Daphnia Help Needed!

Backstory: I ordered a microfex+daphnia from a seller on here, but overharvested them :/ So I ordered a second larger daphnia only culture from another seller and they arrived 95% dead. I did my best to separate the live ones, but most of them died over the next few days(probably from the fouled water during the trip). I put the ephippia(eggs) and green water they were sent in + some old tank water into a bucket outside as I can't seem to grow algae indoors at least. Those don't seem to be doing anything. The seller sent a replacement, which took 6 days to arrive, instead of 2-3(post office issue, not the seller's). Surprisingly there are some still alive, but its not much better than the last time.

I really need some step by step instructions on what to do at this point to give the remaining survivors the best shot. I have read many sites about them, but apparently I have bad luck(although not all my fault) with raising them.

What is the best way to separate most of the dead ones out? They seem to settle at the bottom and I've been using a turkey baster. I've tried shining a light and could catch some of the live ones, but I stir up a lot of the dead in the process and keep going back and forth with additional containers, but don't know what else I could do.

I have microfex still alive and well to culture them with. I also have yeast. I do NOT have green water.

I have two small tanks set up for them - one has the microfex, the other doesn't at this point. I have air pump with tubing(no stone) aerating it(I've read D. Magna prefer it, plus with the smaller tanks, I think its also recommended). I can leave the light on or off(its in a bathroom). I can put some in a breeder net in my fully cycled axolotl tank or in another partially cycled fish tank(w/o fish at this point).

I really just want to give these remaining few a shot at survival as I'd love to have a few cultures going.

Why do think it is nessary to remove the dead?I,personnally would wait for the pop. to bounce back.Then,I would start new colonies/cultures. IMHO. Gavin

Any chance you have some microfex you could sell?

You can gently scoop out, or siphon out with a larger diameter siphon into a wide flat container and allow that to settle. Then carefully scoop or gently pour the live creatures, which should be hovering over the detritus layer on the bottom, back into the tank.

Green water can be cultured easily, but starting is not all that cheap. Carolina Labs and Florida Aqua Farms sell cultured algaes, that are easy to grow on using either Carolina's Alga Gro, or Guillard fertilizer. You need very bright lights, an air stone and a clean container, such as a gallon water bottle. Carolina cultures come in a tube, Florida Aqua has discs that last months in storage, and are still viable.

You simply keep culturing and splitting the algae. I keep mine by a light garden with ten daylight tubes running 16 hours a day, works dandy. Air stones stop the algae cells from settling and suffocating the cells underneath.

You can freeze algae in ice cube trays for dosing later, or keep in the fridge for a week or two before it goes bad as well.

Baker's yeast works, but you must be careful not to over feed. For say, a 5G tank with not many daphnia in it, you'd only give them 1/8 tsp yeast, dissolved with a pinch of suger and lukewarm water, a cupful of it. Stir until dissolved, wait 'til you see some bubbles at the surface. Then only add enough to very slightly cloud the water. You should still be able to see daphnia on the other side of the tank.

Too much food for too few creatures leads to oxygen loss and crashing. I overfed mine at first and lost them all. Doing better now, and I have five different algaes growing to feed them and my newly acquired Dero worms with.

Going to try the Dero worms with a laboratory technique I found, hopefully increase their numbers greatly, so they can live and coexist with the Moina I have going now. Moina, incidentally, are easier to grow than either of the two common daphnia, D. pulex or D. magna.. They have a MUCH wider temperature tolerance, don't have boom and bust population cycles either. Also tolerate much higher densities of themselves in their water than daphnia species do.