# Journey to the microcosm - the secret things living in your aquarium



## dw1305 (26 Mar 2020)

Hi all,
Not quite sure where to post this, but I thought it might go here, I've seen a similar one for freshwater tanks, I'll try and find that as well:



cheers Darrel


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## jaypeecee (26 Mar 2020)

Hi Darrel,

Absolutely superb! Thanks for posting this. It would be good if you could find the one for freshwater tanks.

JPC


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## Polly (2 May 2020)

WOW Darrel !   That is amazing !   I would love to see one for Freshwater Aquaria.

x Polly


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## CJayT (16 May 2020)

I've always kept my eye out for anyone selling freshwater copepods or lottle critters like that but never can find them... Other than maybe scuds 🤢. Tint copepods always seem to appear once the aquarium is pretty established though, just wish I could bulster it for my nano fish.


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## dw1305 (16 May 2020)

Hi all, 





CJayT said:


> I've always kept my eye out for anyone selling freshwater copepods


I've never seen them either. My guess is that they aren't easy to culture in commercial amounts.  

There is a protocol for using the copepod _Bryocamptus zschokkei  <"_as a bioassay organism">, but I'm not sure where you could get a culture from. 

The easiest way to find any Cladocerans, Copepods and Ostracods is to get a plankton sample from near the bottom, in a weedy pond, with reasonably water quality, but I understand that isn't an option for every-one. 





CJayT said:


> Other than maybe scuds


I culture <"_Crangonyx pseudogracilis & Asellus aquaticus">, _they are easy to keep and smaller than <"_Hyalella azteca">._

You are more than welcome to a "starter pack", once this is all over.  I can usually find a fair range of Copepods in <"these buckets">.

cheers Darrel


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## jaypeecee (16 May 2020)

Hi @CJayT 

You could take a look at the following to see if there's anything of interest:

https://www.zmsystems.co.uk/rotifers--copepods-13-c.asp

https://blades-bio.co.uk

http://taaquaculture.uk

JPC


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## CJayT (16 May 2020)

jaypeecee said:


> Hi @CJayT
> 
> You could take a look at the following to see if there's anything of interest:
> 
> ...


Great stuff.I'll look into it


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## CJayT (16 May 2020)

You are more than welcome to a "starter pack", once this is all over.  I can usually find a fair range of Copepods in <"these buckets">.

cheers Darrel
[/QUOTE]

I'll have to remember to drop you a message. Sounds interesting.


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## dw1305 (16 May 2020)

Hi all, 





CJayT said:


> I'll have to remember to drop you a message. Sounds interesting.


I found when I was sending people moss they were subsequently getting _Asellus_ in their tanks , and I've found most of these small crustaceans travel pretty well in damp moss. 





jaypeecee said:


> https://blades-bio.co.uk


We used to deal with Blades at work, and a couple of times they sent us something close to what we had ordered, but not exactly right. I contacted them mainly to tell them that their cultures were contaminated, and they replied by telling me that they didn't culture most of their organisms and that the ones they had sent us were "wild collected" and somewhere on their website there is a disclaimer saying you might not get what you ordered, so it was basically "tough luck".  So I no longer deal with them.

So when you pay them £50 for _Lumbriculus_ etc. they then send their intern out to fish some wormy looking things out of a pond for you. 

cheers Darrel


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## JoshP12 (11 Oct 2020)

Love it.

I’ve recently come to appreciate our bacterial assemblage so much more than I ever did.

The part that continues to get me is that the protists + archaea have to come from somewhere ... so are they in the air? In my tap water? In my RO water?

All of the above is the answer - I think - and that messes with me.

Is the maturation process then just time it takes to let these micro organisms multiply or does evolution happen in real time .
I think it’s both!!
Blast you biology!

Josh


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## Affinis (27 Oct 2020)

Hi everyone, I’ve always been a big fan of adding all sorts of tiny critters to many of my tanks. I think it adds another dimension of interest, and can help create a more natural in environment. But what I love the most, is you actually get to see far more interesting behaviour from the fish. Especially first thing in the morning, I can actually see my fish picking tiny organisms from the water column. And watching a glow light tetra stalking something tiny on a plant leaf, is something I’ll never get bored with.
At the moment I’ve got various Ostracods, Copepods, Sphaerium, Asellus, Gammarus, Acroloxus, tubifex and other worms, various snails etc. It’s surprising what will survive in a densely planted tank without being hunted to extinction.


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## LondonDragon (28 Oct 2020)

Awesome channel! Subscribed


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## dw1305 (28 Oct 2020)

Hi all, 


Affinis said:


> At the moment I’ve got various Ostracods


Your Ostracods are doing very well, judging from the photo.


Affinis said:


> Ostracods, Copepods, Sphaerium, Asellus, Gammarus, Acroloxus, tubifex and other worms, various snails etc


I've never tried _Sphaerium (or Pisidium), _next time I encounter them I might try a few.  A few people have been successful with <"_Theodoxus fluviatilis">, _but I'm pretty sure they need harder water. I have _Acroloxus__, _although they tend to fluctuate in abundance. 

Your _Gammarus_ may be the <"very similar _Crangonyx_">_, _they are a lot more tolerant of low oxygen and higher temperatures.

cheers Darrel


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## Affinis (28 Oct 2020)

dw1305 said:


> Your Ostracods are doing very well, judging from the photo.


Yes they’re amazing creatures, the funny thing is unlike most of the other critters these just appeared one day.
They’re probably the best scavengers you could possibly have, absolutely nothing goes to waste.


dw1305 said:


> I've never tried _Sphaerium (or Pisidium), _next time I encounter them I might try a few. A few people have been successful with <"_Theodoxus fluviatilis">, _but I'm pretty sure they need harder water. I have _Acroloxus__, _although they tend to fluctuate in abundance.


Orb shells seem to do rather well in very unfiltered or lightly filtered tanks, I’ve had them reproducing through numerous generations in some tanks. You don’t see much of them until one decides to climb the silicon.
I love Theodoxus, but unfortunately gave mine away a while back. Trying to get them again, but sadly without success  .Yes they‘re very much hard water creatures, which is perfect for Essex. I’m also on the hunt for Ancylus fluviatilis, as they’re supposed to grow larger than Acroloxus.


dw1305 said:


> Your _Gammarus_ may be the <"very similar _Crangonyx_">_, _they are a lot more tolerant of low oxygen and higher temperatures.


I’m not sure, I’ve not tried to get a proper identification on them. But interestingly they’re one of the things that haven’t done so well. So maybe they’re correct.
Another interesting creature I’ve been trying is Bithynia. I have quite a few unfiltered tanks so was curious to see if their filterfeeding could be observed. Not sure so far, but they do seem to require good oxygen levels.


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## chrisfraser05 (29 Oct 2020)

Affinis said:


> Hi everyone, I’ve always been a big fan of adding all sorts of tiny critters to many of my tanks. I think it adds another dimension of interest, and can help create a more natural in environment. But what I love the most, is you actually get to see far more interesting behaviour from the fish. Especially first thing in the morning, I can actually see my fish picking tiny organisms from the water column. And watching a glow light tetra stalking something tiny on a plant leaf, is something I’ll never get bored with.
> At the moment I’ve got various Ostracods, Copepods, Sphaerium, Asellus, Gammarus, Acroloxus, tubifex and other worms, various snails etc. It’s surprising what will survive in a densely planted tank without being hunted to extinction.


How did you go about adding the populations? Were they just bought online?


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## Affinis (29 Oct 2020)

chrisfraser05 said:


> How did you go about adding the populations? Were they just bought online?


Hi Chris,
I used to sell pond plants as part of my living, subsequently I’ve got dozens of ponds. So I just collect stuff if and when I see it. You wouldn’t believe the density and diversity of life, you can literally find in a couple of gallons of water. I think as aquarists this is often overlooked.


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## dw1305 (29 Oct 2020)

Hi all,


Affinis said:


> Trying to get them again, but sadly without success


Gerard (@frothhelmet) had some, I'll cc. him in.


Affinis said:


> the funny thing is unlike most of the other critters these just appeared one day.


They have persistent resting cysts, which blow about in the dust etc. and then re-animate in contact with liquid water. My guess would be that all water bodies (that are more persistent than a standard puddle) will soon get Ostracods in them. In the right circumstances populations will build up really quickly.


Affinis said:


> Another interesting creature I’ve been trying is Bithynia..............I’m also on the hunt for Ancylus fluviatilis,


I'll keep any eye out for you. Both of them should be reasonably easy to find. If you have access to a stream where you have pebbles/cobbles with moss growing on them, the stones are very likely to have _Ancyclus _on them as well.

cheers Darrel


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## chrisfraser05 (30 Oct 2020)

N


Affinis said:


> Hi Chris,
> I used to sell pond plants as part of my living, subsequently I’ve got dozens of ponds. So I just collect stuff if and when I see it. You wouldn’t believe the density and diversity of life, you can literally find in a couple of gallons of water. I think as aquarists this is often overlooked.


Next daft question then...

What's your recommendations on methods of collection?


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## Affinis (30 Oct 2020)

chrisfraser05 said:


> What's your recommendations on methods of collection?


If you have access to a pond, collect some water from it, then drag a daphnia net through the mud, Add the contents to the water and leave it to settle for a few hours. Then just observe to see what you’ve got. But probably the best place to look is around the plant roots of pond plants. If for example if you lift a potted water lily out of an established pond, you’ll be amazed at what comes with it.
If you want to see something really mind blowing, fill a two gallon bucket with water, add a handful of garden soil. Leave in full sun for a few months. Many of these critters will just arrive naturally.


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## chrisfraser05 (30 Oct 2020)

Will definately be doing more of this.

I've been seeding the substrate with tubifex worms already since starting this new system.

I've always really loved the amount of micro fauna in marine tanks that come in with the live rock and would love to see more in my freshwater systems.


Do you find stuff from UK ponds manages to survive/thrive in Tropical tanks?


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## chrisfraser05 (30 Oct 2020)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all,
> Not quite sure where to post this, but I thought it might go here, I've seen a similar one for freshwater tanks, I'll try and find that as well:
> 
> cheers Darrel



Darrel, did you ever find the freshwater video?


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## dw1305 (31 Oct 2020)

Hi all,


chrisfraser05 said:


> Do you find stuff from UK ponds manages to survive/thrive in Tropical tanks?


I think if you get it from UK ponds it is pretty likely to survive at tank temperatures. Some mosses from rivers grow OK (_Fontinalis_ etc.), but they tend to get a bit leggy. I've only tried _Gammarus _as an invertebrate, and that definitely has higher oxygen demands than warm water can provide.


chrisfraser05 said:


> Darrel, did you ever find the freshwater video?


It is not on "Journey to the Microcosm", even though nearly all the videos are of freshwater organisms. It must be on a freshwater site somewhere, I'll have a trawl through the Wildlife Trusts etc. 

cheers Darrel


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## Affinis (31 Oct 2020)

chrisfraser05 said:


> I've always really loved the amount of micro fauna in marine tanks that come in with the live rock and would love to see more in my freshwater systems.


Yes, this was my original inspiration too  But the knock on effects to the system, and much more dynamic fish behaviour was the clincher for me.



chrisfraser05 said:


> Do you find stuff from UK ponds manages to survive/thrive in Tropical tanks?


On the whole yes, most of my ponds are effectively black plastic tubs, which in summer reach far higher temperatures than our aquaria. But remember just like in marine aquaria, filtration can be the biggest threat to many of these critters.


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## frothhelmet (31 Oct 2020)

Affinis said:


> I’m also on the hunt for Ancylus fluviatilis, as they’re supposed to grow larger than Acroloxus.


I have keep these before under the name 'turtle snails'. I got them from an ebay auction in the US about 10 years ago. It's cool to see that they seem to be part ramshorn snail part not. They didn't breed particularly well in my tank, eventually just disappearing and they were not particularly excellent algae eaters off the glass - at least compared to theodoxus. It could be because the water I kept them in at the time was acidic and very soft.


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