Bill,
If you were inclined to stock scuds in your pond in Northern Ohio, which one would you choose?
Bill D.
I'm not sure which one I would stock. I tried the G.lacustris in my small weedy pond and they did not survive likely due to too warm of water. If doing it again I would order some from the eBay seller above or similar supplier, get them growing in a garbage can, swimming pool, or aquarium and then stock surplus in my pond. Evidently the guys selling them on ebay are able to grow them enough to sell their surplus.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gammarus-Shrimp-...e-/121295137554I wonder if, and doubt that, these guys know the correct species name for the scuds they are growing. If they give you a species name it could easily a guessed at name since scuds are difficult to correctly identify. There are academic Amphipod (scud, Gammaridae) experts in the US that can correctly identify scuds. It might be a good idea to try and track down where the supplier's brood came from. Hopefully their scuds are not exotic foreign species not native to the US. We don't need more exotic nuisance animals in our waters. Too many of them already. Evidently some of the aquaponics people have scuds in their system and the scuds are helping process the fish waste.
Here is what I found on the web of how to grow a culture of scuds.
1) Fill a plastic garbage can or an aquarium with aged water. Place about 5cm (2 inches) of dried leaves. Most tree leaves are good, but you should avoid oak leaves. Dried mulberry leaves are excellent. Place the container is a sunlit location. Aerate the water lightly. Scuds can survive winters outside in most of North America, but reproduce best at 20-30�C (68-86�F).
2) Add a starter culture of Gammarus; a few dozen will be enough.
3) Scuds feed on rotting leaves and microorganisms take grow on any surface. Provide adequate surface area to increase the population size by placing rolled up plastic screening in the culture container. The author uses plastic coated water cooling pads.
4) Within four weeks there will be enough scuds to harvest. Harvest by netting them with a fish net or by picking up the plastic screening or cooling pads and shaking over a bucket.
5) Feed the culture with additional leaves as they are consumed or decompose. Periodic, partial water changes are beneficial.
6) Cultures are long-lasting and sub-culturing is necessary only when production declines. Nevertheless, it is wise to maintain a replicate culture in case of a disaster.
I think the culture would need to be aerated to keep it from going anoxic, loosing the DO from the decomposing leaves and killing all the scuds thus his suggestion of a replicate or duplicate culture.
