# Amphipods/Copepods in Planted quarium



## svenster88 (Jan 16, 2008)

Hey,
I'm currently visiting family in france and took the dog for a walk this morning near a small stream. And noticed lots of amphipods and copepods swimming around in the water. I also have a marine aquarium and you basically can't get rid of them. But never noticed anyone mention keeping the little things in a freshwater aquarium.

Has anyone tried keeping these crusteceans in a freshwater aquarium? Since I have a small nano without fish such things would be a nice addition... 
Thanks, Sven


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## studdedsham (Oct 2, 2007)

When I had an invert only tank I kept them. I didn't introduce them, they were just in the water. If you're trying to put some in your nano cube I say go for it! They don't have any special needs as long as there are no predators.


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## oblongshrimp (Aug 8, 2006)

I also only see them in my invert only tanks. The fish must eat them in all my tanks with fish.


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## GlitcH (Aug 21, 2006)

I have them in both my invert only and mixed tanks.


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## svenster88 (Jan 16, 2008)

Ah cool! Did they just happen to be introduced by accident then? I was even considering filling a small bottle of water and then see how they do in my fish tank after I lower the temp a little. Are they any other small invertebrates people keep (apart from fish and shrimps/crabs)?


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## user367 (Dec 15, 2004)

I keep Hydra in 18l tank.
I like it!!))
I have many Ostracoda in other tanks with fishes,they live under ground and water is very clean with them!!
Sorry my English((


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## svenster88 (Jan 16, 2008)

Hey, cool thanks!
When I found those amphipods I also took some of these by accident... only saw them later. I'm not sure what they are. They make small tunnels out of sand in which they crawl around and look very similar to ants. Any ideas, anyone?


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## ShaneSmith (Feb 15, 2004)

Some sort of insect larva. Not sure maybe a beetle or fly? Anyways i would kill it if i were you.


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## svenster88 (Jan 16, 2008)

Hehe,
luckily I got them in a jar and not in my tank so I might throw them back to where they came, if they turn out to be parasites/larvae. Thanks


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## studdedsham (Oct 2, 2007)

They look like caddisfly larvae. As to weather you want it in your tank or not depends on the species and what type of plants you have. See below:

The Caddisfly Larva eats algae and plants (living and dead). Some species feed on other insects and spin silky nets to capture their prey. Some eat the larvae of other Caddisfly species, while others scrape algae from stones or plants, or shred leaf litter.


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## svenster88 (Jan 16, 2008)

Caddisfly larvae! Yes I think thats it. Fits the discriptions very closely, thanks for the help! Gonna try and find out what species since i now know what they are called now.


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## studdedsham (Oct 2, 2007)

No problem.
I'm just letting you know that it's usually difficult to identify them to species unless you're an expert. There is alot of specific vocab for each invert. It could take a while and that's with a good key. At least you know what type of invert it is, that's a start. Good luck.


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## svenster88 (Jan 16, 2008)

So now I'm back home and I managed to catch some amphipods the day before departure, which were stored safely in my suitcase, during the flights. I introduced them last night and they seem to be doing fine so far. It's just the oxygen that I'm concerned about but we will see... But I did not bother about the caddisflies or any other bugs, though that could have been interesting, also.


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## svenster88 (Jan 16, 2008)

declevis said:


> Cool! I didn't know one could sustain these in a closed system.


Neither did I!  So far its been a week and they have all survived, I even fed them once with brine shrimp and they now live happily among my Amanos . Only thing I did is lower the temp to 22C.


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