3 replies to this topic

[Joshaeus]

Hi everyone! I am thinking of culturing moina outside next year for my fishes. I was going to use a 18 gallon round storage tote stuffed with hornwort and perhaps other plants and fed daily with a plankton feed from sachs systems aquaculture. Here are my questions;

 

1 - How much powdered plankton feed should I use daily?

2 - When should I set up the culture/put moina in it? I live in zone 5.

3 - How often/how much should I harvest? Would a 50% WC a week harvest enough moina?

4 - Does the culture need aeration, or will a still water surface work?

5 - Anything else I should know?

 

Thanks

[gerald]

Feed: Keep it just slightly cloudy.  Amount will of course depend on Moina density and temperature, so can't really specify a quantity.

I grow Moina/Daphnia/Ceriodaphnia mix outside year-round in central NC, no aeration.  Low production in winter, but they live even under ice.

They're most likely to crash in hot weather, so starting them in cool weather is probably best.  Add a handful of dead tree leaves and garden soil.

Harvest enough to keep them from getting "too dense" -- you'll need to figure that out by trial and error.  Too dense is when they crash.

Keep multiple containers so when one does crash, you have back-ups to restart it.

I add green water from my turtle tubs (they poop in the tubs) as Daphnia food.

[Joshaeus]

OK! Thank you

[Matt DeLaVega]

I would get rid of the hornwort. It will starve the algae. I have done best having multiple containers growing green water and rotationally grazing the daphnia (in my case) through the containers. Kept crashes minimal. Move them, refill the tank they left, start new green water culture in it.