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Daphnia newbie question
Hi Vicky,
I am a newbie myself but my daphnia culture is
thriving thanks to all of the suggestion the list
members gave me.
Since nobody has responded just yet, I decided to
tell you what I did. I am sure other people on
the list will give you more help.
I was told that a 10 gallon tank works well
indoor. But if you are expecting just a small
culture to start with, I think what I did should
work well in your situation.
I started out small. Since I did not have a spare
10 gallon tank or enough spring water to fill it,
I released 60 daphnia to two 1-pint food grade
containers. When they doubled in number (in just
a few days), I split the two cultures to another
pint size containers. (I had a few of them on
hand.) Now I have four pint size containers and
two shoe box size containers full of daphnia
(magna and pulex). I was told the key to success
is "not to overfeed and harvest often". I have
been religious about harvesting and feeding just a
small amount. I am now thinking about moving the
daphnia into 5 gallon containers. With the type
of food I use, I think a large surface area works
better. Besides, a small amount of water fouls up
quicker. Since I don't know what is the proper
population density to avoid the crash, I keep
dividing as they multiply and keep a number of
containers going. My method worked well for me so
far.
I hope this helps.
Tomoko