• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

Journey to the microcosm - the secret things living in your aquarium

Hi Darrel,

Absolutely superb! Thanks for posting this. It would be good if you could find the one for freshwater tanks.

JPC
 
WOW Darrel ! That is amazing ! I would love to see one for Freshwater Aquaria.

x Polly
 
I've always kept my eye out for anyone selling freshwater copepods or lottle critters like that but never can find them... Other than maybe scuds 🤢. Tint copepods always seem to appear once the aquarium is pretty established though, just wish I could bulster it for my nano fish.
 
Hi all,
I've always kept my eye out for anyone selling freshwater copepods
I've never seen them either. My guess is that they aren't easy to culture in commercial amounts.

There is a protocol for using the copepod Bryocamptus zschokkei <"as a bioassay organism">, but I'm not sure where you could get a culture from.

The easiest way to find any Cladocerans, Copepods and Ostracods is to get a plankton sample from near the bottom, in a weedy pond, with reasonably water quality, but I understand that isn't an option for every-one.
Other than maybe scuds
I culture <"Crangonyx pseudogracilis & Asellus aquaticus">, they are easy to keep and smaller than <"Hyalella azteca">.

You are more than welcome to a "starter pack", once this is all over. I can usually find a fair range of Copepods in <"these buckets">.

cheers Darrel
 
You are more than welcome to a "starter pack", once this is all over. I can usually find a fair range of Copepods in <"these buckets">.

cheers Darrel
[/QUOTE]

I'll have to remember to drop you a message. Sounds interesting.
 
Hi all,
I'll have to remember to drop you a message. Sounds interesting.
I found when I was sending people moss they were subsequently getting Asellus in their tanks , and I've found most of these small crustaceans travel pretty well in damp moss.
We used to deal with Blades at work, and a couple of times they sent us something close to what we had ordered, but not exactly right. I contacted them mainly to tell them that their cultures were contaminated, and they replied by telling me that they didn't culture most of their organisms and that the ones they had sent us were "wild collected" and somewhere on their website there is a disclaimer saying you might not get what you ordered, so it was basically "tough luck". So I no longer deal with them.

So when you pay them £50 for Lumbriculus etc. they then send their intern out to fish some wormy looking things out of a pond for you.

cheers Darrel
 
Love it.

I’ve recently come to appreciate our bacterial assemblage so much more than I ever did.

The part that continues to get me is that the protists + archaea have to come from somewhere ... so are they in the air? In my tap water? In my RO water?

All of the above is the answer - I think - and that messes with me.

Is the maturation process then just time it takes to let these micro organisms multiply or does evolution happen in real time :nailbiting:.
I think it’s both!!
Blast you biology!

Josh
 
Hi everyone, I’ve always been a big fan of adding all sorts of tiny critters to many of my tanks. I think it adds another dimension of interest, and can help create a more natural in environment. But what I love the most, is you actually get to see far more interesting behaviour from the fish. Especially first thing in the morning, I can actually see my fish picking tiny organisms from the water column. And watching a glow light tetra stalking something tiny on a plant leaf, is something I’ll never get bored with.
At the moment I’ve got various Ostracods, Copepods, Sphaerium, Asellus, Gammarus, Acroloxus, tubifex and other worms, various snails etc. It’s surprising what will survive in a densely planted tank without being hunted to extinction.
 

Attachments

  • 669EF197-7200-4F17-B512-E755BB010EC5.jpeg
    669EF197-7200-4F17-B512-E755BB010EC5.jpeg
    35.1 KB · Views: 229
Hi all,
At the moment I’ve got various Ostracods
Your Ostracods are doing very well, judging from the photo.
Ostracods, Copepods, Sphaerium, Asellus, Gammarus, Acroloxus, tubifex and other worms, various snails etc
I've never tried Sphaerium (or Pisidium), next time I encounter them I might try a few. A few people have been successful with <"Theodoxus fluviatilis">, but I'm pretty sure they need harder water. I have Acroloxus, although they tend to fluctuate in abundance.

Your Gammarus may be the <"very similar Crangonyx">, they are a lot more tolerant of low oxygen and higher temperatures.

cheers Darrel
 
Your Ostracods are doing very well, judging from the photo.
Yes they’re amazing creatures, the funny thing is unlike most of the other critters these just appeared one day.
They’re probably the best scavengers you could possibly have, absolutely nothing goes to waste.
I've never tried Sphaerium (or Pisidium), next time I encounter them I might try a few. A few people have been successful with <"Theodoxus fluviatilis">, but I'm pretty sure they need harder water. I have Acroloxus, although they tend to fluctuate in abundance.
Orb shells seem to do rather well in very unfiltered or lightly filtered tanks, I’ve had them reproducing through numerous generations in some tanks. You don’t see much of them until one decides to climb the silicon.
I love Theodoxus, but unfortunately gave mine away a while back. Trying to get them again, but sadly without success :( .Yes they‘re very much hard water creatures, which is perfect for Essex. I’m also on the hunt for Ancylus fluviatilis, as they’re supposed to grow larger than Acroloxus.
Your Gammarus may be the <"very similar Crangonyx">, they are a lot more tolerant of low oxygen and higher temperatures.
I’m not sure, I’ve not tried to get a proper identification on them. But interestingly they’re one of the things that haven’t done so well. So maybe they’re correct.
Another interesting creature I’ve been trying is Bithynia. I have quite a few unfiltered tanks so was curious to see if their filterfeeding could be observed. Not sure so far, but they do seem to require good oxygen levels.
 
Hi everyone, I’ve always been a big fan of adding all sorts of tiny critters to many of my tanks. I think it adds another dimension of interest, and can help create a more natural in environment. But what I love the most, is you actually get to see far more interesting behaviour from the fish. Especially first thing in the morning, I can actually see my fish picking tiny organisms from the water column. And watching a glow light tetra stalking something tiny on a plant leaf, is something I’ll never get bored with.
At the moment I’ve got various Ostracods, Copepods, Sphaerium, Asellus, Gammarus, Acroloxus, tubifex and other worms, various snails etc. It’s surprising what will survive in a densely planted tank without being hunted to extinction.
How did you go about adding the populations? Were they just bought online?
 
How did you go about adding the populations? Were they just bought online?
Hi Chris,
I used to sell pond plants as part of my living, subsequently I’ve got dozens of ponds. So I just collect stuff if and when I see it. You wouldn’t believe the density and diversity of life, you can literally find in a couple of gallons of water. I think as aquarists this is often overlooked.
 
Hi all,
Trying to get them again, but sadly without success
Gerard (@frothhelmet) had some, I'll cc. him in.
the funny thing is unlike most of the other critters these just appeared one day.
They have persistent resting cysts, which blow about in the dust etc. and then re-animate in contact with liquid water. My guess would be that all water bodies (that are more persistent than a standard puddle) will soon get Ostracods in them. In the right circumstances populations will build up really quickly.
Another interesting creature I’ve been trying is Bithynia..............I’m also on the hunt for Ancylus fluviatilis,
I'll keep any eye out for you. Both of them should be reasonably easy to find. If you have access to a stream where you have pebbles/cobbles with moss growing on them, the stones are very likely to have Ancyclus on them as well.

cheers Darrel
 
Last edited:
N
Hi Chris,
I used to sell pond plants as part of my living, subsequently I’ve got dozens of ponds. So I just collect stuff if and when I see it. You wouldn’t believe the density and diversity of life, you can literally find in a couple of gallons of water. I think as aquarists this is often overlooked.
Next daft question then...

What's your recommendations on methods of collection?
 
What's your recommendations on methods of collection?
If you have access to a pond, collect some water from it, then drag a daphnia net through the mud, Add the contents to the water and leave it to settle for a few hours. Then just observe to see what you’ve got. But probably the best place to look is around the plant roots of pond plants. If for example if you lift a potted water lily out of an established pond, you’ll be amazed at what comes with it.
If you want to see something really mind blowing, fill a two gallon bucket with water, add a handful of garden soil. Leave in full sun for a few months. Many of these critters will just arrive naturally.
 
Will definately be doing more of this.

I've been seeding the substrate with tubifex worms already since starting this new system.

I've always really loved the amount of micro fauna in marine tanks that come in with the live rock and would love to see more in my freshwater systems.


Do you find stuff from UK ponds manages to survive/thrive in Tropical tanks?
 
Back
Top