Anyone got advice for culturing daphnia?

[Onsaud]

What the title says, pretty much. I picked up a bag from a little local museum and I'm keeping 'em in an old 5-gallon tank. Anyone have advice on culturing and breeding these guys? I have a few blanched lettuce shreds in the tank right now. Thanks!

[syno321]

Add just enough dissolved yeast in water to make the culture slightly cloudy. Add more when the water in the culture is clear.

[Onsaud]

Dissolved yeast... is that the same kind as baking yeast? Would they sell that in fish or pet stores? Thanks!

They came from a tank with slightly green water, does that work?

[Bas Pels]

What I do is I take old tankwater, put that into a container in my garden and wait. It will turn green - floating algae - and normally then red. Daphina. Sometimes it does not turn red, but black. That are black mosquito larvae, a much better food. And mosquitos don't like me

[syno321]

[quote="Onsaud"]Dissolved yeast... is that the same kind as baking yeast? Would they sell that in fish or pet stores? Thanks!

They came from a tank with slightly green water, does that work?[/quote]

Baker's yeast that can be purchased at grocery stores. Green water is an even better food for the daphnia as it can't be overfed.

[Onsaud]

Thanks for the responses, everyone! The water in the tank doesn't look especially green right now, but can I leave a sample in the sunlight to encourage growth?

[dw1305]

Hi all,

but can I leave a sample in the sunlight to encourage growth?

Yes as long as the water doesn't get to warm. If you add some hay (dried grass) to your cultures they lst a lot longer and are less prone to crashing.

that are black mosquito larvae, a much better food

You should be able to get mosquito larvae from the same cultures outside, float a cork in them as the female mosquito needs somewhere to perch when she lays her eggs.

Have a look at this thread on caudata.org <http://www.caudata.org/forum/f1173-adva ... eding.html>.

cheers Darrel

[Onsaud]

Thanks again, Darrel! If I add the daphnia to the tank, is there any danger of the greenwater spreading? I wouldn't expect there to be, but I'd rather not take too many chances. Thanks for the link!

[dw1305]

Hi all,

If I add the daphnia to the tank, is there any danger of the greenwater spreading? I wouldn't expect there to be, but I'd rather not take too many chances.

I don't think so, but I don't add their culture water to the tank, I just net the Daphnia out of their bucket, and then rinse them out of the net and into a beaker with some rain-water. If you have a Brine shrimp net and a coarser net you can sort them into different sizes etc.

I should have posted this link as well (also at caudata.org) <http://www.caudata.org/daphnia/>.

cheers Darrel

[Onsaud]

Thanks for the advice; that link was really helpful! I just got some active yeast today—seemed like the easiest option. The daphnia definitely seem to be multiplying, so this is looking pretty good! There's some little white copepods in there too, probably cyclops.