Daphnia Culturing

[stormhawk]

What we have for freshwater are the Dendrocephalus species or Fairy Shrimps. The ones that come from Thailand are probably Streptocephalus sirindhornae, whereas the ones from Brazil on Aquabid are Dendrocephalus brasiliensis. They behave pretty much like brine shrimp, and produce resting eggs in the bottom of the ponds or tanks. Feed them with yeast or green water, since they are filter feeders like their cousins the brine shrimp.

You have to dry out the gunk at the bottom and keep them in storage for awhile.

[tetrakid]

If fish doesn't turn them on, then there's no meaning in life, ya? .... LOL..

Rare to see mods going OT ..

[tetrakid]

This is a compliment to all fish lovers. Without passion for fish and water life, there will be no aquatic hobbyists.

I look forward to the day when I can find a ready source of 'big bad boons' to feed my little friends every day.

If fish doesn't turn them on, then there's no meaning in life, ya? .... LOL..

[Draka]

Haha you never know... Your wishes might come true sooner than you think!

[tetrakid]

To maintain a long-term culture, one needs to have a standby source for a restart after a crash (but not from scratch). Ideally it should be a permanent pond somewhere, but that would be rare.

Domestic cultures, even among a group of enthusiasts, may not be an ideal solution, as they can also crash any time, even with backup colonies.

Haha you never know... Your wishes might come true sooner than you think!

[Draka]

To maintain a long-term culture, one needs to have a standby source for a restart after a crash (but not from scratch). Ideally it should be a permanent pond somewhere, but that would be rare.

Domestic cultures, even among a group of enthusiasts, may not be an ideal solution, as they can also crash any time, even with backup colonies.

Well collection from a wild pond actually constitutes poaching. So we would need someone whose pond actually is up for maintaining green water and daphnia. There was a video on some other forum, can't be sure if its there but will post it if I find it later tonight.

It's not ideal, but domestic cultures shared by a group of enthusiasts, in a high-rise dominated living environment, seems the most likely long-term solution. Unfortunately.

[tetrakid]

Fortunately there are many fish hobbyists living in highrise abodes who can backup each other's culture.

Better still, if there's one or two who can manage to sell the big Daphnia on a regular basis, since not many will have the extra time or inclination to cultivate them. In this regard, perhaps online order and home delivery would be welcome, especially to those who really, really love their pet fish, eg. Discus.

Well collection from a wild pond actually constitutes poaching. So we would need someone whose pond actually is up for maintaining green water and daphnia. There was a video on some other forum, can't be sure if its there but will post it if I find it later tonight.

It's not ideal, but domestic cultures shared by a group of enthusiasts, in a high-rise dominated living environment, seems the most likely long-term solution. Unfortunately.

[Draka]

Haha home delivery would definitely be expensive though

[tetrakid]

It just boils down to demand and supply.

To those who need it badly enough, no price is too high. It will be a smallish market, though, maybe among Discus owners.

Since a packet of the Daphnia can last for a few days, perhaps a weekly delivery may be practical for those who ordered.

Haha home delivery would definitely be expensive though

[RonWill]

Better still, if there's one or two who can manage to sell the big Daphnia on a regular basis, since not many will have the extra time or inclination to cultivate them. In this regard, perhaps online order and home delivery would be welcome...

hmm... my Maths isn't very good but...

2x Daphnia magna Starter culture - (1000 + organisms) = $48.95 x 2 = $97.90
4x Daphnia magna ephippium pkt/100's =$14.95 X 4 = $59.80
EMS shipping estimated $80
Total = US$237.70
Forex to SGD =SG$295.80

Ephippium to sell & hopefully recoup some costs. Hatch rate never guaranteed.
Live organisms, a hopeful start but still subjected to shipping casualties.
Almost $300 for a first order to kick start cultures.

Assuming I don't kill everything & actually manage to harvest more than what my fishes need...
One small bag of big boon (maybe 500 organisms) = $30
Evening home delivery, any day = $20
Cash upon delivery = $50

I hear somebody going WAH SO EX!!! IT'S ONLY BOON LEH!!!

Ok... so the person who takes the risk of...
losing everything during shipping (no refund for shipping & livestock loss),
resources (time, culture maintenance, utilities, etc),
delivery (petrol, COE, road tax, insurance)...

I think I'll let somebody else do it and I'll buy my first bag of $50 big bad boon from him!!!

[Draka]

Haha I'm not complaining that its expensive. I know its crazy bringing in livestock and DOAs...

But people who don't understand will definitely go, wah, so expensive leh. And then one is stranded with the full cost of the cultures plus uncalled for resentment

[tetrakid]

I like Uncle Ronnies' objective and realistic breakdown of the costs in producing the 'big bad boons'.

But I am sure that is not the only cost factor. One must also factor in the other intangible costs, namely the years of experience and also the 'magic touch' of the cultivator, without which it's not possible to produce those little fat jumpy monsters. If one factors in this cost, it becomes even more expensive.

That cost will essentially make it an item beyond the reach of ordinary fish hobbyists. Perhaps big bad boons will become the local 'caviar' or 'D24' for connoisseur Discus, though it's rather commonplace elsewhere.

Anyway, thanks to Uncle Ronnie for your very nice breakdown of costs.

[tetrakid]

Here's a good link for Daphnia, though some may have already seen it before.
Especially useful is the second half of the article, including the links.

The link: http://www.aka.org/aka/modules/newbb...9&post_id=2304

I believe there's no single solution to the Daphnia cultivation. I suppose what one needs to do is to gather all the 'secrets'
wherever one can find them and coupled with one's determination, 'feel one's way' through by trial and error and lessons
learned, and finally arriving at a workable arrangement which will at least provide a stable source of Daphnia in reasonable
amounts for one's fish.

[stormhawk]

The simple fact remains. If you want these daphnia, you have to try to import them yourself, be it live or with resting eggs. Ronnie, and myself have done our fair share of importing live foods for the benefit of the local hobby, in our case, the killifish hobby in the past. I brought in original stocks of bananaworms, walterworms and vinegar eels at my own risk, and from which a regular live food seller on this forum got his starters from.

The last hobbyist who gave me a starter culture of grindalworms, tried to import and cultivate whiteworms several times without success, even though he used a mini fridge to keep them cool. This is what a live food enthusiast appreciates, someone who is willing to try even if comes to a loss. I gave D. magna a try myself but they did not survive.

Ultimately, it all boils down to personal choice. If you want these but is not willing to take the risk to ship the resting eggs in, don't bother. Because even if they hatch, without an expensive chiller to keep temperature in the tank below 21 deg C, it is a lost cause. Even with adult Daphnia, the period of time taken to ship them in will be crucial, since they are sensitive to ammonia in the water. Without EMS shipment, typically it takes 2 weeks for something to arrive here from the US, or from certain countries in Europe, like France. In that 2 weeks of transit, they would have died already, or produced resting eggs. Which brings you back to square one and having to hatch them yourself, if any are produced.

[jf1216]

if u really intend to raise daphnia.
here a way how :
1. use the chicken poop. if u want better result get duck poop.
2 mix it with age water to cultivate it for the microorganism for a few days(food for the dap)
3. add in the Daphnia and wait for it to bloom! remember to bubble the water lightly and its gonna stink abit too.

if u want to catch local daphnia, i know of a place where u can harvest them.
the location is at pandan canal, it strench all the way from sunset way bridge to teban garden.

have fun getting them!

[Draka]

Thank you jf1216! And well said Stormhawk...

[RonWill]

if u want to catch local daphnia, i know of a place where u can harvest them...

Thanks!! I'm more interested to know the water parameters & a look at the biotope than collecting them for live feed. I'm one of those who don't treat hitchhikers kindly; nymphs, other young predatory larva, etc.

So... who's gonna organize a small interest group to check the place out? I should have all the necessary kits & test pens. I just need somebody else to do the dirty work... for once!!

[RonWill]

On second thoughts, a bag of live samples (with plenty of location water) might be interesting... who knows... maybe got different species of big bad boons amongst the tinier Moina!!!

[jf1216]

updates on the water and condition there, the water can be lightly greenish there to brownish(due to construction work).
as for the best time to get them is ard 8am~10am afterwhich the winds there will make those boons harder to spot.

[jf1216]

Thanks!! I'm more interested to know the water parameters & a look at the biotope than collecting them for live feed. I'm one of those who don't treat hitchhikers kindly; nymphs, other young predatory larva, etc.

So... who's gonna organize a small interest group to check the place out? I should have all the necessary kits & test pens. I just need somebody else to do the dirty work... for once!!

actually u did not worry about those hitch-hiker as i only harvest them in the top layer of the water, i dun stir up the soil as i have always spotted groups floating ard but needless to say it still have bound to have unwanted bugs swimming ard them...
thats the danger of harvesting live food from unknown source.