Anyone here collected daphnia before?

[Fabian]

I need help since i now have little brine shrimp eggs left.Someone told me to look at the drains for it.Can i really find it there.I need help please.Thanks.

[inareverie85]

I'd be careful looking around drains for any food for your fish. I'm sure there can be plenty of parasites/harmful bacteria there.

Maybe I'm just paranoid though.

[indjo]

Your area should be similar to mine.
You can find daphnia in most waters - water canal, drain, stagnant water, etc. The question is the quantity - is it worth scooping (unless you only need it for a culture starter). You need to "learn" where to find them in large quantities..

You might also get water mites(?), those greyish round or oval types (you want the pinkish types). Most bettas wont touch them. They are useful in small quantities as cleaners but can do damage in bigger numbers. So you have to siphon them out periodically.

They may carry diseases/bacteria as they are in nature - and specially if it's sort of a sewer system. But rinsed well a few times and clean them from whatever wastes, they should be fine.

I buy my daphnia, gathered from canals and sewers. As long as I rinse them until I only have daphnia, they're safe enough for my bettas. I also buy ML which were also collected in the same way and similar water. I only feed less active/sick bettas ML ..... if they carry that many parasites, my bettas would all die.

The most risky foods is tubifex. If they die in your betta tank, they can cause problems - even though you previously rinsed them very well.

[Fabian]

How do you collect daphnia?
And when?

[indjo]

They are easier to find in big numbers in stagnant waters - a big puddle, rice padies, very low flowing drain systems, etc. Daphnia usually group together and will often stay close to the surface. Simply net them with a fine meshed net. If you collect them after dark, shine a flash light on them and they will gather in the light.

I used to collect them around mid day after school. But you can collect them anytime of the day. My suppliers collect them around dawn - but then again they know daphnia infested places thus don't need to actually see them.

[Fabian]

How about a drain with some bloodworms in it?

[indjo]

What do you mean? Collect the bloodworms? You would have to collect the whole gunk like thingy. .... I'm not really sure how to separate the BW from the gunk - sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't - I place everything on a mesh and wait for the BW to drop into a bowl.

Another thing, sometimes bettas wouldn't take live BW, specially big BW - not sure why?

[MrVampire181]

I have a 300 gallon pond out back full of it and two 20 gallon tubs full as well. Just scoop it. Blood worms are too difficult to harvest IMO so just use daphnia. Simply take a bit from the surface and place them in your own "pond". Mine are all grown in clean, man made ponds.

[Fabian]

what i mean is the drain have some bws in it.Do you think a planted tank with old water will have some.The tank is really old, i don't change it because there are n fish in it.

[indjo]

My tanks/tubs are outside. Old water always have BW in them. I usually siphon most of it out as I water change 50-70% before spawning in it. My adults wouldn't "hunt" live BW so I see no point in keeping them. But I've noticed that growing fry (half giants only- not the regulars) may eat them. I prefer to replace these BW with tubifex which often gets eaten by BW if I leave them all in.

If your tanks are inside; it depends on how well you keep skeeters out of your home and room.