Culturing pods

[OnlyGenusCaps]

I'm beginning to dabble in culturing my first live food.  Amphipods.  Or "pods" to those who know them well.  I have a 13 gallon bucket and a starter colony.  They are...  Persisting, but not thriving.  If I am going to use them as live food (and my fish have shown LOTS of interest in eating them!), then I'll need a fairly dense culture.  Does anyone have an tips for culturing pods?  Does anyone culture them as food for their fish?  I know Daphnia are more popular, but I think pods might offer some sport for the fish.  Advice welcome.  Thanks! 

[eatyourpeas]

Do you have an air stone in the bucket? They need air as well as a good supply of greens like hornwort and mulm. I do not have a heater for mine (they are outside). I feed them algae and Hikari Crab Cuisine pellets (the saltwater pods like them better than the freshwater ones, maybe that is why they are about a half inch in size). You'll need a light for the plants as well.

Can't think of anything else I do... 🤨

[OnlyGenusCaps]

Thanks for the reply!  Judging by your reply I think I have 2 big issues right now. 

1: no plants.  I tried to remedy that today by grabbing some local Potamogeton praelongus when I was at the lake today (I really quite like Potamogeton species).  Fortunately, I managed to notice a quagga mussel (Dreissena rostriformis) attached to the stem of one of the plants; reminding me why local collection of plants here is not always the best idea.  I have plants on order, so I was just being a bit impatient, though I think I'd like to gather some Potamogeton and copper them to clear them of mussels so I can use them in the future.

2: not an established system.  I got the pods in a fit of wanting to grow some live food.  I was unprepared.  I'd never do this with fish.  Indeed, it's rare for me to buy a tank without knowing exactly what will go into it when ready - often months down the road.  But, for some reason I thought I could do this with the pods.  That seems to be a bad idea.

Today I modified their tub so it is on the same semi-automated watering system (full auto coming in a few months), which should help with water quality.  I'm going to start feeding them kitchen scrap veg.  Hopefully this will turn my colony around.  Turns out I like pods.  Not just as feeders, but just on their own they are pretty cool. 

[eatyourpeas]

On 7/18/2021 at 6:21 PM, OnlyGenusCaps said:

Not just as feeders, but just on their own they are pretty cool. 

They are goofy little critters. Very entertaining, always frantic, and seem to swim with no sense of direction. Any which way is fair game to them. 🤪

I hope you can get them to recover. 🙂