Feeding Daphnia inside Newt's Tank?

[stanleyc]

Are there any ill effects of adding yeast or green water to the tank to prolong the Daphnia's life and maybe even reproduce?

 

[Davo]

Youre water quality would deteroriate in the newt tank, much easier to breed daphnia in a bucket. :happy:

 

[Jennewt]

I think that live green water shouldn't hurt water quality. But I agree with Davo that something like yeast could have a negative impact on water quality.

 

[Nathan]

I agree with Jennewt. Daphnia will also find other things to eat in the tank; there are always bacteria and protists in an aquarium. The trouble is the speed with which newts eat the daphnia; it's hard to keep a population going unless the tank has a low newt density and lots of cover for the daphnia. If you really want to keep live daphnia going in the tank, it is worthwhile to install a refugium, such as saltwater aquarists use for "pods" (assorted micro- and mesocrustaceans).

 

[blueberlin]

I used to feed Daphnia with a tea brewed from stinging nettles (brew a bunch for 10 minutes, freeze it as ice cubes for later). I've read that spinach tea works, too. The problem I see is that, to the best of my knowledge, Daphnia require a pretty high oxygen flow and an aerator might disturb the newt?

-Eva

 

[Nathan]

They do fine without aeration unless you are keeping them at very high densities.