Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Creating the food chain Stocking Scuds and Shrimp

Pond in western N.Y., one acre, 9 feet deep.

Would like to stock with scuds and fresh water shrimp. I would like to know the best place to buy the northern acclimated variety of these two and when would be the best time of year to introduce them to my pond. The pond has bluegill, bass and perch and is about 18 yrs. old.

Tyler

I have ordered scuds from prairieland management. They sell a lot of useful things for pond life.

Prairie Land Management

Another place, although I have not ordered from them:

Goliad Farms

Have ordered from them before? and if were you happy with the results?

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.

Pardon my ignorance, but how are scuds different from PK shrimp? I've already stocked PK shrimp in Am pondweed & chara, so would scuds help or hurt?

I checked Goliad site & found a fascinating discussion on impact of some tree leaves on fish & chicken reproduction. Tea can be a very bad thing! https://goliadfarms.com/teas-fish-and-chickens/

Dono posted a link to these from Goliad. Since then I have seen them referenced elsewhere and in those references they were identified as Hyallela Azteca. This makes sense because Hyallela Azteca is the most widely distributed amphipod in North America ranging from Central America and Caribbean to the Artic tree line (which includes Texas). Wonder how they got to the Caribbean Islands?

I think this is a good addition to the food chain. For any pond that develops muck from a lot of terrestrial leaf inputs, definitely a good add with benefits beyond the forage.

With regard to it in comparison to the PK shrimp. I wouldn't expect these to attain as large a biomass or annual production as the PK. But I could be wrong about this. I think they would be most prevalent in the detritus, something PK will forage but primarily when other foods are in shorter supply. They can proliferate in the warm water conditions of the Deep South.

Thanks! Like PK shrimp, they seem quite hardy. Definitely smaller than PK, which means scuds could be forage for smaller fish. Unless someone here can come up with a good reason not to add scuds, I'll probably do it.

Anthropic…curious if ended up adding scuds in your pond.

I have talked to Kyle at PLM and am planning on adding a couple gallons to our 1 acre pond in Iowa as soon as they can get out and harvest this winter. It’s been so mild that the ice hasn’t allowed them to harvest yet this year (2024). We have YP, W, SMB and RES.

In my research, scuds are a win win. They feed in decaying plants, animals and fish waste….and even algae. And they reproduce well if they have enough micro cover to hide in so they don’t get eaten right away.

I’m going to give it a shot to see if we can get another forage base established for our perch and walleye. If it works in Devil’s Lake to produce perch and walleye that they’re known for, it’s worth a shot.

I would like to try stocking both scuds and grass shrimp again. Have an old shallow pond with no fish. What supplier would you recommend for South Central illinois (usually a little ice on ponds in winter but not much)?

Does PLM have a new website? I was on there this spring and it didn't seem like they had anything in stock.

I was recently in touch with Kyle at PLM. They only collect and ship in the winter, and only if there is enough ice to do so safely (hence the limited availability last winter). He doesn't take pre-orders, so he suggested checking back with him in January.

Thanks for the update.

Is he selling them mainly for people to put in their aquariums? If not, I would have guessed that putting crustaceans in a pond during January was NOT the right time. (But I have been wrong plenty of times in the past!)

Anyone know if you can POND STOCK scuds in January with acceptable mortality?

If the answer is "yes", then stocking them during times when the fish are barely feeding could allow many more scuds to acclimate to their new surroundings and survive until their next breeding season. Which should be a huge benefit in getting them established in a pond.

FR , IIRC, maybe not , in the archives this winter stocking was discussed, same surprise. But yes, stocked in winter. very old thread. He has special nets for collecting shrimp with good ice.

Thanks for the additional information.

I just wanted to keep this thread going because we still frequently get questions on the forum about stocking scuds and ghost shrimp in ponds.

If catching them in cold winter water is the easiest, AND that is a good time to transport and stock them, maybe a few more people can experiment with catching them in a friend's pond and establishing a population in their own pond.