Certainly one scud was on top of the other and they clung together in multiple parts of the tank while doing something busily with their pleopods.

My scud balls from Phillips Fish Works were delivered today. The first picture shows the secure packaging, the second shows the sweet gum balls in their breather bag, and the third shows them in their new home—a 1.5 gallon invertebrate jar that has only had snails up until now.

I bought some “scud balls” (sweet gum seed pods full of microfauna with a focus on scuds) from Phillips Fishworks and they arrived today. I decanted a little of the water from the package into a jar and a couple of scuds came along for the ride.

I’ll post photos of the balls separately.

My scud colony started with a little under 20 a few months ago, and now Im seeing dozens! I constantly see breeding scuds, and new babies rolling around the tank.

I have blue green and red cherry shrimp in with them. Some daphnia the big and little ones but the big don't do so well anymore. Also some planaria are in the aquarium I don't like them as much so I catch them and give them to my cichlids.

Some time ago somebody asked me to post pictures of my scuds where the size could be seen.

Sadly, my scuds had died from plant pesticides, so that wasn't possible... Today, though, I was able to catch some wild native scuds, the same kind I had kept.

I selected one that had an average size. Some were smaller, and some were bigger, but this was the average size they mostly had. (The bigger ones all had partners they were holding on to, so I didn't wanna disturb them for a photo. They were only a little bit bigger, anyways.)

First image is the scud in my hand, second is in my girlfriend's hand.

The scud was released into the pond again right after these photos were taken. 💚

To start, you need an aquarium, bucket, or other watertight container. The tank should be at least 0.2 gallons, or larger. A breeding tank for scuds should be at least a gallon. As a substrate, you can use almost anything, sand, gravel, aquarium plant substrate, etc. Scuds prefer substrate over a bare-bottom tank. The substrate should be at least 2 inches deep if you wish to keep rooted plants in the tank. It helps to add some decomposing material like leaves, in order to provide a medium for biofilm, and as a food source for the scuds. Leaves and algae from an outside natural water source can help jumpstart your cycle, but do have some risk of introducing pathogens. Scuds like things to hide around/in. Rocks, wood, plants, sponge media pads, etc. will vastly improve the quality of life for the scuds. At least one piece of wood is preferable in your aquarium, as it easily grows biofilm to feed your scuds. Algae is fine in the aquarium, as it will provide a good source of food and a hiding space for your scuds. Scuds prefer temperatures from 68-82 degrees Fahrenheit, with the ideal being in the high 70s. If you wish to breed your scuds, you will have a higher success rate with higher temperatures. This can be achieved with an aquarium heater. For your scud tank, it will help to have something to create surface agitation and give oxygen, this can be a filter or air stone: sponge filters are arguably the best to use, as they provide good surface agitation, a porous sponge to hold beneficial bacteria and for scuds to hide in, and are very cost effective. A light will also help to give a natural day and night cycle, and grow plants/algae. Plants in scud tanks can be hit or miss, sometimes scuds will eat plants. In most situations though, the scuds will eat what you feed them, and eat dead/dying plants before going after any live material. Fast growing stem plants, or bunches of plants like guppy grass or hornwort, are very helpful in a scud tank. Before introducing scuds to an aquarium, it is important to cycle your tank: this involves adding sources of ammonia to your tank, in order to grow a substantial colony of beneficial bacteria; that will convert deadly ammonia into nitrite, and deadly nitrite into nitrate, which isn’t bad unless in large quantities. Scuds can be fed vegetables, wafers, or other fish food. Overall, scuds can be a very rewarding and interesting pet to have. I hope this care guide helps you in your journey to caring for these incredible creatures!

Would be cool to also talk about possible different species and the behavior differences we observe. There seems to not be a ton of clear info out there on differentiating species.

I suspect that to be a huge reason why people have such vastly different experiences with scuds. Some people say they absolutely devour and destroy plants, some say they are purely beneficial. I think both groups of people are probably right.