I went back in my old emails and I correct myself. I did order from both organizations. If I recall they sent out different species (at least they were very different in size) The Prairie Management source (Kyle) said he was shipping gammarus lacustris. I can't remember which species came from Goliad.
Both outfits answered questions well, shipped as promised, and I had no losses in shipping even though due to snow blocking our area the shipment was delayed. If I recall the Prairie source shipped from Minnesota so you may want to ask about shipment time. Something strange happened in my tracking where it went from Minnesota then on to Missouri for some reason and then back to MI. I had my batch shipped in end of February.
Probably due to hungry perch and lack of cover I have none left. I only stocked about 2000 and I needed probably 10 times that much. The seller said that YP love scuds and that is the reason they grow so well in Nebraska and other areas that have tons of scuds naturally.
Charles at Goliad farms shipped me a batch from Texas. Shipping was like $40 so it cost me a lot more for his scuds. He was very helpful and encouraged me to set up an indoor tank to keep a self-sustaining population going. His scuds were different in size so probably a different species. He said that with an aquarium and some starter vegetation I could take 100 and turn into thousands in a couple of months.
he mentioned using mulberry leaves, hogwort, lettuce, to give scuds something to hold on to. They didn't eat the leaves but ate micro-organisms on the leaves. Too fine of bubbles from the aeration would get trapped under the scud carapace and they would float to the top and not do well. Water needed to be kept a 'tea color' but not white or milky. Avoid leaves with tannins in them.
Gave other instructions if folks are interested I can combine the emails and repost here.
I tried everything he advised and they did not do well in my home made tank. I didn't have any way to check water quality or to do water exchange. I did provide aeration. Likewise, I assume they became fish snacks and didn't sustain in my pond that is lacking adequate vegetation.
I stocked these at ice out in 2015, about the same number 2000 or so.
I might have pictures somewhere. I think if you would ask the sellers they would be happy to email you some pictures of the size of the scuds before you buy.
found a picture of the ones from Goliad Farms, stocked in April 2015. Not the best picture for determining size but you get the idea.
