[rpadgett37]

I have some places I can go to get a starter culture and a tank to keep the colony alive and well. What I would like to know is what equipment would I need for the tank (heater, lighting, filtration if any) as well as water parameters (PH, KH, GH temp).

 

[lilnaugrim]

All you need is:

A tank (preferably 1 gallon or more)
An Air pump
Airline hose
And the culture to start

Don't use any airstones, just tie the airline hose in a knot to reduce the flow a little bit so they aren't thrown around everywhere. The airstone gives off smaller bubbles which can get caught on the daphnia and they die if left floating like that but they do need some airflow. They do just fine in any temperature between 60-85 so I don't even use a heater, they don't really need light either but it helps keep green-water cultures going as a food source.

Supposedly for a good culture you're supposed to do a small water change once or twice a week but we never really do, just add water from the greenwater culture when we need to and they're just fine. I don't think they care too much about pH and stuff, at least mine don't seem to care through my experience.

You can use liquid food (we use Roti-Rich), green water, infusoria will also been eaten as a food source.

 

[GwenInNM]

Hi! How much would you charge for a starter of Daphina? Do you sell it? Shipping would be to Albququerque, NM

Gwen

My apologies, I thoughtI was sending a private message to Lil

 

[rpadgett37]

I am currently using Phytoplankton which they seem to like just fine, but I am having a tough time culturing the green water.

I added the nutrients for it into the aquarium which gets direct sunlight for a portion of the day. The algae is beginning to grow, but I think that may be the result of seeding the tank with algae from another tank. I also added it to a bucket which I keep outside in the sun. No dice there.

 

[GwenInNM]

Ok, thanks. Let me think about this and decide if I want to raise these buggers what are benefits? I'm sure there are many.
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[lilnaugrim]

Mostly the fact that they are alive and will give your fish a very nutritious meal. They are natural laxatives for the fish which means, your fish is less likely to have an intestine blockage.

 

[Flear]

at the moment this site isn't working
but as far as simple setups for raising greenwater/daphnia, this is as easy as it gets

www.livefoodcultures.com/Daphnia.html

 

[Flear]

from personal experience, ... all the detritus from your tank during maintenance, can put that in your bucket you want to culture your greenwater in, ... otherwise do not use a substrate (most recent guess as to why my bucket has been going great for over a year, and greenwater dies in the main tank within 3 days)

from everything i've come across on the net, culturing greenwater itself seems to be among the harder-hardest things to do in the hobby (to keep it from crashing)

---

how ever you do it, one bucket cultures your greenwater (might want 2 for if/when one crashes you can divide the survivor & keep going)

your desired volume of greenwater is about 3x the bucket for your daphnia

pay attention to water quality for your daphnia, they may be small but still add a bioload to whatever container you have them in.

add greenwater to the daphnia bucket, till the water is nice and green
the little guys have a feast till the water goes clear, ... wait, if it's clear the little guys are starving, ... so before it goes clear (just foggy enough) either add more greenwater and/or put a bunch of daphnia in the tank for your fish.

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the link i posted in the previous post (i don't recall how big the bucket is)

from what i remember:
bucket was outside to get lots of light
had a goldfish in the bucket
feed the goldfish liberally
this will give you all the greenwater you want

 

[Flear]

parameters for greenwater, ...

i have never come across any information online at all

so i would guess with the following

air stone (this does lots, keeps water moving, adds CO2/O2, gasses off excess)
all the light your tank/bucket can get
heat ? room temp should be fine
detritus seems to make the best nutrient mix for greenwater

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for detritus, whatever you are cleaning, (substrate, filter sponge, whatever) after cleaning, the old water is a disgusting brownish, ... let settle, drain off the excess water, ... about the only idea i have here.

 

[rpadgett37]

Thanks Flear. I'll give this a go.