Raising Amphipods

[almondsaz]

I have an interesting question to pose. Is there a better way to grow amphipods than the following?

I am planning to use a 10 gallon spare aquarium with a HOB filter with some LR rubble in it - nothing else.

I will use a low wattage PC light strip over the tank.

Tank will be bare bottom

Tank will have about 1/2 pound of Ulva Macro in it

I plan to add 400 amphipods (Sunday)

I have a Koralia Nano that I could add, but not sure I need to.

For food there is the obvious Ulva but I do know from my reading that the love fish food as well. Does anyone have any suggestions to improve this setup?

I have been buying 400+ about every month and think I should just grow my own and save some money. I have a lot of mysid in my 125 DT/35 gal Sump, but haven't seen the explosion I have been hoping for in the amphipod population.

[CarmieJo]

I think you could probably just use a NO fluorescent strip light unless you have the PC just taking up space in a box of aquarium parts. I think I would add some LR in the tank too. I see my amphipods darting in and out of holes in the rock. I think you will need to strike a balance between feeding and water quality.

[almondsaz]

Thanks Carmie....I think your right about the balance between feeding and water quality. I think it is worth the try. I add them to my sump which has a fuge - sand bed - live rock and a pile of LR rubble and I don't see any appreciable growth. Thank you for your input.

[CarmieJo]

How much flow is through your fuge?

[lance]

I been breeding amphipod's for year's all I use is a 10 gallon tank, 15 pounds live rock, 10 pounds sand and cheato in there along with some coarse filter sponge's. I feed a special mixture of food twice a day and have had astonishing result's. Temp is around 79F salinity 1.022

lance

[almondsaz]

Lance: do you use Ulva or other macro in your pod tank? When you say special food, is that a mixture you developed or is it one that is commercially available?

Since the tank is only 10g, how often do you do water changes?

[almondsaz]

Carmie: not sure how to tell what the flow through the fuge is. How would I measure that?

[saxman]

almondsaz,

if you are indeed raising amphipods (as in gammarids), they are predatory, so don't count on them eating any kind of algae. they'll need fish food or the equivalent. Renee has actually got a pic of one eating shrimp off of a feeding stick!

[almondsaz]

Greg: really appreciate all your input. I will put the Ulva in the sump and add a little bit to the nanocube. I have the sand in it the saltwater and the pods come tomorrow. The good thing about the nano is that it does add oxygen to the water and I understand that the amphipods require quite a bit. Again, thank you for the help!

[almondsaz]

Here is a pic of the setup. Had a 12 gallon nanocube laying around, added the saltwater and sand - later added the rock. Tomorrow add the pods. Will also add some macro tomorrow before the pods arrive

[CarmieJo]

Keep us posted on how it goes.

[almondsaz]

I will, I am keeping my fingers crossed. Never had much luck with this tank. Carmie: do you think I need to get a nano skimmer?

Carmie: did you see my question about "How do I measure the flow through my fuge?"

[Iron E]

Does all of your water cycle through the fuge? Or is there a bypass? Do you know the GPH of your return pump?

[almondsaz]

my return pump is a Eheim 1262 which is rated at 900 gph - I haven't calculated the head loss on it. All the water eventually cycles through the fuge. Starts out dropping into a LR Rubble corner container, goes through the Protein skimmmer section then the fuge and then the return.

[Iron E]

my return pump is a Eheim 1262 which is rated at 900 gph - I haven't calculated the head loss on it. All the water eventually cycles through the fuge. Starts out dropping into a LR Rubble corner container, goes through the Protein skimmmer section then the fuge and then the return.

That Model has 590 GPH at 6 feet of head. So, I would guess that you've got at least that flowing through your fuge, if not closer to 700 GPH.

[CarmieJo]

I don't think you would want a skimmer for the amphipods. That just gives them another pump to get sucked up in. Sorry I forgot to answer the flow question. Flow through your fuge is going to be the same as through your sump in this instance. My setup makes it the same for me too. It is actually desirable to use a slower flow through the fuge than the sump. I think you can do this in a number of ways. Plumbing is not my forte but I think you could T off the overflow to divert water just to the fuge.

This Amphipod Culture and Research | handbooks might help you along. Joe is super knowledgable about all things plankton!

[lance]

Lance: do you use Ulva or other macro in your pod tank? When you say special food, is that a mixture you developed or is it one that is commercially available?

Since the tank is only 10g, how often do you do water changes?

Cheato I found work's the best with amphipod's due to the fact they love to run in and around all the nock's and crany's, The special food is a mixture I developed I will post it in the next day or 2 for you all. I do 15% weekly water change's sometimes only 5%.

lance

[THEJRC]

he he, a little late weighing in here, a few findings that may help:

Amphipods are primarily benthic and thusly they spend most of their time on surfaces, while you may see them swimming from place to place they prefer to perch and graze, surface area is a must, old bio balls, live rock, chaeto, etc. will be needed to ensure viable breeding.

As far as food sources, theres much argument here (and I'm sure I'll start another one). Amphipods arent necessarily predatory but they do prefer meaty foods. They are omnivorous but tilt toward the role of carnivore much more than herbivore. Feed meaty foods that break down fairly quickly in the water column. A good mixture of pellet and flake ground up in a mortar and pestle will yeild spectacular results.

As far as filtration, theres an interesting bunch of theories around bio diversity and a tanks ability to naturally stabilize itself without extra filtration. Theres also a ton of argument about whether or not pump impellers affect survivability. I'd opt for no skimmer and to be honest, I'd probably waylay any filtration other than the natural biological filtration offered up by the live rock, sand bed, and macro-algaes.

Ulva does not really offer a good environment for hiding as it's a fairly flat single surface, whereas algaes such as chaetomorpha, caulerpa, and Halimeda are excellent! The primary choice for most is chaetomorpha as it lacks tendancies to go sexual and is easy to maintain and manage, it offers a ton of hiding places. Halimeda is my preferred as it is easily kept, and harvesting plankters from a plant bunch is much easier than with the Chaeto. Downside to halimeda is that it of course is calciferous and will require calcium additions.

as far as water changes, reduce from the norm. so long as you watch your feeding you will most likely be sufficient changing water once a month or during harvests only. I tend to avoid water changes entirely on many of my cultures and only "change" the water when I am performing a massive harvest or split, or when nutrient levels go through the roof. Gammarideus are amazingly tolerant and tend to thrive in higher nutrient systems.

You may want to hit Reef Stewardship Foundation Forums (Formerly Project DIBS) - Powered by vBulletin and look into a lot of how Gary White feels on bacterioplanktons and such to get a better feel of how higher nutrient systems often offer a better environment overall for plankters.

[almondsaz]

WoW THEJRC. Thank you. You mention that you have cultures. You would mind sharing a pic of your amphipod culture? Really appreciate the info and have read the info on RSFF.

[CarmieJo]

Thanks Joe! I always appreciate your knowledge!

[THEJRC]

I'll try and get some pics posted when I get a chance, this weekend is a touch hectic in tank land as I'm preparing for a clown hatch as well as an emerald spawn. Once I get the gear set up I'll snap some pics

To be brutally honest it aint much to look at, a bucket of rock and water with a light on a 16 hour cycle. but in any event it'll be opportune time for pics as I have my broodstock kreisel, enteral pumps, and fry trap to take pictures of anyhow.

[almondsaz]

Joe: How important is temperature? Is there a reason to chill the nano? It will max at about 82 with the lights off. Thank you. David

[THEJRC]

82 is well within limits, in fact when I "attempted" to move cultures to a makeshift greenhouse last year I found quickly that temperature control in cheezy greenhouses is impossible, it would spike to well in the 90's. Only the Amphipods and chaeto had any survivability... such is life.

It's typically best to keep temp as stable as possible but small swings arent a huge deal, I wouldnt worry about chilling unless you start hitting the 85 mark constantly (in fact I'd probably say the same for a reef tank, a 2-4 degree swing during lighting cycle really never seemed to be that big of a deal).

[almondsaz]

Joe: Thank you for all the help! And don't worry about the picture. I am always looking to see if I can simplify or improve on what I am doing so the photo served as a curiosity. Thanks again.

[lance]

I am a member and a breeder for Reef Stewardship Foundation, I also am a moderator and a data miner. Come check us out sometime if you all are interested in breeding Invert's

lance