# Asellus aquaticus



## chka

Do this species live in Ireland/UK? 
I read in Russian aquarium forums it easily adaptable in aquariums, and is similar to Amano shrimp in regards to algae eating. Also it easily reproducing in tanks.



 
Asellus aquaticus


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## tam

My (UK) pond filter is always full of them them, I thought they fed on decaying stuff at the bottom of ponds/filters rather than algae, maybe they resort to eating it in tanks as they have less mulm to snack on. Not sure they'd cope with tropical temperatures either as googling it sounds like they are northern europe etc. natives with different species in warmer areas.


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## chka

google translate of the article:  
*Asellus aquaticus*


> 2 Asellus aquaticus as permanent inhabitants of the aquarium. For this purpose the reservoir may also be low. As a lot better use of coarse sand, which is placed on top small pebbles. Half of the reservoir is better to plant the plants. By the way, Asellus aquaticus well cope with hair algae and diatoms, buyout grow on the leaves of higher plants. In such circumstances, the dim light of the donkeys can be seen day and night (fear of bright light). In a 20-liter old, overgrown vegetation aquarium, 20-30 crustaceans can not feed at all. This will reduce the irrepressible fecundity of donkeys, and live longer.
> 
> 
> Asellus aquaticus bypassed attention aquarists, but in vain. As forage crops nutritionally they have no equal. Chitin layer they have a very soft and they are all eaten by the fish.This is especially important for those involved in divorce, difficult in this respect fish. Yeah, just keep these crustaceans - great fun. Contain the same crab-spiders (the same size as the donkeys), which in general is not seen in the aquarium. For example, to verify whether alive my crab spiders have to try very hard - poperevorachivat all the rocks in the aquarium. So, I recommend to pay attention to these interesting crustaceans, which can catch an ordinary aquarium net, almost anywhere where there is water.



not sure if google translate makes much sense here


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## dw1305

Hi all,
They are very common in nearly all ponds and slow flowing rivers. A lot of the information on the net isn't right, and despite what is often quoted your link is right, and they live and breed quite happily in tropical tanks.

I have them in all the tanks, they are fish and fish egg safe and they are a "no maintenance" addition. The advantage of them over shrimps is that they can persist in tanks even where there are fish that wil eat crustaceans. The disadvantage is that they aren't very aesthetically pleasing.   

If you would like some, and are in the UK, I can send some. It will be £4 to cover P&P.

cheers Darrel


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## chka

dw1305 said:


> If you would like some, and are in the UK, I can send some. It will be £4 to cover P&P



Thanks, Darrel. I am in Ireland... There is a canal not for from me:
*Grand Canal*
Do you think I can find them in it?


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## dw1305

Hi all,





chka said:


> There is a canal not for from me:Grand Canal. Do you think I can find them in it?


 Yes, almost certainly. A good handfull of water weed should provide some. 

There is another very similar Amphipod crustacean to look out for when you are collecting, and these are the "Water Shrimps" _<Gammarus_ spp>. They perform almost the same role as _Asellus_, but require much higher oxygen levels, which makes them less suitable for aquarium life. 

The easiest way to tell them apart is that _Gammarus_ are flattened from side to side and are active swimmers. _Asellus_ are flattened from top to bottom, and don't swim.

cheers Darrel


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## chka

looks like I caught them at reproduction process


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## alto

Interesting for certain!  Are those juveniles that appear on the nearby leaves (& on the ramshorn) at about 45 - 60s?


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## chka

Those are seed shrimps - adults


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## chka

so almost 3 years passed since I caught these species - now they live in all of my tanks even if I did not introduced them on purpose


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## chka

and also mentioned above by  dw1305 gammarus:


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## dw1305

Hi all, 





chka said:


> and also mentioned above by dw1305 gammarus:


Nice video, you need to look at its urosome, but I think that is the closely related _<"Crangonyx pseudogracilis">, _these are meant to feed on green algae, so it looks like yours have read the book._

Crangonyx_ urosome_


 _


chka said:


> now they live in all of my tanks even if I did not introduced them on purpose


I've managed to accidentally send people _Asellus_ hidden with Moss and _Riccia_ etc. I haven't found any down-side to _Asellus_ yet as a "tank janitor".

cheers Darrel


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## dw1305

Hi all,
Just found this _Crangonyx_ video on YouTube.



cheers Darrel


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## chka

dw1305 said:


> Hi all,
> Just found this _Crangonyx_ video on YouTube.
> 
> 
> 
> cheers Darrel



yes it looks like mine... for some reason I upset that mines are not gammarus )

they were caught together with asellus in Grand Canal in Ireland... so they must be local species... 
and yes - I never seen it bigger then 8mm in my tanks. most of them 4-5mm


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## chka

dw1305 said:


> Hi all,
> Just found this _Crangonyx_ video on YouTube.


I checked this guy youtube channel - he has a lot of amazing macro videos of small water species! with very few views for some reason...
https://www.youtube.com/user/michelsolitodesolis/videos?sort=dd&shelf_id=1&view=0


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## dw1305

Hi all,





chka said:


> for some reason I upset that mines are not gammarus


I think _Crangonyx _is pretty widespread in Eire. It is originally N. American, but occurs all over the UK. 

It is actually much more suitable for the aquarium, because it tolerates warm water (and pollution) much better than the _Gammarus_ species do.

I've just looked it up, and the island of Ireland actually only has one native species of _Gammarus, G. duebeni. _This is coastal in mainland UK, where _G. pulex_ is the common freshwater shrimp. 

As well as _Crangonyx, G. pulex_ and _G. tigrinus_ (also N. American) have been introduced to Ireland, and I would assume that most Gammarids you find would be non-native. 

They all look <"pretty similar">.

cheers Darrel


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## chka

what about Ladoga Lake in Russia? Last summer I filmed one pond connected to Ladoga lake - it was full of gammarus like species. Despite Ladoga is quite cold lake this pond was so shallow so should be quite warm on sunny days. And it was full of gammaruses...

They are quite big - more then 1 sm. Will they tolerate warm waters?

here it is at 8:55


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## dw1305

Hi all,





chka said:


> And it was full of gammaruses...They are quite big - more then 1 sm. Will they tolerate worm waters?


No would be my guess, but there is no way of telling what they are from the video. Species mentioned for Lake Ladoga are an alien from the Lake Baikal _Gmelinoides fasciatus_ and _Gammarus lacustris. 
_
<"_Gmelinoides fasciatus _is used in aquaculture">, so would appear to be the more likely survivor in the aquarium. 

cheers Darrel


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## splatteredbrainz

Would they work as feeders for puffers, etc?

Sent from my SM-G730V using Tapatalk


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## dw1305

Hi all,





splatteredbrainz said:


> Would they work as feeders for puffers, etc?
> 
> Sent from my SM-G730V using Tapatalk


<"Should do">.

cheers Darrel


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## chka

Bought microscope so I can see them better


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## Luiqi

Hyalella azteca is best for tropical aquariums. It tolerates a very low amount of oxygen and high water temperature. It is very effective in cleaning the aquarium from organic waste and is extremely productive. One of my most favorite live foods!


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