Re: [Live-foods] Daphnia Water Chemistry

[Scott Davis <unclescott at prodigy_net>]

A discussion in a similar vein took place a while ago on the Killietalk list. I've also  mentioned the value of calcium to Daphnia, though I now wonder if it might be at a more basic level.

Pathologist Barry Cooper suggested that while calcium may be important in a Daphnia habitat, that was not specifically for the carapace. Those seem to be uncalcified. Different Daphnia thrive in different waters. Other studies noted that waters whose chemistry varied over the course of a year also experienced different sized populations of Daphnia species in them.

http://fins.actwin.com/killietalk/month.200412/msg00494.html

Aren't fingernails and hair in good part certain kinds of proteins. Would Daphnia carapace or shells be similar?

All the best!
Scott


Bill <Billinet at comcast_net> wrote: Daphnia need water with a high calcium content because, as crustaceans, they
need it to do make their shells.  Apparently they can live in soft water,
but do not thrive.

I gave up on using green water because it was too time consuming for me to
maintain a supply of it.  Instead I maintained a culture of D. pulex for 10
years, indoors and out, with a yeast and flour mixture.  (The culture died
when a helpful house painter emptied the tubs to get rid of the mosquito
larvae.)

Bill


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