[Killietalk] re:moina, Japanese daphnia

["Mach Fukada" <fukada at aloha_net>]

Aloha Brother Paul,
    I have been raising them non stop for the past several years.  Or at
least since I moved to maui. They do make excellent food for many fish,
especially fry.  I have found that I can keep a good number of them in a
tank with some fry and sort of forget them for a few days.  The fry don't
grow as fast as  compared to those fed on artemia, However with my schedule
I can't feed then every artemia three or four hours for maximum growth.  I
also have observed that it is probably a better feed for those cold water
loving killies (Diapteron, etc).

The cultures are sensitive to poor conditions.  Most people have crashes
because they run out of food or poor water quality.  Both of these
conditions will cause the Moina to produce resting eggs and prepare for long
term survival.  Most people have found out that they can and will reproduce
really fast at high temps, but this make them very susceptible to crashes.
I could never keep them going in Honolulu, but it was much warmer there.  It
is still in the 50-70 range here in Kula.  Typically I could havest 1/4 cup
of Moina every day, provided that I changed the water every day with new
green water.  I have it scheduled around every other day.   More managable
in term of time. I have three 20 gallon tubs for culture tanks of Moina.
Also 2 tubs of Daphnia magna.  The Moina does much better in the warmer
months of the year and the Daphnia does better in the cooler months.  about
70-90% of the water would be changed every other day.  To accomplish this I
have several large rubbemaid stocktanks (100-300 gallons) stocked with
goldfish to produce greenwater. I will get some photos and put them up on
the AKA members gallery....

MTF

Message: 2
Date: Sat, 1 May 2004 20:15:41 -0400
From: Paul_Jablinski at notes.udayton.edu
Subject: [Killietalk] moina,  Japanese daphnia
To: killifish discussion list <killietalk at aka_org>






Has anyone ever tried raising the daphnia, moina?  They are very small in
size, a smidge smaller than brine shrimp.  They are excellent food for
annual killie fry.  I hear that the Asians use them for food for fry.  It
sounds also that they would be cheaper and more economical than buying
brine shrimp.  One can raise thousands in a one gallon container and do
this the entire year without much trouble.  They are easier to raise than
raising magna daphnia.  They are very nutritious - just think you can feed
these daphnia all sorts of good foods (carrots, peas, yeast, whole wheat
flour - all mixed with water and only a few drops a day will produce a lot
of daphnia.  And all the time and money you will save from hatching out
brine shrimp.  Or you could use brine shrimp as an extra nutritious food.
Just think, these little critters will even multiply in the fry tank.  You
will never have to worry about overfeeding.
I thought that I would bring this to your attention.  You may want to try
them as good food for you killies.
   Sincerely,
Bro. Paul


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