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Daphnia culture (Newbie question)



Hi everyone,

I have sent a message an hour or so ago
but it does not seem to have gotten to
the list for some reason.  So I am
sending my message again.  Please
forgive me if I end up posting the same
message twice.

I am thinking about placing an order for
Daphnia and other live food culture from
LFS cultures or Moina from Segrest
Farms.  Reading the food section of the
Krib and archives of this list got me
excited about Daphnia/Moina.  I am
looking for the sources for varied diet
for my apistogramma and their tankmates.
I am currently using bbs and blackworms
in addition to flake food.  I have been
hatching the bbs successfully for a few
weeks now.  But I have not been able to
grow them on to adulthood.  I would
really like to have a reliable
self-perpetuating culture like the red
wiggler worms I maintain for composting
kitchen scraps for the garden outdoor.
Unfortunately the beautiful red wigglers
I grow are too big for my fish.  There
are millions of baby worms in the
container, but I can not harvest the
babies so easily.  I hope Daphnia/Moina
is as easy to raise as these red wiggler
worms.

Before I place my order for these little
beauties, I would like to get some
recommendation from the experienced
people on this list.

I noticed that LFS cultures carries
various live-food starter kits.  I am
considering their Daphnia kit that
contains large D. magna or D. pulex (my
choice) culture, large Euglena culture,
4 oz. Daphnia food, and step by step
instructions for $35.00.  Do you think
this would be a good starter kit for
someone like me or is this a bit of an
overkill?  Should I just grow my own
greenwater and order just a Daphnia
culture?

I prepared a small container of
fertilizer spiked water this morning and
inoculated the water with the green
stuff I found growing on my dog's
outdoor water bowl.  I put them on the
windowsill along with my African violet
collection.  I doubt that this would be
enough to feed a large Daphnia culture
but I can use it as a seed to prepare a
larger batch of green water, if I am
successful at growing one (daphnia or
green water).  Can someone give me a
recommendation for the efficient method
to grow greenwater and how much/often to
feed them to Daphnia?

I intend to split the starter culture
into two one-gallon size plastic
containers (the inexpensive type that
Petco sells for keeping various small
creatures).  Do you think these work OK
or should I get two 5 gallon aquarium
tanks?  As far as water is concerned, I
can let some tap water sit around for
few days to age or use a portable water
filter jug (the kind some people put
into a fridge) to filter out impurities.
If Amquel is not good for Daphnia, what
de-chlorinator should I use in case of
an emergency water change?

I am sorry for a long message.  I would
really appreciate your recommendations.

TIA,

Tomoko Schum
Madison, Alabama