# gammarus



## tao (Jun 15, 2005)

Has anyone tried tossing gammarus in their tank? If so did they eat the live plants. Supposedly, they eat dying leaves, but I dont know if I actually want them in the tank. They are food for my E. okefenokee, and I thought a live population of them in the tank might be a good idea.


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## stepheus (Jun 13, 2006)

Aquatic life Freshwater Shrimps - Gammarus

http://fins.actwin.com/live-foods/month.9904/msg00006.html

just went thru the internet. i read they eat plants. but you should most prob wait for a experienced owner to answer you on this. apparently, breeding is easy too. good luck.


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## dhavoc (Mar 17, 2006)

if you have predators they are not a problem. they inhabit all of my tanks, though not by choice as they are the almost impossible to keep out of a new tank if you dont bleach everything new, it only takes a couple of fry to start a new batch. that said, if you have mosses and like them, watch out, these guys are like locusts in large numbers, and in the absence of predators, will clean mosses to the stem in days if they dont have other foods they like more. dont seem to mess with my other plants at all though. i catch the excess in my crs tank to feed my dwarf puffer in another tank, he loves them and doesnt bother the RCS there at all as long as i keep supplying them. if you want to breed for food, i would setup an extra tank or bucket with mosses and floaters and just let them do their thing, you will have more than enough food in no time.


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## iris600 (Feb 12, 2004)

Hrm., I think it depends on the species of gammarus. I collected some that live in the outlet of a local spring. The spring never freezes but is always ice-cold, even in summer. I have managed to get the culture going while the weather is cool, but never in high numbers. Once the weather warms up they crash! 
I have found that as long as you have a fish in the tank, the numbers never get large. Even guppies will tackle the wee ones, and will, in fact, spend most of the day hunting for them.


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## Steven_Chong (Mar 17, 2005)

I've had them many times before, but I never found them problematic or hardy. They always seem to disappear after the first month . . . fish gobble 'em up, and the wild cherries I keep seem to out-compete them for food.


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## iris600 (Feb 12, 2004)

I have mine in a tank with a pair of cool-water loving sailfin goodieds (G. multiradiatus). The goodieds can only eat the wee ones, as they are a small goodied species, and the adults are loving the cool temps and the plentiful moss. I see them zooming around the tank picking up uneaten morsels of food.


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