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Re: Daphnia
Ed,
I raise my daphnia in hard, alkaline water both indoors and outdoors, in 35
gallon plastic tubs, as I said earlier. Except for feeding the soy flour -
yeast mix, the outdoor tubs take care of themselves and return a bonus of
mosquito larva and a few bloodworms. Leaves fall into the tubs in the fall
and I let them sit, and in the spring the overwintering eggs hatch and
produce a new brood, although I usually clean the tubs out and start over
later. The overwintering eggs are like an insurance policy.
The indoor tubs get the same care except I suspend a 40 or 60 watt
incandescent bulb over them to concentrate the daphnia and make them easier
to catch.
Water temperature ranges from around 60 indoors in the winter to the high
80's outdoors in the summer. I haven't noticed any great difference in
yields, although I haven't studied it very closely.
I don't filter or aerate at all.
Every now and then I siphon the mulm from the bottom of the tubs. It is
composed almost entirely of dead daphnia - they don't live very long and you
can't catch them all.
Starter cultures can be obtained at low cost from a number of on-line vendors
or from the duck pond, although you run the danger there of bringing other,
unwanted stuff in with the daphnia.
Good luck!
Bill