Microfauna

[CJs Aquatics]

How does one introduce microfauna into there tanks, as in what are some of the approaches to have it establish as a constant food source, and how do you achieve the most variety? 

[Biotope Biologist]

I dump microfauna into a relatively “new” tank. Still needs some buildup and stuff and takes a few months for the population to take off.

 

I trust you could probably get micro fauna from buying plants. But I bought mine from a lab. And introduced some mud teaming with aquatic earthworms and other “goodies.”
 

Microfauna is probably the least picky of any tank inhabitants. They are content eating algae, decaying plant matter, and mulm. 

[nabokovfan87]

Easiest way is probably buying plants and stuff comes with it.

Goliad farms sells things like shrimp and snails and they do sell "goodies" that you can add. It's a mixed bag and theres no telling what you're going to get.

Their blog is also a good resource for information.

[CJs Aquatics]

@Biotope Biologist do you search for specific cultures and introduce them or is there a specific item you add to your tanks which you’ve noticed seems to carry more organisms? I would be curious to know your new tank set up process, I will be attempting to add to already established tanks 

@nabokovfan87 does goliad sell to hobbyists I thought they only sold wholesale to brick and mortar?

[Biotope Biologist]

The lab in question I buy from is just one of the wholesalers that sell lab vials for students. It really doesn’t matter what vial I buy. I seem to get a plethora regardless. Fun to look at under a microscope too!
 

And I am a slow tank setup person. I suppose akin to the gaining popularity technique in reefing, of slowly adding your micros and macros before adding display fish. 
 

I have no doubt you could establish a micro fauna population in an aged aquarium. Some smaller macros are nice to have too like rhabdocoela, hydra, and gammarus. 

[CJs Aquatics]

On 4/26/2023 at 11:44 PM, Biotope Biologist said:

The lab in question I buy from is just one of the wholesalers that sell lab vials for students. It really doesn’t matter what vial I buy. I seem to get a plethora regardless. Fun to look at under a microscope too!
 

And I am a slow tank setup person. I suppose akin to the gaining popularity technique in reefing, of slowly adding your micros and macros before adding display fish. 
 

I have no doubt you could establish a micro fauna population in an aged aquarium. Some smaller macros are nice to have too like rhabdocoela, hydra, and gammarus. 

I’m not familiar with the first one I will look that up, my thought are after introducing a bag of microfauna I purchased the other day and honestly feeling like most of it was consumed by the community that I would try again and eighter purchase things separately and slowly introduce them in ziss breeder boxes where they have a chance to establish a bit before I release them, or do the same with another purchased package that contains multiple kinds 

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/26/2023 at 8:35 PM, CJs Aquatics said:

@nabokovfan87 does goliad sell to hobbyists I thought they only sold wholesale to brick and mortar?

They do I believe.

[Expectorating_Aubergine]

Buy pond plants. They are always grown outside. Especially anything that's potted or floaters with big roots. They are LOADED with microfauna.

[Guppysnail]

I buy cultures and grow them out. When I introduce them to tanks I do so just before I turn lights out. I squirt them in corners near substrate and behind objects in the back. Then turn lights out. By morning some find hiding spots away from predators and get a foothold in tanks. 
I have never had luck introducing in the day time as my fish will relentlessly hunt them. I also have no luck just dumping cultures in. 

[OnlyGenusCaps]

On 4/26/2023 at 9:45 PM, CJs Aquatics said:

How does one introduce microfauna into there tanks

This is an excellent question!  It is also a hotly debated topic on the saltier side of the hobby.  Without going into a dissertation length diatribe on the modes and means of doing so, I'll say that there are not a lot of different ways to do so on the FW side.  Finding sources for microfauna that have been cultured as @Guppysnail and @Biotope Biologist have done is a wonderful method.  But it's not straightforward.  You could also culture microfauna via methods for feeding very small fry, or how it is done for primary school courses by soaking straw in water.  But these are not specifically controlled methods.  I've noticed eBay vendors beginning to sell various micro-crustaceans, so that's also a method.  But currently, there is no out of the box solution for the FW hobbyist the way there is on the marine side.  But it's the right approach, so keep at it! 

[CJs Aquatics]

@OnlyGenusCaps I’d love to pick your brain about some of what you found on eBay/ the straw method and things it yields 

[OnlyGenusCaps]

Sure thing!  I'll quickly summarize here, and if you want further details, I'd be happy to chat via DM.  That said, the person who I know of who has been best with specific additions of microfauna is @Biotope Biologist.  So, you might rather hear from him.

So, I was able to get species specific ostracods and amphipods from a vendor in eBay.  They were awesome additions!  Once fish are introduced, they seem like they have been obliterated.  But once I have pulled the fish from any of my tanks, there are the pods!  They seem to keep algae under better control, and improve fry survivorship dramatically!  My only complaint is that I can't get benthic copepods of the family Canthocamptidae.  But, I hope to isolate and test species for aquarium suitability this summer.

The straw method is pretty easy.  Grab some straw (organic best), and soak it in a jar (add an airline, but not stone, to improve the results) with water and in the sun.  In a week or so, check out the microbes you have under a microscope.  It'll be a lot!  Pour into an established aquarium (having some mulm helps loads here!) and let them do what they do.  Helps with decomposition, and again with fry survivorship. 

[Schuyler]

I'm by no means as experienced as others who have commented but I had a small shrimp tank that I would add botanicals collected outside along with kale and green beans I got from my garden.

After a few months I noticed a bunch of little critters. I put them in jars with algae and random bits of plant from my tank. I now have a few jars in windows with random seed shrimp, daphnia, cyclops, etc. I use them for seeding tanks.