Filtration via Bug

[Pond Princess]

Hello,

I am a new member to this site. I recently read about "God Bugs" in the Bog Garden forum. I read through the old posts hoping for information on where to purchase these incredible creatures but unfortunately the majority of the links were dead and my google searches did not produce anything.

Other names for these creatures are Isopod crustation, Asellus Aquaticus and Water Slater. Can anyone help me find a source for these "bugs"

Thank you in advance,

Renee

[dperry]

I've not heard of "God Bugs", but I know Asellus well.  It is an aquatic crustacean related to the common land crustaceans known as sow bugs and pill bugs.  They are aquatic Isopods (Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Crustacea  Order: Isopoda).   Commonly they are referred to as scuds.  They are very common in lakes, streams and ponds.  Using a fine net, they can be collected in the wild in bottom detritus by drawing the net along the bottom, putting the collected detritus in a white-bottomed container, adding a little water and picking them out of the shallow water.  They are small, but can be seen crawling about the bottom.  The collected specimens can then be cultured.  You can buy live cultures from biological supply houses.  Here is a link to one of them (Carolina Biological):

http://www.carolina.com/catalog/search-results.jsp;jsessionid=BDB4410F95D5CCD22BC2B4BDBC97D436.stageworker3?_dyncharset=UTF-8&question=asellus&_D%3Aquestion=+&questionSaved=&%2Fatg%2Fuserprofiling%2FProfile.searchTabSelection=Products&_D%3A%2Fatg%2Fuserprofiling%2FProfile.searchTabSelection=+&%2Fatg%2Fcommerce%2Fsearch%2Fcatalog%2FQueryFormHandler.search=Search&_D%3A%2Fatg%2Fcommerce%2Fsearch%2Fcatalog%2FQueryFormHandler.search=+&searchExecByFormSubmit=true&_DARGS=%2Fincludes%2Fgadgets%2Fheader-search.jsp.mainSearchForm

[Pond Princess]

Thank you very much for the information and for the link Don! I'm considering adding some filter media and ascellus to the top portion of my bog/waterfall. I am willing to try anything that assists with the natural biological filtration system without affecting any of my pond inhabitants. Have a great day!