Re: [APD] Daphnia

["Boy Named Tsu" <boynamedtsu at hotmail_com>]

I kept a culture of Daphnia going for years in a 2 1/2 and then a 5 gallon aquarium...  Only fed them dry yeast, mixed a small amount with water in a coffee cup and poured it in. Get the water a bit cloudy but not opaque, when it gets clear in a few days, lather-rinse-repeat. Occasionally I would put a small amount of sugar in with the yeast, wait till it started to bubble and use it. A pinch of paprika will give them some color. I'm sure they also got some GW from the tank, as it had no plants and I had a small light over it, but they kept the water crystal clear until I added yeast. Daphnia need calcium to grow, a good tip is to put a seashell or two in the tank and occasionally 'scrape' it.

 If your local fish store does not have them,  www.lfscultures.com will mail them to you but kind of pricey at $8 for a small culture. No need to get a large culture, in a short time you will have many Daphnia. Get your small tank ready with 'used' aquarium water from your main tank and a small foam block filter (don't use a powerfilter!). Some snails will eat the yeast that settles to the bottom Daphnia Magna are the biggest, I used these as my Angelfish would eat the biggest, and the fry seemed to be able to handle the 'just hatched' Daphnia.

Starting my aquariums back up after a 3 year vacation, Daphnia are on my list of "things I need". 

Tsu
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