Description
This article is from the Aquaria:
Food FAQ, by Oleg Kiselev, Don Wilson, and Steve Bartling.
04 Daphnia
Uses:
Daphnia (also known as "water fleas") are tiny crustaceans of
Daphnia pulex and D. magna spp. They are probably the most
ideal food for the smaller fresh water -- Daphnia do not die in
the tank and will eat microscopic garbage while they live. They
come in a variety of sizes -- from hardly visible to over 1/8".
This is a typical source of food for many fish in the wild.
Culturing:
Daphnia can be cultured in everything from betta bowls to 32
gal trash cans. Indoor cultures can be fed various algae
scrapings and tank sludge, as well as deactivated brewers
yeast, powdered milk and APR (artificial plankton stuff from
OSI). The best food to use is green water, and can be used in
outdoor cultures. Green water can be grown using a weak
solution of Miracle Grow and chelated iron in dechlorinated
water, seeded with "pea soup" water. If water full of nutrients
is left out in full sun, within weeks it will turn green from
the airborne algae spores.
Blender-pulverized lettuce is rumored to work well in small
amounts.
Fry tanks and bowls can be seeded with Daphnia -- the Daphnia
eat the bacteria that may be hazardous to the fry and generally
purify water and the fry will eat them as they get larger.
Freshly hatched fry can also be added directly into Daphnia
cultures (about 2 fry/liter) and will feed at their leisure.
However, fry kept in equivalent sized tanks and fed more
intensively grow faster.
A shrimp net or a fine fish net can be used to catch Daphnia.
Sources:
A clean Daphnia culture may be obtained from a local aquarium
club or mail order.
Daphnia can also be gathered from local lakes with a plankton
net. An inexpensive net can be constructed by the
do-it-yourself aquarist. Sew a conical fine mesh net with
something like sheer curtain material, and attach it to a
circular piece of wire (such as a clothes hanger, bent into a
circle). Add some weights to one side of the wire frame and
hang it from a three string harness. The net can then be slowly
dragged behind a canoe or rowboat in a lake known to contain
Daphnia. The wire frame will keep the mouth open, and the
weights will act like the tail of a kite, to keep the net from
rotating when it is dragged. Such as setup can be remarkably
productive, but the aquarist must beware of parasites like
Hydra and various carnivorous insects, like glass worms.
Capturing glass worms are a mixed blessing, because larger fish
will happily eat them, but the glass worms will also eat fry,
if present.
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Tags
aquaria, fish, acquarium, tank, live food
