Tiny Fish that Rock!
- Thread starter Zack Wilson
- Start date
thanks for the link.
What are scuds? Throwing in a pair of ramshorns wouldn't be to bad I would have assumed that the baby ramshorns would be too big. but I certainly won't mind another invert minding the algae.
I don't have much excess space to raise live foods outside of the tank but I'm kinda hoping that they would also go after baby cherry shirmp to keep the population in check.
would the cherry shrimp and ramshorns be sufficient live foods? I would of course suppliment with the other foods I mentioned.
I know others have fed baby cherry shrimp to their pygmies with good success. If your cherries and snails produce sufficient numbers of young, there's no reason they couldn't provide a dietary mainstay for the pygmies.
Scuds are freshwater amphipods such as Gammarus, Crangonyx, and Hyalella. They look vaguely like tiny shrimp (1/4-1/2" long), are usually curved into a C-shape, and swim erratically. You can usually get a bunch of them by sweeping a net through submersed vegetation, picking them off submerged wood, or sifting through leafpack in still or sluggish waters. They thrive in planted tanks, feeding on mulm and fish food scraps, and will produce lots of young for your pygmies to eat.
Scuds are freshwater amphipods such as Gammarus, Crangonyx, and Hyalella. They look vaguely like tiny shrimp (1/4-1/2" long), are usually curved into a C-shape, and swim erratically. You can usually get a bunch of them by sweeping a net through submersed vegetation, picking them off submerged wood, or sifting through leafpack in still or sluggish waters. They thrive in planted tanks, feeding on mulm and fish food scraps, and will produce lots of young for your pygmies to eat.
I've actually kept some yellow shrimp (same species as cherrys) with my pygmys in one tank. I can only guess that the sunfish were eating the baby shrimps. I continually saw berried female shrimp, but never shrimplets. So, I would guess that they would make a suitable foodsource. I never saw any baby sunfish either, so I think the predation was mutual. Now that I seperated both, I have babies from both groups.
aesthetics is really important to my wife. (the tank is in the bathroom and she's going for a spa theme so the tank has to match) so I probably won't go with scuds. The snails and shrimp sound like a good starting off point. now just the tasks of finding a reputable seller and of course establishong ramshorns and rcs communities. and growing out the java moss.
I don't like the idea of losing fry to shrimp but I suppose turnabout is fair play.
How long before adding the fish should I add the snails and shirimp to ensure a well stocked food supply for them? (with FD/ frozen suppliments of course)
I don't like the idea of losing fry to shrimp but I suppose turnabout is fair play.
How long before adding the fish should I add the snails and shirimp to ensure a well stocked food supply for them? (with FD/ frozen suppliments of course)
I adore little fish - these are some of the cutest little fish I've ever seen. Good luck with them and keep posting. What kind of environment do they require? What temp, type of plants etc.?
