Frozen Daphnia

[nicholas76]

Has anyone actually used this food source before?

it looks really small like baby brime shrimp.


has anyone used this on fry?

[fishgeek]

my opinion, not a particularly well referenced one
is that daphnia are lots of shell and not much nutrition so probably wont get that much growth out of young fish on them

andrew

[G-1000]

Hi There,

I havent used daphnia with discus before, however I have used it fairly extensively with african cichlid fry. Daphnia is actually quite nutritious, but does have a habit of tending to foul the water quite quickly. As for the daphnia being mostly shell - I am not sure about that. But still it is quite a good fry food - just make sure you use hikari brand daphnia, since it has been known to harbour some parasites if not properly sterilised.

G

[fishgeek]

In terms of nutritional information, Daphnia have a protein content of around 50% dry weight and a fat content of 20-27% for adults (4-6% for juveniles). Some species have been reported to have a higher protein content, and Moina are quite often found to be 70% protein. As with most live foods, "they are what they eat", and so vitamin and other formulas are available as food for filter feeders like Daphnia and Artemia which will give them certain food values or an increase in a given fatty acid, for example (H.U.F.A. or Highly Unsaturated Fatty Acids are often sold for this purpose).

cut and pasted from what looks like a reputable source, but with the web who knows

http://www.caudata.org/daphnia/ thats should be the link

apologies for the incorrect intial statement

if you are in australia nicholas then get a large water container(i used an old bathtub) fillit with old aquarium water and buy some daphnia live from a lfs , stick them in and they will grow
sunlight is good because the water will go green and the daphnia will thrive
works every summer for me in the uk they just freeze over winter

[axelfaz]

hi nic
i used it alot awhile back when i couldnt get brine shrimp its slightly larger then bbs as nutritional value i carnt tell u bt my 2 inch fish loved it. and large fish didnt go near it.

Cameron

[nicholas76]

Thank you all for your information.


I currently have a packet of the HIKARI daphnia in the fridge which I am planning on using on fry some time soon.

It appears to be very fine like babey brime shrimp and I dont think the adults will go for it as it is way too fine.

I'll further research it in terms of its safteyness but from most accounts it appears to be all ok.


Thanks again people.

[chris]

Hi Nick Ive used it before, Fry love it, Its a bit costly when they get big enough I then swap them onto Frozen Brine.
Im led to believe it has a Higher fat content than Brine and a lower nutrient value aswell. But it serves as a good alternate for Brine for little fellas. :wink: