The number of people keeping their own live culture for their aquarium tanks is increasing due to the various benefits that this microorganism can offer your tank as well as the cheap, easy to use home culture kits that you are able to purchase.
Due to this, we have noticed more and more people reaching out to ask questions about what the best microorganism is for their tank as people fish keepers start keeping their own cultures.
After publishing our article going over our daphnia and brineshrimp comparison, we have noticed people asking for a scuds vs daphnia comparison too.
With so many people reaching out about this each month, we wanted to publish our own article going over our scuds vs daphnia comparison to try and help as many of our readers as possible choose the best option for their tank.
What Is A Scud?
Aquarium scuds are a type of freshwater shrimp that are commonly found in ponds and streams.
They are usually a brown or green color and can grow to be about 1/2 an inch long.
Scuds are omnivorous which means that they will eat pretty much anything, however, they prefer algae and detritus.
Are Scuds Good For Aquarium?
Scuds are often thought of as being beneficial for aquariums because they help to clean up algae and detritus while also being a great food source for smaller fish in your tank too.
However, scuds can also be a nuisance as they can be unsightly and some people don’t like the look of scuds in their tank so you really have to be sure you want to add scuds to your tank as they can be difficult to remove once you have added them to your tank.
If you do decide to add scuds to your aquarium, it is important to make sure that you do not overpopulation your tank as this can lead to problems.
The Advantages Of Scuds!
Scuds are a great addition to any aquarium as they help to keep the tank clean and provide a good food source for smaller fish.
The main advantage of scuds in our opinion is that they can eat a huge amount of algae and detretus relative to their tiny size making them a great clean up crew member for your tank too.
They are also easy to care for and breed so you can easily maintain a healthy population of scuds in your tank offering a constant stream of food and clean up crew members.
The Disadvantages Of Scuds!
One of the main disadvantages of scuds is that they can be unsightly in your tank and some people don’t like the look of them.
Another disadvantage is that if you overpopulate your tank with scuds, they can become a nuisance as they will start to eat everything in sight potentially causing problems for other bottom feeders in your tank.
What Do Scuds Need To Survive?
Scuds are relatively easy to care for as they don’t need much to survive.
All you really need to do is make sure that there is plenty of algae and detritus in your tank for them to eat and they will be fine.
You also need to make sure that the water quality in your tank is good as scuds are very sensitive to changes in water quality and will not do well if the water quality in your tank is poor.
What Are Daphnia?
Daphnia are a type of freshwater crustacean that are also known as water fleas.
They are usually a translucent white or green color and can grow to be about 1/4 of an inch long.
Daphnia are also omnivorous and will eat pretty much anything, but they prefer algae and detritus.
Are Daphnia good For Aquarium?
Daphnia are often thought of as being beneficial for aquariums because they help to clean up algae, detritus and left over food while also being a great food source for smaller fish in your tank too.
However, daphnia can also be a nuisance as they can be unsightly and some people don’t like the look of daphnia moving around in their main display tanks so some people will only add daphnia to their breeding tanks or quarantine tanks rather than their main display tanks.
The Advantages Of Daphnia!
Daphnia are cheap, easy to find, and very easy to keep in a live culture and in our opinion, they are one of, if not the best option out there for anyone who is looking to start their very first live culture.
Daphnia eats a huge amount of detritus, algae, and left over food in your tank helping to reduce the amount of tank maintenance required on your part.
Some tank setups may be able to set up a self contained eco system where the daphnia culture lives in their main tank and is able to replenish its own numbers too but this is usually advanced and can be difficult for beginners to set up correctly.
The Disadvantages Of Daphnia!
The only real disadvantage of daphnia is that they can be unsightly but they do tend to be one of the smaller options for microorganisms in your aquarium so it’s not that much of an issue for most setups when compared to other options.
What Do Daphnia Need To Survive?
Daphnia can find food in almost all aquariums and although they may bloom in times of excess food and drastically multiply in their numbers, this will self regulate when the food supply normalizes.
Daphnia are also more robust and tend to be more forgiving with issues with their water parameters when compared to the alternatives out there.
Will Fish Eat Scuds And Daphnia?
Yes, both scuds and daphnia can be eaten by fish but they are not a preferred food source for many medium or large fish but smaller fish species really do love eating scuds and daphnia if they get the chance.
Some fish such as loaches and certain catfish species may eat them on occasion but they will much prefer other foods such as bloodworms, brine shrimp, or even pellets and flakes.
Do Scuds Eat Daphnia?
No, scuds do not eat daphnia but they will compete with them for food.
If you have a lot of scuds in your aquarium, they can start to out compete the daphnia for food which can lead to the population crashing for both your daphnia and scuds.
Scuds Vs Daphnia – What’s Better?
In our opinion, daphnia are the better option for the majority of tank setups.
They are more forgiving when it comes to water quality, they are better at cleaning up the aquarium, and they are a great food source for smaller fish in your tank.
The only real downside of daphnia is that they can be unsightly but this is usually not a big issue for most people.
If you have a lot of scuds in your aquarium, they can start to out compete the daphnia for food which can lead to the population crashing for both your daphnia and scuds.
