# Daphnia, Copepods, Ostracods, and the like



## Connudatus (Oct 24, 2016)

Anyone have any experience with Daphnia, Copepods, or Ostracoda? Do they do any effective cleaning, glass or otherwise? If so does anyone know a reliable source where they can be purchased?

I had them in my tank previously, but I let my utricularia grow out of control and they slowly disappeared.


Also amphipods(scud), can they be useful?


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## jw.cS (Jan 13, 2005)

Connudatus said:


> Anyone have any experience with Daphnia, Copepods, or Ostracoda? Do they do any effective cleaning, glass or otherwise? If so does anyone know a reliable source where they can be purchased?
> 
> I had them in my tank previously, but I let my utricularia grow out of control and they slowly disappeared.
> 
> ...


None of the above are effective for glass cleaning. I enjoy them immensely as they add to the richness of the aquatic micro-ecosystem that I've created. :grin2:

DAPHNIA. I got mine from e.bay. They are best kept in a species tank without heavy filtration. Any fish will eat them. Any filter will suck up the rest. They filter food from the water column. A breeding population in a typical planted tank is highly unlikely: too clean, current too strong, fish too mean.

OSTRACODA/COPEPODS. Although fish will eat these detritivores, they'll happily live and breed in the substrate and filter. Without predators, you'll find them on calm areas of the glass, scraping for bacteria and between the substrate gobbling detritus.

AMPHIPODA (scuds). By far, the largest species among the ones you have listed. They are shredders. They scavenge and shred decaying organic matter for further processing by smaller animals. Far to big for nano fish to consume, they live and breed in my leaf litter tank; but I hardly ever see them. I only know they are there because they jump out of the way when I disturb the leaf litter bed and/or clean the filter. Reports indicate that they'll consume live plants as well but I have not noticed any measurable effect in either the leaf litter tank or fully planted tanks.


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

They're great fish food.


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## GrampsGrunge (Jun 18, 2012)

I like Seed Shrimp a lot. ( Ostracods ) There is one North American species with a pretty sky blue tinted shell.


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## Connudatus (Oct 24, 2016)

jw.cS said:


> None of the above are effective for glass cleaning. I enjoy them immensely as they add to the richness of the aquatic micro-ecosystem that I've created. :grin2:
> 
> DAPHNIA. I got mine from e.bay. They are best kept in a species tank without heavy filtration. Any fish will eat them. Any filter will suck up the rest. They filter food from the water column. A breeding population in a typical planted tank is highly unlikely: too clean, current too strong, fish too mean.
> 
> ...


Awesome info! I've been wanting to put amphipods in my tank for a long time, but have been worried they would eat my plants. My tank doesn't have any fish in it, so I'm not worried about them being eaten by anything. I am worried that once I put them in there there is no getting them out. Are there any other small Critters you could think of to add to the micro ecosystem of an aquarium?


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## theatermusic87 (Jun 22, 2014)

Connudatus said:


> Awesome info! I've been wanting to put amphipods in my tank for a long time, but have been worried they would eat my plants. My tank doesn't have any fish in it, so I'm not worried about them being eaten by anything. I am worried that once I put them in there there is no getting them out. Are there any other small Critters you could think of to add to the micro ecosystem of an aquarium?


freshwater limpets, they stay small about the size of a micro sinking pellet, and they act kind of like snails. they're got a bit of a shell on them so they're more immune to fish nibbling


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## Connudatus (Oct 24, 2016)

I have a few limpets!  I love those guys. They are all over my tank, a surprising number live in my substrate.

Can anyone else share there experiences with amphipods? I'm curious about them. Also where can I buy freshwater Copepods and Ostracods?


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## Tausendblatt (Oct 30, 2016)

I have amphipods. They are neat to watch, I haven't had much success with them breeding yet but I never had a designated tank for them until now. I have about 10 in a 60ish gallon tank temporarily, I plan on having a ten gallon tank just for them eventually.

There are topics about this on other forums I found with a quick search. I would recommend a sponge filter (or no filter) in a tank with very small fish or no fish. They do like hiding under leaf litter and allegedly eat pretty much any kind of gunk, debris or food you provide. Fishes might tear them apart even if they can't fit in their mouth. (Cyprinids would probably be safer theoretical tank mates than characins because they lack teeth)



Seed shrimp, copepods and daphnia will not survive in a tank with fish for long. I used a number of seed shrimp and daphnia to clear up greenwater in my aquarium once. They thrived for about a month, eventually there were thousands of them. When I reintroduced my fish they were gone in an hour. They will thrive easily in a tank without filtration or predators.

I heard that these sorts of creatures are especially sensitive to chlorine so be sure to age the water as well as dechlorinate it.

All of these creatures are readily available in a scoop of pond water. You might have to use a net to catch amphipods but it isn't hard. I'm not paranoid about introducing parasites, though.


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## Connudatus (Oct 24, 2016)

Just went to my local Creek today and caught a whole bunch, also got a ton of planaria. Sifted through everything with a turkey baster making sure not to get anything I didn't want took a long time, and I've only sifted through a quarter of it. Didn't get really any ostracods but I got a ton of everything else


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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

I just put a half flowbin (130gal) outside under a tree where it doesn't get sun... Over time, the rain water collected turned pink (good). Leaves fall in and rot all the time. When I scoop a 2-litre ice cream bucket trough there and pour it out through a net, I get like 2 teaspoons full of daphnia and copepods, and the bottom is covered in blood worms. I just use a few scoops from there to start of new ponds/bins. Never been able to keep them alive indoors though.

I used tap water with cheap dechlorinator to set up my bins. I add the microorganisms too. Doesn't seem to be a problem for them. I just scoop a few loads of water, and detritus from the bottom over into the new bins, I am adding abut one bucket of the old water to the new bins daily as they contain a large amount of zebra danio larvae, they are really good at cleaning water. The last batch of eggs are showing movement and should start hatching today. It really reduces the cost of raising fry by miles, and hopefully, the fully live diet will finally end all the tail deformities I've been getting. 

I don't think we have freshwater limpets over here... haven't seen any in over 30 years of keeping aquariums.


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