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Daphnia Barrel




>I am having trouble in my daphnia barrels with filament algae would I 
>be risking parasites by using snails to eat the algae? I have heard 
>about what I think is a nematode parasite that uses snails and >daphnia 
as vectors in it's life cycle but both have to be present for >the life 
cycle to complete. Is this true or am I getting this mixed up >with some 
other parasite life cycle? The algae makes harvesting the >daphnia 
difficult. Also could scuds or cypris be cultured in the same 
>containers as the daphnia possible using them to control the algae.

                                                                       
Michael Hissom

Michael,

I'm definitely no expert on parasites but I don't believe there is any 
problem having snails in the same container with daphnia.  I've actually 
read that keeping daphnia in a tank with ramshorn snails is advantageous 
because the snail wastes fertilize the water, thus stimulating algal and 
bacterial growth.  I  have had both snails and waterfleas in the same 
container on a number of occasions and have never had any problems--but 
I could have just lucked out.
As for scuds and cypris; they could both potentially help.  I haven't 
had much experience with the scuds, however I have thousands of cypris 
(Ostracods/Seed Shrimp) in my waterflea tank.  They will devour anything 
given time.  However the algae might grow to fast for them to keep it in 
check.
Since we're on the topic of parasites, one thing I forgot to mention in 
my Isopod message was the potential danger of these creatures (and scuds 
- Amphipods) as vectors for fish parasites. If you collect either of 
these crustaceans from fish inhabited waters you run the risk of 
capturing individuals housing these parasites.
I gathered my isopods from a fishless, temporary forest pool in the 
spring.  You can also breed your Isopods/Amphipods for several 
generations in captivity to get rid of the parasite.
Hope this helps.

Bentley

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