DallasDiscus (Live Daphnia Source, USA)

[Johnny O. Farnen]

I have done business with Mr. John Tran via his website for nearly 5 years now. He was recommended to me by other breeders back when I was pretending to be a full time tropical fish breeder... My original Daphnia magna starter was purchased from him, and through careful husbandry produced multiple generations over the course of 4 years. I have also had great success with both his pulex and moina cultures.

His prices are very competititive and his customer service is outstanding.

[John Clare]

I bought some of the "magna" and received them today. Very generous number considering how many were ordered. Well packed too. I'm very happy. My only comment is that I've seen a lot of different kinds of Daphnia over the years and I'm not 100% sure these are D. magna. I looked at them under a microscope today and while they look generally right, they seem a bit small compared to D. magna I've seen before. Anyone else notice this or am I just imagining it?

Dallas Discus get 10/10 from me.

[Johnny O. Farnen]

In the past I too have noticed the magnas tend to be smaller from cultures purchased during the winter months. I have a large batch of each of the three on the way, I'll get my microscope off the shelf and take a close look.

[John Clare]

That shouldn't be the case, other than that there will be males in a winter culture (which are smaller than females). Daphnia magna females should all be nearing 5 mm in length (which the DD ones I've received are certainly not). Your microscope won't do you much good at conclusively identifying the species - the only way to be sure you have D. magna (other than the size) is to see the ephippium. I received D. magna (confirmed) from LFS Cultures about 9 years ago. I don't know if that company still exists or sells them any more.

[Jennewt]

I've ordered from LFS Cultures within the past year or two, and I believe they are alive and well.

[John Clare]

Are their Daphnia magna nice and huge still?

[John Clare]

Update: the Daphnia I received are definitely not D. magna - the ephippia are definitely not those of D. magna and are more than likely those of D. pulex. I'm going to inquire if it was just a mistake.

[John Clare]

3 days since I inquired, heard nothing...

[Johnny O. Farnen]

John-
Examined ephippia from the cultures I received (with some help from someone that knows what they are doing down at our local waste water treatment plant) appears there is a mix of magna and pulex in the "magna" culture I have. Other cultures appear to be correct.

[John Clare]

That could be the case for me too but I can only see ephippia from pulex.

[Jennewt]

I can certainly understand how cultures grown in the same facility could become cross-contaminated. All it takes is one stray ephippium! And under certain conditions, the pulex could out-reproduce the magna in no time.

[John Clare]

He never responded to my email. If your magna cultures are over run with pulex, they are no longer magna cultures :/. I'm not worried about the identity of my culture but the fact that he never responded to my email is rather bothersome.

[Johnny O. Farnen]

I have to agree with you 100% John.
Frankly, I am a little disturbed by this after such a long history of excellent quality and service.

[Jennewt]

Here's a follow-up, slightly humorous. My daphnia cultures weren't doing well, so I decided to jump-start them by ordering a new culture. I ordered D. pulex from Dallas Discus.

The daphnia I have been growing for the past 4+ years are a wild-caught strain. From what I remember from past experience with pulex, mine are about the same size as D. pulex. They may, in fact, be D. pulex, I don't know.

The ones from Dallas have now had a week to grow out. Much to my surprise, there are some rather large daphnia in there, and I suspect they are D. magna. Can anyone ID them?

[John Clare]

Could be magna or pulex. The size is the give away. Over 3 mm = definitely magna.

[Jennewt]

Definitely magna then, at least some of them.

[Johnny O. Farnen]

I too have had issues lately. I have no idea what is going on there. My most resent magna jump start culture was all magna, but this is one out of 5 cultures in the last 90 days. The rest were overrun with the other species and vice versa.

I am a bit upset about this as I have been doing business with them for five years now and this issue is a bit unnerving.

[Johnny O. Farnen]

After many years of doing business with them, I have decided to stop using Dallas Discus as a supplier.

My last few purchases were sub-par. I am not sure what is going on down there, but the quality of the cultures is a mere shadow of what they were in years past.

I will be test driving a few other suppliers this year and will report back ad nauseum to the applicable testimonial threads.

[Kaiseric]

I ordered a culture of 1200 D. Pulex on monday morning, I sent an email asking if he could please ship that day, which was immediately responded to. I received my Daphnia right on time wednesday and 99% were alive. They are also definitely D. Pulex. Very happy with my order.

Maybe it's different staff processing the orders? I bet they'd be interested in seeing this thread..

[Johnny O. Farnen]

I suspect that there are seasonal variances, cross contamination and just plain old "Ooops Factors" involved. I suspect this is a side project of a larger business.

Since this thread started all those years ago, I have gotten to be such a cheapskate that I grow my own. Haven't ordered daphnia online for I don't know how long.