Which LFS still selling live daphnia aka boon??

[tetrakid]

Yeah, i'm not culturing for mass quantities at the moment, mainly still in the testing phase trying out different water conditions and feeding methods, hence the slower progress, due to the populations being split into a few smaller containers.

There is definitely a limit to their population growth based on tank size though, in small volume containers it can be quite tedious to constantly feed and do frequent water changes in order to see fast growth... so my next step for growing larger populations is to use a much larger shallow tub, then can feed alot and no need to do water changes so frequently (maybe only once a week) as the large water volume can sustain the bio-load and wouldn't foul so quickly.

Hmmm... multi-tier rack with 3ft length shallow tubs = dero worm farm?

That's a good idea

[Bern C]

Hmmm... i haven't seen my dero worms burrow into soil before, perhaps they might be another type of worm. Maybe tubifex? Can try digging out a few and see if they do the wiggle swimming patten in the water column.

Ostracods (aka seed shrimps) are tough creatures, fishes which are well fed don't bother as much with them due to their harder shells. You can try indostomus paradoxus, they specialize in hunting critters like ostracods and worms, so can help control the critter population.

@_@ Spend quite sometime to dig and suck dero into the pipette. They are fast once I poke the pipette into the soil. XD kinda mess up the substrate and soil a bit.

Here's the vid of the worm:

@_@ Seem like Dero?? Last time before I rescaped the tank, I had more but they are like more to white and some are very pale pink. This one like more red and slightly fatter.

Ohhh....that fish.. I think I saw it before either at seaview or otf. Didn't know they eat seed shrimp I was thinking about puffer but they are nipper. ^_^ Thanks for your recommendation~

Yeah, i guess your dero worms in the moina container are getting sufficient food to grow slowly but not alot to really grow fast, if the tank water is still clear after a week then most likely the food supply is quite minimal. In my cultures, i toss in more sinking wafers and shrimp pellets anytime i see them finishing eating (which can be as often as 2-3 times a day), thats how quick they consume the food to grow and reproduce, though it also means lots of waste produced too.

I would consider dero worms as more hardy and easier to keep than moina, but reproduction is still not as fast as moina... moina can reproduce much faster under optimal conditions (ie. lots of suspended good quality food and good water conditions), easily doubling their numbers overnight, but they also overpopulate and the extra food foul the water much faster so the culture crashes more easily, its a more tricky balancing act for small cultures.

With dero worms, they can survive under some neglect with less optimal water conditions and less food, so there is at least some buffer.... still got chance to recover a culture with water changes and extra feedings.

Yeah agree.. For Moina you can have them boom one moment then the next day crashed. While Dero worms super hardy.. They able to survive in my small fan choy container for quite a number of days with foul water. I think they are much productive than Moina as Moina crashes easily. But rasbora like having more trouble eating Dero. =_=

[Urban Aquaria]

@_@ Seem like Dero?? Last time before I rescaped the tank, I had more but they are like more to white and some are very pale pink. This one like more red and slightly fatter.

Yeah, looks and acts like dero worms... seems you have a dero colony living in that tank too.

I guess their color depends on the food they eat and maybe the oxygen content in the water, or it could be the background and lighting too.

[tetrakid]

Dero Worms is definitely the answer to Tubifex as a viable alternative.

[Bern C]

Yeah, looks and acts like dero worms... seems you have a dero colony living in that tank too.

I guess their color depends on the food they eat and maybe the oxygen content in the water, or it could be the background and lighting too.

Oh... @_@ But my fish won't be able to reach them nor I able to dig them out. I think I only can let them be... as a cleaning crews.
XD Maybe they eat the soil that's why they look more red to brown.

Dero Worms is definitely the answer to Tubifex as a viable alternative.

Yeah agree...

[Bern C]

XD It has being a while since my last update. So far my Jar of Moina still surviving and my mini tank(Moina) population are growing too. Will post a video or photo of it next time. Today my focus is on my new culture, mini tank X.

Here the vid of my day 2 culture, my newborn ^_^



So far total population only 1.


Vid will be up in 15min time... Sorry about that ~_~

[Ingen]

Cant see anything, what are you feeding Daphnia?

[Bern C]

XD It's kinda tiny as it just hatched... It's somewhere at the front bottom of the tank at the start of the video. ^_^ Another one just hatched, current population 2.

I going to feed them hay infusion + green water cultivated from TPY garden pond. XD Hope they can survive.

[tetrakid]

XD It's kinda tiny as it just hatched... It's somewhere at the front bottom of the tank at the start of the video. ^_^ Another one just hatched, current population 2.

I going to feed them hay infusion + green water cultivated from TPY garden pond. XD Hope they can survive.

@Bern C
Thanks for the update.

[Bern C]

@Bern C
Thanks for the update.

No prob~ ^_^ few more hatched ytd night, current population 5. The newborns are around the size of adult moina or slightly smaller. I doubt it can be used as fry feed. Also they look different from moina, has longer tail. Maybe that is the reason why Moina is more popular here.

Aww.... I hope they really can sustain... but I doubt I can mass culture them.


Recently I found out that there is a different between Daphnia Magna and Daphnia Russian Red. I read from a article that Russian Red is from Moina genera. XD But I find more info about RR.

[Ingen]

Looks interesting, does spirulina powder works as feed for them? Thinking trying out a culture, but no idea how at the moment.

[Bern C]

Looks interesting, does spirulina powder works as feed for them? Thinking trying out a culture, but no idea how at the moment.

Yup.. It works. Shifu UA using spirulina + yeast. You can backtrack this thread for his formula.
XD I didn't use spirulina because I dunno where to get them. I think it's kinda expensive in a long run?? XD I dunno, didnt check out the price.

Have you culture Moina before?? Maybe can start with Moina 1st if it's your 1st time as it's easily available. I think key is not to overpopulate the tank and start from small population and let it grow. The $1 Moina from LFS like need 10-20gallon tank to culture them. @_@ I tried air pump in culturing 1/4 of the bag in 2.5g tank also ended up crashing in days.

[Urban Aquaria]

Yeah, i use a mix of active yeast + spirulina for a combination of growth and to increase nutritional value in the moina (aka gut loading).

I do find that if only spirulina is fed, the moina will still grow, though at a much slower pace... but with active yeast, their growth rate is significantly faster and if well-fed, can see the population doubling on a daily basis.

I currently use the Ocean Free Spiru-Max, cost around $10+ for a bottle. Only a very tiny amount is used each time to mix and feed the moina so a bottle of it can last quite a long time (just have to keep it in a fridge to prolong the freshness). I also mix the spirulina with fish food to feed my fishes and shrimps too, so its a part of the livestock diet.

[Ingen]

10-20g, that's quite a big tank... I can't seem to find daphnia in LFS anymore, at least not at c328.

[TheAquarist]

Lfs near bedok inter block 416 still selling

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[Urban Aquaria]

10-20g, that's quite a big tank... I can't seem to find daphnia in LFS anymore, at least not at c328.

Yeah, i agree with Bern C... large water volume does help alot in keeping the moina culture stable and growing fast.

Most of us keep them in small containers, which is tricky to maintain stability (similar to small tanks), so either the yield is too low to be worth the effort or the population bloom too fast and it gets overloaded quickly and crashes.

The best setups would be using big outdoor tubs or water barrels, those that can hold 200-300 liters type (or larger), dedicated to just moina. Can keep a substantial culture going long-term without crashing, and the yield will be enough to feed multiple tanks of fishes regularly.

Btw, for getting moina, you can check at other places like Seaview (mainly during the weekends) or Y618 at Yishun or Hong Yang Aquarium at CCK (they have a tub of them regularly).

[tetrakid]

Lfs near bedok inter block 416 still selling

Must go.

[Bern C]

Update: Mini Tank X Day 3

My little daphnia pulex. ^_^

[Bern C]

Part 2

[Bern C]

My Moina in Jar - week 6




I realize Daphnia looks and behaves so different from Moina.