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Re: Live Foods Digest V2 #460
Hello Stuart,
Assuming that Australian mosquitoes have similar habits to the critters
around here, to see egg-rafts, you have to look against the light on the
water surface. Egg rafts will disrupt the smooth reflection of the sky
on the water. They can be really any size, but 2 x 2 mm to 4 x 4 mm are
most common. Just pick them up with a piece of wood.
I don't know whether there are Daphnia in Australia. Probably yes, since
Cladocera (the Daphnia family) are ubiquitous. If not, that niche must
be accupied by something similar. A local biology teacher will probably
know & possibly be able to provide a starter culture. Follow HIS
directions.
In size they are from <1 mm to 5 mm -- not hard to see with the nacked
eye. If you have to hunt for them yourself, then a reasonably good
technique is to use a stocking net on a hoop and swoosh it in the water
"in a figure eight" motion. After a while invert the stocking into a
pail, to wash out all the collected critters. Trnsfer to a glass jar, so
you can see through it from the side.
After the dirt settles, Daphnia will be seen *hopping* in the water.
Theoretically, all you need is a single female, because they are
parthenogenetic. If you don't succeed on the first try, another spot
might work. Usually, if there are NO fish, there will be Daphnia!
Keep your captured Daphnia in the original water until you get
reproduction, then subdivide the culture and change water VERY slowly,
one culture at a time. Some of them are quite sensitive to water
changes!
Probably the best food for Daphnia are algae, although they will NOT eat
all of the algae species! An artificial food is baker's yeast suspended
in water. Add just a FEW drops, to make the water slightly cloudy. When
it clears, add more yeast.
Harvest frequently. Overpopulated cultures crash -- everything dies,
except one or two individuals! That's why you have to subdivide the
culture, since they seldom will crash at the same time.If you have
patience, you can start a culture from these individuals surviving a
crash. They will slightly better tolerate overcrowding.
Good luck on your hunt!!!
Best,
George
> Date: Tue, 6 Jul 1999 14:05:51 +1000
> From: "Stuart Mcclure" <mcclure at hotnet_com.au>
> Subject: [none]
>
> hi to all im reletively new to the list ive been sitting back and listning
> to the discussions lately any way my question is:
> you guys and gals seem to harvest the mosqito larvae at the egg size but i
> cant seem to be able to find and floating eggs so any way i wait till there
> big suckers before i het a stocking put it over another bucket and pour the
> water through it to reveal large bits of dirt and stuff as well as these
> mosqito larvae is there a better wayu to harvest is it better to collecet
> em all up at the real small size?
>
> my other question is about daphina im thinking about culturing something
> besides mosqito larvae and thought of daphina asd youve been talking about
> it for the last few days any way how can i go about obtaining it here in
> australia its in pretty much all water isnt it is it so tiny that i can not
> caytch it with a stocking? as you can see i dont know a lot about the
> animalks so any help would be greatly appreciated!
> thanks stuart mcclure