Culturing Daphnia In Eight Easy Steps - This is the inspiration you need to get started with live food culturing. Daphnia are very interesting creatures, but they are also easy and fun to culture. Give these little critters a try, your fish will love you for it.


Daphnia (daff-NEE-ah) are small freshwater crustaceans that are found on just about every continent in the world. From the frozen artic to vernal desert pools, daphnia occupy an important niche at the lower rungs of the food web. Most aquatic insects, amphibians, invertebrates, fish and fowl utilize daphnia as a food source. And what an excellent food source they are! Daphnia are high in protein, vitamins A & D, and indigestible chitin (KITE-un) to aid in digestion. Aquarium fish that are fed daphnia quickly begin to show improved coloration, as well as increased vitality and activity.

Daphnia vary widely with regard to size, which makes some varieties better suited as food for baby fish and others better suited for small to medium sized adult fish. The most commonly available daphnids in the hobby are:
Daphnia magna: Excellent adult fish food. When most people think of daphnia, they think of Daphnia magna. D. magna are 2 to 5 mm in size.
Daphnia pulex: Probably the most widely distributed daphnid and also the most variable, ranging from 1.5 mm to 3.5 mm.
Moina: Are closely related to daphnia, except they are much smaller in size ( ...

Continue to read all article at : http://aquamaniacs.net/forum/cms_view_article.php?aid=33