Raising Daphnia

[sap]

Going to getting a mega culture of Daphnia Magna next week an I am trying to start a green water tank outside.

I threw in some rocks that are covered in algae, a sponge filter with a nice bacteria load in it and aged aquarium water.....hoping this will work, anyone else have any experience in raising daphnia in a green water tank?

[Dr. Awkward]

I haven't done it before but I'm planning to start one up in a few weeks. Are you going do the whole tank outside or just the green water?

[sap]

not sure yet, i may just raise them outside eventually, but i would like to get 2 10 gallon tanks indoor going solid and then transfering some outside to see how they do in the texas heat.

[sap]

found this on the net

The water from a vase of flowers is full of Infusoria. Infusoria are
already in your tank, the sponge filter in your tank will also cultivate
Infusoria. Fry will pick at it. Water from stagnant ponds in which
algae or a profusion of aquatic plants are growing. Tap water to which
you have added a hand full of wilted lettuce and left in the sun for a
few days. These are all good sources for starter cultures. The best
medium for starting the culture is dried lettuce. Lay the leaves in the
sun until the leaves are dry and crisp, these are then crushed and
stored in sealed containers for use latter. Simply sprinkle a covering
of crushed leaves onto the surface of the culture were they will absorb
the water and sink. The water should be examined under a low power
microscope or high power hand magnifying glass when the larger Infusoria
should be visible.
This starter culture water along with food is then added to the culture
containers and fed until the culture is thriving. Many different
materials have been used to successfully feed and raise Infusoria
cultures such as the widely advocated banana skin, rotting lettuce
leaves, milk, died peas, boiled hay, raw potato, a few rabbit droppings,
and powdered cereals. The boiling of any vegetable used as food is
recommended as boiling breaks down the tissues of the plant and it will
decompose faster.
Obtain seven one gallon or one half gallon jars to use as culture
containers and fill with water from a fish tank or tap water. Alkaline
water with a pH greater than 6.0 works best. Sit these on a South
facing window sill to get the maximum amount of light. An air pump with
a manifold to split off 7 lines for circulation in the jars. This is
critical so that algae doesn't grow and block the sun light on the sides
of the jars. Now, the water has a soluble garden fertilizer added
(Miracle Grow) at 1 TBS per gallon. This system is then seeded with
green water in jug #1 - two days later jug #2 - two days later jug #3 -
you get the picture. When this has turned bright green (about 7 to 14
days), I pour it into a Daphnia or Insuforia tank as food for the little
guys. Refill the jug with water mixture and seed with tank #2 which
should be about to turn bright green. This is repeated with each jug as
they turn bright green. As you might be able to tell, this will
provide about 1 gallon of fresh green water every two days.
Now, a few words of warning:
1) Clean everything after use to prevent fungus infection.
2) Empty each jug as it turns bright green even if you don't need
it as food. This will keep the cycle going. If you don't do this, you
end up with everything out of sync. and a big dark green mess to boot.
Gram flour obtainable from any Indian food shop or market seems to be a
cheap, good maintenance food. Gram flour is made from ground Chick
Peas, Pigeon peas or Garbanzos beans. In India these are called Chana
Dall (Dall means Pea). So Chana flour is the same as Gram Flour. Besan
is another name for Gram flour. It should be easy enough to buy dried
peas and a mortar and pestle, and grind a week's worth when you need it.
Whole wheat flour, which GRAHAM crackers are made from, is occasionally
refereed to as GRAHAM flour.
A Gram flour liquor made up of four tablespoons Gram flour mixed into a
smooth paste in one half cup of water then made up to a pint (1/2
litter) with water and stirred well. A few drops of this liquor are
added to the culture daily with great success. The unused portion can
be stored and use at a later time as required.
You can feed Infusoria cultures LiquiFry for egg layers. Go easy at
first, just 3 - 5 drops per quart as starter. Then wait and see. These
buggers are visible to the eye so it's easy to check if they reproduce.
Water clearing? Add a couple of drops of LiquiFry for egg layers.
When you feed the culture with a couple of drops of milk you'll see a
clouding of Infusoria at the surface within hours. I don't mean the
milk clouding but the Infusoria reproducing; i.e. rotifers can be seen
as tiny dots in the water.
One method of culturing Infusoria uses a one gallon clear plastic
bottle; two teaspoons of sugar, one quarter to one third of a 1/4 oz
(7g) packet of Fleischmann's Rapid Rise yeast; enough chopped up lettuce
to cover the surface (add more lettuce as it decomposes). Cover
container and set in the sun. Keep outside or plan to be single, if
you're married. It stays white, but is more opaque than just yeast and
sugar in water. It smells foul, but the liquor is rich in yeast,
Infusoria, and other critters the daphnia love. Filter some of the mess
through a coffee filter and feed a couple of ounces, just enough to
begin to cloud the water. Use a bubble wand to keep water moving. Just
add more water and a little lettuce from time to time to the one gallon
plastic bottle to keep it going.
The main problem that occurs is the presence of too much organic matter
causing pollution and the offensive odor a thriving culture should be
fairly clear and odor free. If the culture goes bad it'll be dirty and
start smelling. Let your nose be the judge as well as the color of the
culture as while the best cultures will be high on carbon dioxide
content it is very easy to tip the balance from thriving culture to a
jar of smelly polluted muck. The Gram flour liquor feed is the most
successful in avoiding this problem.
The addition of a few snails will help break down the organic matter and
assist in keeping the Infusoria cultures going as well as provide a
rough guide as to water quality. The large Ampullaria snail is also
know as the Infusoria snail as it consumes large quantities of plant
matter which is only partly digested and the snails droppings contain
organic matter which is available to the Infusoria. All aquatic snails
perform this function but several smaller snails will be required to
perform the function of one large Ampullaria. Simply feed the snails
flake foods or boiled spinach or dandelion leaves. If all the snails
start to leave the water then the bacteria are not converting the
ammonia to nitrites and then nitrate quickly enough. If this occurs the
best method is to pour off two thirds of the culture and top up with
aquarium water. Sometimes adding strong aeration will also aid the
bacteria in their conversion process and prevent fouling.
Infusoria is not of great importance to the live bearer enthusiast as
Mother Nature has ensured that live bearer fry can eat larger foods than
Infusoria from birth. It can be used for the fry of the very small
species to supplement the various other foods they can take to good
effect and should not therefore be disregarded. Egg layer fry do need
Infusoria and some of the species have such small mouths that only the
smallest Infusoria can be eaten, if this is not provided the fry
literally starve to death which probably accounts for the loss of more
fry than any other cause. Even those aquarists feeding Infusoria make
the common mistake of only adding water containing Infusoria two or
three times a day. Infusoria should be present at all times and the
simplest way of doing this is as follows.
From the culture container siphon out a pint or quart of the greenest
Infusoria culture for use and top up the original culture with water
form the tap or from an aquarium. Place or suspend the pint or quart
jar above the fry tank. Take a length of air line tubing and place one
end in the pint container and start it as a siphon. Using an air line
clamp restrict the flow of the siphon to about one drop every minute or
two. Direct this output into the fry tank. In this way a constant
supply of Infusoria will be supplied to the fry who will soon identify
were the Infusoria are entering the tank and will feed as they require.
By observing the container you will soon be able to judge how long a
container will last. Also the bellies of the fry should be full all the
time and if they are not then increase the flow of Infusoria. Larger
containers can be used to regulate the period between each feeding set
up. One other point to bear in mind is that although Infusoria do
better in alkaline water some fry are raised in soft acid water and the
addition of hard alkaline water to the fry tank can be harmful. While
twice daily partial water changes with the correct water can alleviate
this it is probably simpler to set up a few cultures in water the same
as the fry will be raised in.
For out door cultivation set up a kiddie wading pool. Simply pour some
old tank water in, top up with tap water and add some organic matter
such as a few rabbit droppings, dried or wilted lettuce leafs, a few
wheat grains or throw in a few tablespoons of dry dog food. Wait a
month. Result: All the green water you can use. A few tablespoons of
dry dog food, a couple of rabbit droppings or a dried lettuce leaf
should be added once a week

[biggin]

Damn....I need a rabbit now....

Wouldn't dog crap work as well? I know you are going to say rabbits eat vegetables...but so do dogs....most dog food is mostly corn....

[Dr. Awkward]

I'm just going to get two Rubbermaid tubs and put them outside with a couple air stones for aeration. Keeping them outside is supposed to take care of the need for green water. I plan to feed baker's yeast and spirulina powder if there isn't enought green water. I'm going to keep two in case one batch crashes. It will probably take me a few weeks to accumulate enough old aquarium water to fill them up.

[biggin]

Sounds like a decent enough plan....but how do you keep mosquitoes out? Or other non-desirables?

[Dr. Awkward]

I could probably put some mesh over the top. With my luck I'd probably end up with two tubs full of dragonfly larvae.

[sap]

i am going to start my greenwater culture inside to prevent mosquito larvae from getting in, i have a 10g with8 gallons of water and a large piece of slate covered in algae,i have about 7.8 watts ger gallon of light from a 10k bulb, i am going to run it 24/7 until it develops.

Then i will move the water into 3 - 2 gallon jars placing a 800 micron mdeia on the inside of the lid of the jar drill a hole for the airline and one other for air to escape and that should keep them out.It will be a trial and error thing.....daphnia will be raisd in 2 ten gallon tanks inside so in case one crashes I will have a back up...

[Dr. Awkward]

Maybe you could get a canning jar full of aquarium water, spike it with some of that algae, then put it outside for a week or so with a pantyhose foot rubberbanded over the top. When it turns green you could pour that in your greenwater tank to jumpstart it.

[sap]

i want to keep them indoors in a semi clean tank to reduce the smell, there is no way i can do it outdoors without breeding a host of unwanted mosqito larve and or dragonfly larvae, using the greenwater in the 2 gallon jugs to feed.

[biggin]

I hope it works out for both of you....I have a window planter thing for plants I could do this in just never really got the gumption to try it....I hope it works out for you and maybe I will give it a go....

[kSpieler]

I can provide anyone who needs it with a lifetime supply of bunny poo, specially if you only need a few pills ata time.
I also have old hay/orchard grass, too.

[Travis_Conklin]

I have been keeping Daphnia for about a year now. Thru the winter I had (3) 2 gal buckets with air tubing running to them...I fed them spirulina and yeast. When doing this make sure you are doing water changes at least every other day with aged water. No fresh water treated they don't like it. I presently have a 70 gallon tank outside right now. With this setup I just drain off about 5-10 gallons a day and replenish with water changes from inside tanks. One problem I think is happening right now is a lack of oxygen due to the high temperatures 90+ in that tank. I am not getting huge batches like I was getting about a month ago. To combat the lack of oxygen, I have ordered some of those battery operated air pumps and going to buy some rechargeable batteries. I am keeping Moina which is a smaller cousin of Daphnia. It is much smaller than the Magna. If you would like to do a trade of some at some point let me know.

[sap]

funny thing happened today i was told that I could take freeze dried daphnia and throw them in the water and possibly hatch some of the daphnia that were holding eggs and that actually worked....i have small daphnia in the tank already, large culture should be here soon and i will add part of them as well.

also i remember Paige from keller farms tell me that the hotter it gets outside, the less daphnia reproduce... i can remember going to KF during spring time and all he had to do is scoop the net once and i had a full bag of daphnia during summertime it would take up to 3-4 minutes of scooping to get enough to sell...

[supersmirky]

Oh wow....amazing Sap. I would have never thought that.

[Dr. Awkward]

Using the dried daphnia is a great idea! I will have to try that. Do you know what kind of daphnia you ended up with?

[sap]

i think they are moina, not sure though

[poel_19]

Scott when you have a few extra let me know, I would love to see your setup while picking up a couple of scoops.......and toss a couple beers back watching you catch fry!!

[sap]

it wont be long, although i didnt get as big as a culture as i was expecting they have already trippled and i have two seperate tanks going one being a 30g outside and a 10g inside.....the outside tank also has a large population of mosquito larvae..

[Dr. Awkward]

I just finished building my outdoor tank. It's not set up yet. I used fiberglass window screen for the top and have a ton left over. I'd be happy to give you the extra. Maybe we could even do a swap.

[sap]

its gonna be a while before i am going to start giving some away, i am going to wait for one of the tanks to crash, which i am told is eventually inevitable... DallasDiscus has some on ebay, here. (http://cgi.ebay.com/LIVE-DAPHNIA-WATER-FLEA-sp-magna-FISH-FOOD_W0QQitemZ130227149495QQihZ003QQcategoryZ20759 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

I wish i had got a starter from them as mine was less than 100 for 12 bucks shipped..

[Dr. Awkward]

Thanks for the link but I'm still a long ways off from stocking my daphnia tank. Just offering up the screen to keep the skeeters out of yours :).

[sap]

i just scoop them out, feed to fish...

[sap]

probably have around 800.....they are really taking off....

[AndrewH]

So are these thing big enough to see with your naked eye?

[sap]

the largest are about 5 mm, newly hatched ones are about the size of BBS

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[dcacjc]

Sap when you are finished with your green water you can do this: YouTube - Fill 'er up -- with pond scum and make some bio fuel.

[sap]

you wont catch me doing shots of my green water....

[biggin]

Its like a shot of wheatgrass at a health food place.....:puke:

[dcacjc]

X2 :puke:

[fischlein]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

[doughboy]

Down at school, we maintain Daphnia cultures for the toxicity tests that we run. Whenever we have some extras, I get to take them home for my fish. But I definitely make sure they haven't been exposed to any chemicals. :hehe:

[sap]

daphnia are the best.....especially for feeding new fry... i grab about 1 tbsp a day from my outdoor 30g and my fry go nuts for them....too bad lfs's dont sell them on a regular basis

[fischlein]

Can you only buy them online or do you know a store which sells them ?

[sap]

Dallas Discus sells them............Dallasdiscus.com call before you go over there.

[fischlein]

thank you again , you are so helpful:)
here is a :flower: for you

[Dr. Awkward]

Hey Sap, how do you siphon up the gunk at the bottom of your daphnia tank? I tried to do mine the other day but ended up with zillion baby daphnia in the bucket. Is there a way to keep them from getting sucked up with the gunk?

[sap]

i just siphon it off into my greenwater tank, there is really no way to catch all of them, i have tried many ways, best result i have had is to drain all the gunk into a 64 oz plastic bottle( I use a old ocean spray cranberry) let it all settle and take a flashlight, set it on top and leave in a room with no lights on and the daphnia will come to the top and you can siphon most out but not all

[Dr. Awkward]

Good deal. I'll try that. Thanks.

[sap]

i started using yeast as food for my cultures and it working pretty well, no need to run lights to keep green water going and no algae growth from the lights.....i probably have 150,000 daphnia in the 33 gallon inside, my outside green water tank got so many daphnia in it, it is no longer green......i am truly amazed at how fast these guys can clean and filter the water back to crystal clear...

[ElijahTurtle]

Did you start all your cultures from the freeze dried daphnia? I was thinking about running a tank in the garage for them or on the back porch, but the morings have been getting pretty cool, I don't know if they would do well outside for much longer.

[pam916]

Can you leave daphnia cultures outside during the winter.

[mrsadler]

GOOD LUCK GUYS

[sap]

Did you start all your cultures from the freeze dried daphnia? I was thinking about running a tank in the garage for them or on the back porch, but the morings have been getting pretty cool, I don't know if they would do well outside for much longer.

I its hard to say if frozen or the freeze dried worked, i think they did but they were d.pulex or d.moinia, the culture i got from a guy on okcaa were definately d. magna which are absolutely huge daphnia growing to 4-6 mm in size.... the yeast worked well for a while but my indoor cultures collapsed.....i think it was due to an overdose of flourish excel that killed them, 95 % of that culture died and i am starting it over now.......

I found a interesting inhabitant in my out door culture yesterday......it was a 1/2 inch h.carpintis living in there, I thought i saw a fuah in there a couple of weeks ago but i didnt think it was possible, but i caught him yesterday....i guess he hitched a ride out there in some sponge water or maybe he grew tired of hikari pellets and willed himself out there....kind of a mysterey.....

i have been told they will survive wintertime, their metabolism just slows way down, even if the daphnia do die, their should be plent of eggs in the bottom of the water to hatch when warmer wether continues......summer is tooo hot for a culture outside in direct sunlight, spring and fall should be the best time for them to take off, you can keep them in sunlight all day long and not have the water temp climb in the 90's....

[mrsadler]

:exactly::exactly:Damn....I need a rabbit now....

Wouldn't dog crap work as well? I know you are going to say rabbits eat vegetables...but so do dogs....most dog food is mostly corn....

[sap]

Can you leave daphnia cultures outside during the winter.


before the move i drained my outside culture to find alot of daphnia, it had been below freezing several times and it actuall iced over one time. I even put some daphnia in a plastic cup one time and froze it solid and upon thawing the ice some were still alive but the majority were dead.....

[kSpieler]

My offer of bunny-poo still stands if anyone wants any! :D

[rod24]

How is this working for you guy?? I was thinking or starting a culture to have some fresh live food.

[FishDaddy]

oooh that's what a daphnia is.....I got a bazillion of them in one of my little bucket ponds. It doesn't have aeration, just a ton of little plants, snails, dirt,etc...i don't add food or anything

[rod24]

oooh that's what a daphnia is.....I got a bazillion of them in one of my little bucket ponds. It doesn't have aeration, just a ton of little plants, snails, dirt,etc...i don't add food or anything

How big is your bucket pond? Maybe that is the way to go.. Post a picture of it.. I want to see what your set up looks like..

Gracias

[FishDaddy]

i'll post a picture when i'm back in town, got two trips this week:mad:

[rod24]

i'll post a picture when i'm back in town, got two trips this week:mad:
cool