How to get started with Daphnia?

[EvilGizmo]

OKay, so I want to setup a daphnia culture, going to be getting axolotl eggs soon! But, I'm not sure where to start, or once I've started how to separate out the daphnia small enough for hatchlings to eat. Thank you for any advice!

 

[TheColonel]

Just started rearing my own axolotls now,

if you look nearby for an aquatics centre they'll generally sell small packs of live daphnia, if you buy those and set up a culture like Daphnia says too, as in, dechlorinated, oxygenated water with things in to start to release bacteria (i used pellet foods and even a tiny bit of lamb!) you should be fine :happy:

btw i'm no expert.

 

[Jennewt]

Start with a fairly large tub. It helps to have some light over it, real or artificial. Be VERY careful about not overfeeding them. If you are feeding them green water, this isn't a problem, but almost any kind of non-live food can muck the water and kill them.

Experiment with various kitchen strainers until you find the one that separates the large from the small daphnia. Harvest them (all sizes) with a brine shrimp net, put them in water, then pour this water through the strainer to separate sizes.

Keep in mind that culturing daphnia is like standing on a pole; if the system gets out of balance, it crashes. The things you need to balance are the amount of food (not too much) and the amount of harvesting (not too much, not too little). If the culture becomes overpopulated, this will cause it to crash even if everything else is fine.

Be sure to read through the other threads in this forum about daphnia for additional tips.

 

[EvilGizmo]

how Long do daphnia stay alive? Could I just buy some every week til I get them going on worms?

 

[AngieD]

You could, but it starts getting a bit pricey when their appetite increases.

 

[Axoll]

Dont forget that all baby axolotls are different and they may not like daphnia they may like brine shrimp or any other live small food, also NEVER get daphnia from the wild as they have bacteria and you may also pick up dragonfly larvae with eat baby axies, once they get back legs they get their sense of smell and then you have to feed them live food, so frozen food could be used.

 

[xxianxx]

You could, but it starts getting a bit pricey when their appetite increases.

100% correct, also relying on store bought livefood can cause other problems, a break in supply could leave your larvae starving.