So, how do i grow/breed/culture daphnia to feed to my Fish?

Ive got a 15L tank i could use,

Any help would be cool

ive heard slight amounts of milk powder does the trick but green waste is most often talked about. i think you might want to consider buying a plastic rubbish bin from the Warewhare for 20 bucks and using that. Someone has even said placement on your property can play a part in culture growth. if it was me i would set up 3 or 4 in different areas to try and ascertain the best position for a culture to grow.

I googled it a while ago, and they said somethingabout yeast, and constant cropping, so they keep breeding.

I used to feed mine yeast and liquifry and just throw in something green every now and then (but liquifry is an expensive way to feed them). I've heard of crushed dog biscuits being used to get a bacterial bloom in the water. Doing a small water change at the same time as your tanks is a good way to cull them and keep them from dying as well.

They're cool little critters. I would like to get some more myself.

I have a 150 litre tank that mine breed in.

I feed them disolved yeast once a week(just enough to make the water cloudy but still see the back of tank) and throw in a small clump of grass clippings .

do a water change once every two weeks

Seem to breed alright for me, although with the recent cold they have slowed down a bit.

I started my culture from some daphnia in a farm water trough.

Just dont over feed and remember to change the water

Someone linked this ages ago and I saved it it might be of some help..

http://www.caudata.org/daphnia/

I've got mine in against the garage on the eastern side. They're in a couple of plastic storage bins from the local mitre 10. They get a handle of grass every so often, and have a bunch of red ramshorn snails there to keep the algae from getting going. I tip about a quarter of the water and replace from the tap every so often (maybe 1 week in 4?).

They've been going well for years now, and I've actually tipped out nearly all the daphnia before (just left a bit of the sediment, and the snails) and had them breed up in weeks. The gound they sit on is damp, and has a lot of snails and slugs down there. I often find 2 or 3 tiger slugs (or leopard slugs if you prefer!) under the lid. I find the cultures with the slugs under the lids do best - I presume its because the slugs do their filthy business straight into the water during the day.

Mine appears all by itself in a large bath and half a mussel float I have outside. I rarely feed them but, when I do, I sprinkle a little dried yeast. Some suggest dried blood or drop a little dried sheep poo, or grass clippings in.

Hi Dixon,

I have 2 cultures going.

I have one outside in a large tub which has leaf litter on the bottom.

Once every now and then I throw in a nana skin or something and teh daphnia comes and goes in winter and summer.

The second culture I was given by a good friend in Auckland and I have that in a cold tank in my fish area. Its about 80 l and I have no mulm on the bottom but it dies build up there. I use old fish tank water to "feed" it and every few days I throw in some flake food.

I have a light n this tankabout 16 hours a day and I harvest it daily.

This is great for winter as they dont die off inside.

I use a small fine net which you can dredge with or syphon into.

Now and then when I feed my GBAs marow or the such teh left overs go in there 2.

I have snails in teh inside tank but wish I didnt as the lay eggs all over the place.

Happy to give you a starter if you want one

HTH

Navarre