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[Andyroo]

I have questions about amphipods culture. Do I ask here, or in the Intertibrates section (which is invert pets)?

Question:
How long does it take from a half-dozen individuals to a feed-stock concentration? I've been babying these things in a 10gallon greenwater on the windowsill for months, & they're still one-one. Just them & ostracods in that tank; amphipods are slowly tipping the balance of dominance, it seems, but way too slow for my liking...

Wavemaker across the surface, some dead coral chunks, mystery shells, live potted plants in a coffee cup, live passion-vine roots (also struggling), dead/clean tube (sea) sponge & leaves, mostly (lots of) bamboo leaves. Temp was 28+ through the fall, down to ~26 now with slight up & down with weather & day/night.
Feeding duckweed & tilapia-kibble, leaves, dead-bugs, dead garden snails etc., never enough to foul the water. They'll kill & eat a mid-size mystery snail & ate off all of the thick mess'O duckweed, but population still not enough to feed-out sustainably...

Is it still "wait, it'll get there" or can I boost?

 

[tlindsey]

I have questions about amphipods culture. Do I ask here, or in the Intertibrates section (which is invert pets)?

Question:
How long does it take from a half-dozen individuals to a feed-stock concentration? I've been babying these things in a 10gallon greenwater on the windowsill for months, & they're still one-one. Just them & ostracods in that tank; amphipods are slowly tipping the balance of dominance, it seems, but way too slow for my liking...

Wavemaker across the surface, some dead coral chunks, mystery shells, live potted plants in a coffee cup, live passion-vine roots (also struggling), dead/clean tube (sea) sponge & leaves, mostly (lots of) bamboo leaves. Temp was 28+ through the fall, down to ~26 now with slight up & down with weather & day/night.
Feeding duckweed & tilapia-kibble, leaves, dead-bugs, dead garden snails etc., never enough to foul the water. They'll kill & eat a mid-size mystery snail & ate off all of the thick mess'O duckweed, but population still not enough to feed-out sustainably...

Is it still "wait, it'll get there" or can I boost?

Deadeye

 

[Deadeye]

Increasing feeding can always work - if you have any algae covered rocks or hornwort on hand it may help give them a beast. I had found that the hornwort was always pretty good at growing as fast as they could eat it. More hiding spots = more surface area for them to live, which can also help increase populations.
How many do you have now?

 

[thiswasgone]

As far as I know amphipods are detritivores and enjoy eating the rotting parts of plants so they don't have to break down the stiff structure of the plant's cells. I know they love eating algae because it doesn't have a cellulose surrounding the cell like normal plants. Eating live plants and other live animals indicates to me they are lacking in food although I've never owned or raised a culture of my own.

 

[Andyroo]

Deadeye "How many do you have now?"
Started with maybe a half-dozen in the summertime (July~Aug?). I'll add more floating plant, as the duckweed seems to have been gobbled.
I've moved a dozen++ into the ~15gal greenwater bucket in the garden (sunshine) where I'll soon be sinking bamboo segments. Dead leaves & dead bugs in there. I could add a rotted/rotting sea-sponge for surface area, but it's as yet a little... ripe.

Still-water or turn the wavemaker back on?

I see them berried: are the eggs/planulae(?) set to structure or simply spawned into the water column? IE would structure help? Are they cannibalistic?

 

[Deadeye]

They’ll eat anything, so I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s some cannibalism, though the biggest threat I had to their numbers was some damselfly larvae.
I’m not too sure of their breeding habits - I couldn’t tell you how the eggs are laid but I assume they scatter.
They will do well in just about any conditions, but a low current is probably best. Not stagnant, but definitely nothing heavy.

 

[Andyroo]

... and, if the primary food is "turf" benthic/surfaces algae & other/similar surface films, then
(bladder) snails will be competitor, at least until they become food. I'll not add until population is fully established.

... and try to convert the greenwater to free nutrient for said algae. Ostracods didn't do this so I'll actually have to find Daphnia... ~20-years dip-netting this island & no luck yet, though they are in the literature. I could set FW mussels/clams & bryophyte, but they're hard to get & would simply sequester nutrients rather than provide alternative (fish) food. They'd also get gobbled, I expect, whereas Daphnia apparently coexist nicely.

Meanwhile, I'll get a bubble-line installed & forgo the wavemaker as it likely sucks the little ones through - ostracods would survive, do'know about amphipods.
And keep scanning for dragonfly nymphs - I did see one in the summertime, nothing since (greenwater's not helpful)