank revolves around him now. he knows what he's doing ! lol
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Hi all,
I've never had any problem with any live food, but I wouldn't use live Blood-worms (Chironomid larvae), or Tubifex, that I hadn't collected myself. They occur in a lot of water bodies, but you only get really large numbers when organic pollution provides a food source, and reduces competition from less pollution tolerant organisms. Commercial collection of both Tubifex and Chironomids is going to come from places like sewage farms where you get huge population densities.
Same applies to frozen Blood-worms, but with the added risk involved in the freezing process.
Have a look at this thread: <http://www.apistogramma.com/forum/threads/fish-not-eating.12665/#post-69425>.
cheers Darrel
I've never had any problem with any live food, but I wouldn't use live Blood-worms (Chironomid larvae), or Tubifex, that I hadn't collected myself. They occur in a lot of water bodies, but you only get really large numbers when organic pollution provides a food source, and reduces competition from less pollution tolerant organisms. Commercial collection of both Tubifex and Chironomids is going to come from places like sewage farms where you get huge population densities.
Same applies to frozen Blood-worms, but with the added risk involved in the freezing process.
Have a look at this thread: <http://www.apistogramma.com/forum/threads/fish-not-eating.12665/#post-69425>.
cheers Darrel
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thank you Darrel
