Originally Posted by
stormhawk
Ron, from what I've learnt so far on daphnia culturing, the main requirements are as follows.
1) Alkaline water, pH slightly around 7.5
2) Source of calcium, coral chips would suffice.
3) Green water, or some solution of dissolved powdered foods. (some people use Roti-Rich)
4) Aeration with larger bubbles to prevent trapping of air under the carapace.
5) A source of bacteria would be good. Rotting cabbage would produce enough bacteria to allow the daphnia to explode in numbers.
6) Some people jump start a culture using pieces of rotting meat or even manure. Bacteria seems to be the best food for these critters.
All information taken/remembered from what I've read on the live-foods mailing list.
Our memory is similar, but tha Ca is over-rated I suspect. They aren't snails and actually need no Ca for the chitin in their carapace. Tap water, that's not dead soft, should work OK.
Mach Fukada of HI is the champ at all kinds of Daphnia and Moina. He does them outdoors in bright sun to rapidly grow the green water he uses.
As I recall, he gets huge yields by harvesting half a tub every single day, and replacing that water with green water from a tub above. I'm not sure if I remember correctly, but I think he fertilizes the green water with garden fertilizer. The green water used is replaced with fresh.
The trick is the daily harvest, as they can double their population daily when going good. Failure to harvest can lead to a crash, as I recall his descriptions. Some of this should be in either the killietalk archives or the Live Foods Digest archives. Look for Mach Fukada.
Wright
01 760 872-3995
805 Valley West Circle
Bishop, CA 93514 USA
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