Scuds: What are your thoughts?

[BeetleLann]

Hello CARE Friends,

Alanna from Canada here.

I'm still quite new to the hobby, and I'm searching to learn more about scuds. I'm posting on this forum because this community is the most receptive and knowledgeable that I've across! I've done some reading on scuds here and there, and overall, I do not think they are harmful to an aquarium. However, I think I have an infestation in my 10 gallon planted betta tank. They're all up in the substrate and filter media. I do not like them, per se, but I feel bad killing them. I have been reducing feeding to try and cut back on the amount of waste they could be feeding on, but they seem to be thriving.

What do you guys think about scuds? Any recommendations on how I should handle this situation? Thanks :)

[Scapexghost]

New tanks will often get population spikes in snails, scuds, planaria and such but over time the populations will settle down

[Guppysnail]

They are harmless and act as a good cleanup crew if you do not have shrimp or snails. Your betta may even be snacking on a few as a live food source. I love this forum because no one is panicky over natural things but they do provide useful info on those things so folks can make educated decisions. 

[eatyourpeas]

On 11/13/2021 at 9:44 AM, BeetleLann said:

What do you guys think about scuds? Any recommendations on how I should handle this situation? Thanks 🙂

You can leave them be. If they start going after the plants they could be problematic, but chances are the population will diminish if there is not enough food.

[Odd Duck]

I would consider slowing down on feeding the Betta and see if that will help him develop an appetite for scuds.  Most Bettas like them and they are an excellent food source for them along with environmental enrichment.  I don’t see many scuds in my Betta’s tank and he’s spoiled enough he doesn’t even eat the dwarf shrimp I have in there!  I’m sure he snacks on the scuds.

If you’re getting that many, you’re likely feeding much more than your Betta needs.  Start be feeding about half as much for a while and see how he does.  Monitor his profile from above.  He should be sleek without being skinny.  Have a slightly rounded tummy after eating, not a big bulge.  The scud population should decrease fairly quickly if he starts eating them and they’re getting less leftovers to eat.

[Torrey]

The only problem I have ever had with scuds, was when I got sick and my colony crashed.

Bettas will eat them, and they are quite nutritious. Apparently some bettas will overeat on them, and get constipated. Doesn't sound like your betta is in that camp.

They are a fabulous clean up crew. If you are seeing large numbers, there's a distinct possibility that you are overfeeding.

To maintain my colonies, I feed ~100 scuds in a 5 gallon jar twice what I fed my betta.

To boost growth, I feed 2x a day until I harvest a bunch, and then return to feeding leaves from outdoors, and 2x what I fed the betta (as a reference point).

I maintain 2 scuds colonies for seeding new tanks, and for collecting baby amphopods (scuds) as a live treat for fry once they are big enough to eat them. It's precious watching them (fry) chase their dinner!

It's equally satisfying watching the amphopods in their colony tanks swimming up and down the water column, cleaning plants, and eating the older leaves. If the calcium levels in the water start to drop, the scuds will start eating the hornwort. I have learned that is a good indicator to check calcium levels. 

They are a pain in the butt if they make their way into a shrimp breeding colony, as adult scuds will snack on shrimplets and will swarm shrimp if they see the shrimp as competition for food.

Otherwise, they are a free clean up crew.

[BeetleLann]

On 11/13/2021 at 7:01 PM, Guppysnail said:

They are harmless and act as a good cleanup crew if you do not have shrimp or snails. Your betta may even be snacking on a few as a live food source. I love this forum because no one is panicky over natural things but they do provide useful info on those things so folks can make educated decisions. 

I do have one Nerite snail! It seems fine when I see it (it finds all the nooks and crannies). How would I know if the scuds are harming it? thank you!!

On 11/13/2021 at 10:19 PM, Torrey said:

The only problem I have ever had with scuds, was when I got sick and my colony crashed.

Bettas will eat them, and they are quite nutritious. Apparently some bettas will overeat on them, and get constipated. Doesn't sound like your betta is in that camp.

They are a fabulous clean up crew. If you are seeing large numbers, there's a distinct possibility that you are overfeeding.

To maintain my colonies, I feed ~100 scuds in a 5 gallon jar twice what I fed my betta.

To boost growth, I feed 2x a day until I harvest a bunch, and then return to feeding leaves from outdoors, and 2x what I fed the betta (as a reference point).

I maintain 2 scuds colonies for seeding new tanks, and for collecting baby amphopods (scuds) as a live treat for fry once they are big enough to eat them. It's precious watching them (fry) chase their dinner!

It's equally satisfying watching the amphopods in their colony tanks swimming up and down the water column, cleaning plants, and eating the older leaves. If the calcium levels in the water start to drop, the scuds will start eating the hornwort. I have learned that is a good indicator to check calcium levels. 

They are a pain in the butt if they make their way into a shrimp breeding colony, as adult scuds will snack on shrimplets and will swarm shrimp if they see the shrimp as competition for food.

Otherwise, they are a free clean up crew.

Thank you!  I did have assorted neocaridina shrimp, but the colony died off about a month or 2 ago which was very sad. I introduced some new members and they must have brought in a bacteria or something. They all died within a couple of weeks. Now it's only the scuds, Mop my Betta and Slug the nerite snail who are left!

[Jawjagrrl]

I had one sneak in with a potted plant from a fish farm in FL. They are quite tiny and I don't have too terribly many of them, but the tank they are in is the cleanest of the three. They are good food for any carnivores you may have like bettas, etc. Mine are in a shrimp and endler setup and don't seem to bother anyone. They also can't transmit any disease to fish that I am aware of.

I had not heard of them going after shrimplets, but I guess I will soon find out as I have at least one pregnant one right now. I was likely overfeeding since I added my shrimp to a pretty new tank. The adult shrimp may very well be eating the juveniles as I have only ever seen 1 adult in my tank. So far my experience has been positive, and it's pretty cool to see the occasional flash of movement when one zips across the tank (which is rare now with the busy endlers in there).

[Guppysnail]

On 11/14/2021 at 12:05 PM, BeetleLann said:

How would I know if the scuds are harming it? thank you!!

They will not harm your nerite. They eat leftover food etc. nerites eat vegetarian algae and such. 😁

[Ryan F]

Following this topic. I recently got a "breeder pack" of RCS and there appears to be one or two scuds in there with them. I might harvest them and drop them in the main tank for the betta and neons to hunt. I don't want them to mess with the shrimp. I've had a hard time maintaining a colony and I haven't figured out what I'm doing wrong, adding another variable to the mix is not desirable.

[BeetleLann]

I still have the scuds! Betta will eat them if I feed them to him, but the majority live in the filter media. I have a Whisper internal 10-30, so he can't get in there to eat them. But since my shrimp colony died several months back, I guess the scuds are my new pets hahaha

Hope everyone who reads this is doing well! And I hope your tanks are doing well too!

[Patrick_G]

I wonder if a Kuhli loach or three would help with the scuds? It seems like the kind of food source they’d enjoy and I think everyone should try keeping them since they’re fun and interesting. 

[Jawjagrrl]

On 12/5/2021 at 6:19 PM, Patrick_G said:

I wonder if a Kuhli loach or three would help with the scuds? It seems like the kind of food source they’d enjoy and I think everyone should try keeping them since they’re fun and interesting. 

That's my one tank that doesn't have any scuds and I wish I did instead of the shrimp tank - I've seen a number of the adults that are larger than I expected and love the floating plants. The endlers are ignoring them (I never ever see them eat). A few hitched a ride on some plants I moved to my betta/rasbora tank and the betta is enjoying hunting for them. Bet the kuhlis would have a field day! Mine are getting quite fat on something in their tank though, maybe small bladder snails?

 

Edited December 6, 2021 by Jawjagrrl

[eatyourpeas]

On 12/5/2021 at 3:19 PM, Patrick_G said:

I wonder if a Kuhli loach or three would help with the scuds? It seems like the kind of food source they’d enjoy and I think everyone should try keeping them since they’re fun and interesting. 

No scuds in this tank, and it does not seem to affect Pad. He looks like a sausage!

[Odd Duck]

😆 Pad is probably WHY there’s no scuds in that tank.  They’re all in his belly!

[Patrick_G]

My Kuhli is pretty fat and suspiciously I never see any baby Cherry shrimp in that tank. I really want there to be another explanation but sadly I think “coolio” is the prime suspect. 

[Goldie Blue]

I don't mean to hijack your post, but I am curious if this is a scud. I have googled them and just want to be sure. These things showed up in my substrate about 2 weeks ago and there's quite a lot of them, along with a myriad of other problems I am trying to solve. 

[StevesFishTanks]

Looks like a big scud to me

On 12/8/2021 at 5:12 PM, Goldie Blue said:

I don't mean to hijack your post, but I am curious if this is a scud. I have googled them and just want to be sure. These things showed up in my substrate about 2 weeks ago and there's quite a lot of them, along with a myriad of other problems I am trying to solve.