I used to think something was wrong with me as a kid, all my buddies had tanks and wanted big fish, tropical fish stores charged more for bigger fish, so they must be better. Me, I gravitated to the small, little tetras, danios, kuhli loaches, guppies. When I went to salt water tanks, I was more fascinated the micro creatures that lived in the live rock and sand than I was in the fish stock. Then I got into scuba diving, other divers wanted to see the fish on the reefs and hoped to catch sight of large pelagic species on the walls and drop offs into the deep, while I found much more pleasure laying my self down in the sand of a reef and studying the tiny creatures that lived in the corral sand and silt. I was glad when I realized there is a whole sub-culture that enjoys watching and studying the world of micro life.

My goodness I could watch this tank all day! Something about this tiny ecosystem is so beautiful. Love it!

Just give them some cucumber....throws fork at them 🤣🤣

A cyclop bloom that came out of nowhere just wiped out my entire daphnia collony in 48 hours.

That's awesome! I went to collect some shrimp from a stream yesterday, but ended up with a whole bunch of other little creatures - mostly Daphnia, but also some stuff I don't know. I was wondering whether I should remove the others, but I think I'll just leave them and see if I can create something similar to what you have here. Unless I see something eating my Daphnia or shrimp.

Wonderful video, and great how you show what gets along..and how easy it is to maintain. Love!

Awesome ima try this with a 20 gal long cherry shrimp , snails , daphnia , scuds , black worms.

Hello, my friend.👋 I used a 5-gallon bucket all summer to grow big brine, & fish lice. Green water. Lord, it smells so terrible. U think I could keep a heated 10-gallon on a 4-season porch this winter? My 5-gallon bucket of “ candy” is for my puffer fish. I have the snails w/ the cherry shrimp in another tank, w/ 1 pelco. 🐡

Great and Simple

Very well done! Don't shrimps eat daphnia? Mine do.

This is so informative. I am going to be growing my own food cultures in the next day or two.. Should I add a small heater, and would a small dirted/sand amount on the bottom for the plants be a good idea. You did mention the plants so I just want to make sure this is correct for me to do!? Also I will have tiny snails as well for my betta tanks. I do have a lid with a light, do you suggest using the regular light or the blue light. Thank you so much, I would appreciate any info I might need. Kindly

Wonder how blackworm would do in that tanks? Thanks for sharing.

hey buddy, i was wondering if i could have daphnia and gammarus all together and you solve it for me :) thanks a lot! Love from Argentina!

Cool, thanks for sharing! What's your water change schedule like on this culture?

I’ve been told scuds will go after baby shrimp?

I want to do just this!

This is bad ass!! I definitely want to do this!! How many gallons??

very cool

I see that some of the hornwort has been chewed off, does it grow back?

What species of scud do you have? Some species are supposed to be harmful to neocaridina, so knowing which species can work together would be very helpful.

Hi! I have accidentally started a culture and I think I’m seeing a lot of seed shrimp. Is there an easy way to catch them to feed my other tanks?

Can't find daphnia in any pond or body of water in Washington State. I'm in grays harbor county and there are tons of lakes ponds and vernal pools.. I'm stumped..

I keep having fish hatch out in my scud tank. I have been wanting to get the daphnia in there also and keep some green water handy.

What plants do you have floating?

hes just dropped the fork along? roots

Hi, Very interesting. Do you change the water at all.

How long do you leave food in there for then

So it’s ok to leave some sort of food in the tank 24/7 for them to eat. Never a time without food in the tank?

How to you get aquatic plants and algae to grow without sun?

How about the water temperature? Do you put an heater in the tank to maintain the constant temperature?

this has inspired me to start my own food culture ✨but I accidentally started one and your video helped my identity what was living in my tank✨ sadly I also have detritus worms and those are nasty so I’m going to try to scoop some daphnia and a few scuds and start fresh in a new bucket

Can you mix daphnia with scuds? I have 2 10 gallons setup. 1 has daphnia currently but I am trying to find a nice complementary animal. I also have a few snails with them. I heard the scuds eat daphnia but I would think they should be fine as long as there's enough food in the tank for them. Would love to hear your thoughts.

have you found that these creatures don't get along together like the skuds eating the shrimplets? also will skuds destroy planted tanks, if they arent being predated enough?

Does the sponge filter suck up baby scuds, daphnia etc.???

Once I saw about 100 shrimp eating a sliver of wood, I think it was pine. There was nothing on it, just wood.

can I incorporate a copy of your tank in my sump's refugium? So that current will occasionally sweep them to main tank via return pump?

Do you recommend scuds in a planted community tank with nano fish? Or will the scuds eat the living plants?

Is the filter still necessary? Isn't daphnia going to clear the algae and bacteria?

Do you know if the scats eat the baby shrimp?

i heard scuds prey on cherry shrimp

I was told you can't use tap water for daphnia is that not true?

You worry much about algae growth in this culture?

So it’s ok to leave some sort of food in the tank 24/7 for them to eat. Never a time without food in the tank?