Warning: long message
I've yet to try the paprika, but I've tried yeast, even invested in Liquifry, both of which failed miserably for culturing monia,
Then I heard that gas exchange is important, so I applied this new concept in a tub 2ft x 1ft x water 2 inch deep. No success, ran airpumps with big bubbles to prevent airlocking their carapace.... Failed again!
Then I read from this UK site that recommends making a liquor of gram flour to feed the monia population, plenty of light, some mulm and nothing else, so I tried.
Gram flour can be bought at Little India's provision shops. It's ground, freeze dried dahl peas (chickpeas). $2.00 buys a huge amount.
Mixed 2 tablespoons into a 500ml bottle of water, making a pleasant corn-drink coloured liquid that smells nice... scent like the boiled yellow KacangPuteh in days of my childhood.
Squirted 4ml according to the recipe, into the tub which is mixed with treated water, live monia from Azmi and fresh mulm from my filter. The gram flour liquid clouded the water immediately (which was expected), but by next morning, it was crystal clear! The monia must be having a feast!
Aha! I thought to myself, finally a success! Though I don't see any monia at the surface when shining a light, I believed it was their work at eating away the pea soup. I continued at it for a few days...
On the 3rd day, I found the gram flour liquor bottle bloated. Opening the cover released a gas that smelt definitely like vomit. The emission of the gas also sprayed some of the liquid on my hand, and the scent refused to be washed off regardless the number of washings I did even with bleach 
Nevertheless, I persevered. The water cleared in a few hours as usual, but still no monia seen when shining a light.
By the 5th day, the neighbours are giving me strange looks and their pace seem to become more brisk when passing my part of the corridor where the tub is sitting. 
By day 8, I am despairing. The smell now has changed from vomit to rotten eggs to now, what convincingly smells like freshly passed faeces. 
The neighbours are politely enquiring if the tub of black-brownish scum will breed mosquitoes since there's no fish inside.
I patiently explained to everyone that with the 2 airpumps going full tilt, the moving water will not breed mosquitoes since it prefer stagnant pools. 
The girlfriend refused to hold my hands which smelt of shit from the water that sprays out each time I open the bottle.
On day 10, I conceeded defeat. When I emptied the contents of the stinky tub, the water was crystal clear. But there was not one monia in sight. That despite my having twice added booster cultures. At the side walls of the tub below water level was this rough encrustation that took me some time to scrape out... wonder what it is.
I now have a big bag of gram flour to give away. Anybody want to take the step forward in culturing live monia at our highrise apartments?
Warm regards,
Lawrence Lee
brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.
Philippians 4:8
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