Feeder Tank/daphnia

[IonaMcCluskey]

has anybody ever set up their own tank to produce daphnia, bloodworm or the like?
what would all the requirements be? ie. min tank size, equipment and water pars
i'd rather do daphnia if poss as i think the bloodworm would give me the hebies
 

 

[davidjp1982]

Daphnia are easy I use a 10 gallon tank all you need is a heater for the winter months and an airline giving a slow bubble to keep surface slightly agitated. You can feed on yeast / paprika mix - really easy

 

[IonaMcCluskey]

so you don't need a filter? what about water changes? what temp do you have the heater at? is it just a bare tank or do you have substrate, plants etc.?

 

[davidjp1982]

Don't want a filter as it will suck up the daphnia. Just a bare tank - about 80 degrees and set the airline so its producing only a couple of bubbles per second just to break the surface. To feed you just dissovle a pinch of yeast in water and mix into the tank just to turn the water slightly cloudy then leave until the water goes clear usually takes a couple of days if it takes longer then you are overfeeding. I used to change 25% every week with water from my main tank when doing a water change.

 

[IonaMcCluskey]

that's brilliant! thank you
my lfs has sun fish in and i have been sorely tempted

 

[frothhelmet]

I culture daphnia in bottles on the windowsill. Always add snails to their tank though. Makes all the difference.

 

[IonaMcCluskey]

what benifits do the snails add? would the wee ones that hitchhike on plants do? wouldn't they over run the tank?
i ask because i truely am clueless about this.

 

[davidjp1982]

I think I added a pinch of bicarb of soda too to buffer the ph and stop it crashing
 
@frothhelmet - do you use any aeration or heating on the bottles or just place them on the window sill? I'd be up for giving this a go - anything to minimise the mad scientist mess of tubes and bubbling vats of liquid in my living room.

 

[IonaMcCluskey]

my ph is 7 and my hardness is between 4 & 5. would this be suitable?

 

[DrRob]

I have a tank of daphnia on the windowsill.
 
I suppose I ought to feed them now it's got darker. I've been throwing hair algae in there out of one of my tanks I've been tweaking the lighting on until now and they've been going crazy for it.

 

[IonaMcCluskey]

@ dr rob
do you have any equipment in your tank or is it just a tank, water and daphnia?

 

[DrRob]

Just water and daphnia. Although I tend to take out some water at each round of water changes for the main tanks and refresh with old tank water. The room is warm enough to get away with no heater for most of the year and the window provides light. There is a light, but I tend not to use it in summer as it heats the little tank up too much.

 

[IonaMcCluskey]

that's brilliant, thank you
i'm def gona give this a try, just have to wait for my lfs to get live daphnia in.

 

[DrRob]

They tend to get them at the beginning of the season, easier for the suppliers in spring/summer.

 

[IonaMcCluskey]

i know they had live bloodworm a wee while back but i don't think they have much demand for live stuff and tend more to stock frozen.
i can only but ask and see if they can rustle a wee drop up from some place