CladeArthropoda
Arachnoknight
- Joined
- Jul 2, 2017
- Messages
- 164
How commonly are amphipods kept as pets and how difficult are they? Do you have any? Also, I'm talking about marine, freshwater AND terrestrial.
Amphipods as pets?
- Thread starter CladeArthropoda
- Start date
- Joined
- Nov 25, 2011
- Messages
- 4,227
I think I've seen a couple people mention keeping them before, but I don't think they're very common. Probably the terrestrial and maybe freshwater species.
http://arachnoboards.com/threads/fr...de-swimmers-as-amphibian-reptile-food.231966/
http://arachnoboards.com/threads/fr...de-swimmers-as-amphibian-reptile-food.231966/
Beedrill
Arachnoknight
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2017
- Messages
- 156
Well I know of two readily available options. For Terrestrial, you can purchase a starter colony of "Lawn Shrimp" (Arcitalitrus sylvaticus) from Roachcrossing.com.
However, apparently Roach Crossing is very slow at responding to emails, so you may want to look elsewhere if you want them fast. I've been waiting for a reply for at least a few Months now, but supposedly they are still in business.
As for Freshwater, apparently they are notoriously good at taking over other critter's tanks, so finding them shouldn't be too hard at all, and they should be either very cheap or free. I know you can order Gammarus sp. from Carolina Scientific as well, but they don't guarantee the Genera if that bothers you.
And for Saltwater, again, I've heard they are rather pesky, so it shouldn't be too hard to find them. However, I've never really looked into Marine Amphipods, so I'm not so sure about that one.
We used to keep a thriving colony of the Carolina Scientific's "Gammarus" at my old Job in the OCCC Biology Lab. As far as I could tell, keeping them was basically zero effort. We bred them to use in various science experiments for the Biology Majors. I'm sure with a sponge filter and weekly water changes, you could keep quite a few in a very small Aquarium. I think they fed them fish flakes. Overall they make very interesting little aquarium subjects. They dart around all over the place and are extremely active.
Lawn shrimp are supposed to be good clean up crews for very humid vivariums, so I would assume that there needs would be very similar to that of cleaner isopods. Maybe just need to be a little warmer.
Just remember one thing if you go the terrestrial rout. They are still Crustaceans, and have gills, and therefore need a constant moist environment to breath.
Hope this helps!
Lawn Shrimp: http://www.roachcrossing.com/for-sale/non-roach/arcilatrus-sylvaticus/
Gammarus or other similar Genera: https://www.carolina.com/isopods/amphipods-gammarus-living/142355.pr
However, apparently Roach Crossing is very slow at responding to emails, so you may want to look elsewhere if you want them fast. I've been waiting for a reply for at least a few Months now, but supposedly they are still in business.
As for Freshwater, apparently they are notoriously good at taking over other critter's tanks, so finding them shouldn't be too hard at all, and they should be either very cheap or free. I know you can order Gammarus sp. from Carolina Scientific as well, but they don't guarantee the Genera if that bothers you.
And for Saltwater, again, I've heard they are rather pesky, so it shouldn't be too hard to find them. However, I've never really looked into Marine Amphipods, so I'm not so sure about that one.
We used to keep a thriving colony of the Carolina Scientific's "Gammarus" at my old Job in the OCCC Biology Lab. As far as I could tell, keeping them was basically zero effort. We bred them to use in various science experiments for the Biology Majors. I'm sure with a sponge filter and weekly water changes, you could keep quite a few in a very small Aquarium. I think they fed them fish flakes. Overall they make very interesting little aquarium subjects. They dart around all over the place and are extremely active.
Lawn shrimp are supposed to be good clean up crews for very humid vivariums, so I would assume that there needs would be very similar to that of cleaner isopods. Maybe just need to be a little warmer.
Just remember one thing if you go the terrestrial rout. They are still Crustaceans, and have gills, and therefore need a constant moist environment to breath.
Hope this helps!
Lawn Shrimp: http://www.roachcrossing.com/for-sale/non-roach/arcilatrus-sylvaticus/
Gammarus or other similar Genera: https://www.carolina.com/isopods/amphipods-gammarus-living/142355.pr
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2014
- Messages
- 1,087
I have a 20-gallon tank with thousands of aquatic amphipods— Hyallela azteca if I am not mistaken. They are prolific and extremely simple to care for.
I recently made a video on how to care for them: