How to breed daphnia at home? Conditions and features of keeping daphnia in an aquarium

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Daphnia are crustacean creatures. They are often called water fleas. The size of small representatives reaches 6 mm. All crustaceans are very different, and each of them is unique in its own way, like a person. This can be judged by the shape of the creature.

Daphnia is a living organism. It is also called the term "living dust". The crustacean has the largest number of genes. Humans are much larger than Daphnia, but humans have only 20,000-25,000 genes, while this creature has more than 30,000. Despite this, breeding daphnia at home in various ways is not difficult.

Use

Not everyone knows how to breed daphnia at home. Usually crustaceans are used as food for domestic fish and insects. Also, with the help of these creatures, you can find out the quality of water. True, this will affect the crustacean, that is, its he alth.

Everything will depend on his capacity, but such an experiment can lead to death. If the daphnia is active, then the water quality is normal. If the creature is slowly dying - waterit is better to change, because the rest of the inhabitants of the aquarium will die.

Structure of a crustacean

Any kind of daphnia is covered with a chitinous shell. It is very thin and transparent. Through it one can see all the organs of the being. And when the crustacean eats, it becomes the same color as the color it ate.

Like humans, daphnia also has two eyes, a brain and all the other insides.

Crayfish varieties in different parts of the world

There are about 150 varieties in Europe and America. Many of them ended up on other continents. And often this happened in many ways.

Crabs are very amazing animals. Scientists give such an example: if these creatures appeared from the same litter, but lived in different conditions and habitats, they can grow up different from each other.

Daphnia (or crustaceans) can be bred in ponds. Usually they are used as food for fry and fish.

Growing

Many even have no idea how to breed daphnia at home. Nevertheless, crustaceans may well be grown by an inhabitant. This does not require any special tools.

You will need a container with a volume of approximately 17 liters. A home aquarium is suitable, in which the future daphnia will live. It is not recommended to use plastic containers, it is better to take a glass container.

You can display daphnia both at home and on the street. In the latter case, it is recommended to take a container with a volume of at least 40 liters.

The most dangerous thing for these creatures

In no case should you keep daphnia in s alt water, as this will adversely affect the crustacean, because it lives in fresh ponds.

But crustaceans can tolerate oxygen starvation normally, as well as high temperatures. But on average, these crustaceans prefer living conditions at +20 0С.

Crayfish food and breeding bacteria

When wondering how to breed daphnia at home, you must remember that creatures are very fond of bacteria, yeast and microscopic plankton. Everyone has food waste, so don't throw it away. Just from them you can get food for crustaceans.

For example, when deciding how to feed daphnia at home, you can leave banana or apple peels in the water for a while (about 3-4 days). When the liquid becomes cloudy, this indicates the presence of bacteria. In a week they are ready, that is, now there is food for the daphnia.

To feed the creature, you need to pour muddy water into a container with crustaceans. 20 liters will require 450 milliliters of liquid with bacteria. And this procedure is recommended to be carried out every week.

By the way, in order not to bother cooking for crustaceans, you can just buy yeast. It will be much easier and more convenient. A similar product must be added at 28 grams per 20 liters of water. However, in this case, you will have to feed the crustaceans every day.

It is additionally worth adding microscopic algae that helpwater stay clean for a long time. And the main advantage of such plants is that they release useful substances.

He althy food for Daphnia

Not everyone understands how to breed daphnia without a live culture. Yeast is a he althy food for crustaceans. You can just buy it in the store. Compared to algae, yeast is less valuable, but Daphnia should be given in large quantities.

By the way, crustaceans in lakes or ponds always swim where there is more vegetation.

Chlorella

Chlorella algae are well adapted and mastered in the aquarium. This vegetation perfectly cleans the aquarium.

As soon as the algae are in the container, they will immediately begin to actively develop with the assistance of sunlight. In the future, it will be very convenient when algae will multiply on their own, and Daphnia will begin to use them as food.

Other food for crustaceans

You can also add vegetable juice to the container in the ratio of 1 teaspoon per 5 liters. This food will have a very good effect on the he alth and activity of crustaceans. You can also add manure. But you can not feed your pets with dairy products, hay tincture. This food is not good for daphnia.

Also, the crustacean eats bran, flour and even animal blood well. It is worth adding this food in the same proportion as yeast.

Reproduction of daphnia

In most cases, when conditions are good, daphnia give birth only to females. But if the crustaceans starve, then males appear.

Male individuals are much more resilient than women. They can survive the worst conditions, even the winter will not stop them.

The female has embryos. Reproduction occurs every three days. when observing crustaceans, such a statement appeared that in a lifetime a female can give birth 25 times, but in fact this happens less often. But if conditions are favorable for daphnia, then it will give birth to 30-40 grams of crustaceans in just one day.

Shrimp in the winter season

In winter, daphnia can be seen on the surface of the water or in the algae of the silt. Found eggs can be kept dry in a place where the temperature should be kept cool.

Determining the sex of Daphnia

You can distinguish males from females when examining them. The strong floor is smaller than the weak one. Also, males have limbs in front like hooks so they can cling.

Ability of crustaceans

The creature sheds the carapace, and the surface of the body leaves with it. Daphnia sheds throughout its life. She usually performs this procedure in the water column.

If you carefully study different types of Daphnia, you will notice that they differ in color.

Determining the color of the crustacean

Oxyhemoglobin - it is he who colors Daphnia pink or even red. Oxygen also affects color. If it is enough for a crustacean, then it will be yellow. Nutrition also plays an important role, it also affects the color.

If the crustacean ate algae not so long ago, it will be greenish. What if daphniaate bacteria, it will be pink or even red.

Good conditions for crustaceans

Aeration is good for daphnia. It promotes the progressive growth of beings. Oxygen is then released, which will saturate the water. And that film that likes to appear on the surface of the water will disappear. And it's all thanks to aeration.

But the power needs to be average. Strong power will disturb pets. Also, these bubbles will penetrate the daphnia shell, after which the creatures will rise up.

Development of crustaceans and additional conditions

In order for creatures to develop faster, certain conditions are necessary. Aeration should be not only medium power, but also without hesitation.

When growing daphnia at home, the aquarium must always be clean. If the creatures have light, then growth and reproduction will increase significantly.

The light in their tank should be at least 18 hours. Water should be changed taking into account what the crustaceans feed on and how many creatures are in the aquarium. But cleaning the aquarium is necessary in any case.

The most difficult thing is picking up daphnia

If daphnia was kept at a temperature below 25 degrees, then it is worth catching it in the middle of the second week. Because adjusting to new conditions is difficult and may take 3 days.

You need to catch crustaceans with a net. In it, you can already select good and bad daphnia. Crustaceans should be caught during the daytime, and be sure to turn off the aeration.

In a clean andFresh water caught crustaceans can live for three days. If the temperature gets higher, then it has almost no effect on daphnia.

To save the life of the crustacean and not kill it, you need to avoid contamination of the aquarium, the ingress of hazardous substances into the water and sudden changes in the habitat.

Conclusion

Breeding daphnia at home is easy. If you use them as fish food, this is a good idea and food. Still crustaceans can be stored in the freeze. Unfortunately, after that they will die. And after freezing, the crustaceans will not be as nutritious and he althy as if we fed them in a living state. Also, their death can occur after the addition of chemicals.

If there is chlorine in the aquarium, it is desirable to remove it from the water. Aeration will also help with this. In general, tap water in urban conditions is very bad for daphnia, and distilled water should not be used in aquariums either. Indeed, in such a liquid, all the necessary and useful substances are destroyed.

It is best to take the liquid in which the fish swam. But they also need proper water. Even if a good one flows from the tap, then in any case it needs to be insisted for about five days, but it can be longer.

In addition, you can build a good business on this hobby. However, it is necessary to approach the matter responsibly here, since it is important not only to supply good daphnia to customers, but also to follow all the rules for breeding and caring for crustaceans.

In any case, if there are doubts about how to breed daphnia at home, it is first recommendedconsult with experts to avoid problems in the future.