Re: Green Water and Moina

[ksimolo <ksimolo at frontiernet_net>]

Hi,

I have been using the goldfish + bright lights method for producing green
water for the last 3 months without any problems.  It is much easier than
culturing pure strains of algae which I did a few years back.  One 30 gallon
tank is easily producing enough for two 15 gallon tanks of moina.  I pull
out between 5 - 10 gallons of "pea soup" per day.  I then replace it with
water from nearby fish tanks - kind of neat to reuse the water and any
nitrates, etc. help fertilize the green water.  I have some cans of pumpkin
as a backup in case the green water should crash.  I fed the moina squash
baby food or yeast for a long time but you have to be much more careful
about overfeeding and water changes.  I switched to canned pumpkin (not
pumpkin pie filling which has all the spices, etc. added) since it is easier
to find and cheaper than squash baby food or canned squash.  The green water
so far is "safer" and forces you to remove water (or it overflows when you
add the algae!).  I have had very good luck with some of the algae pastes as
well but that is an expensive option.

When feeding pure algae strains, you had some idea of the nutritional
profile.  I have no idea what the profile is for the moina when fed green
water so I do not know if it is a better feed than pumpkin.  It is certainly
a more interesting way to do it.

Ken
Springwater, NY