Re: [GSAS-Member] More live food cultures?

["Betty Goetz" <haika@drizzle.com>]

Actually, daphnia don't die off totally with arrival of winter. I've
watched them jumping around under the surface ice in my cultures and I've
netted daphnia every month of the year. They are filter-feeders of sorts
and I wonder if they are more versatile in their feeding than the
traditional bacteria/yeast/algae food sources usually recommended. Some
sources indicate that they eat protozoans.

Susan is right in that in a stressed population a crop of little black egg
cysts (ephippia) are formed which are resistant to drying out and
freezing. A rapidly expanding healthy population produces a different kind
of egg (not black/more numerous and visible in the females' body as little
round eggs). The kind of egg being produced is an indication of whether
the population is stressed or not. It's actually a very interesting life
cycle.

Betty Goetz

> They eat bacteria and algae. I think some tree leaves would be good,
> however, they are starting to die off right now as the weather gets
> colder. The little black specks in their bodies and floating on top of the
> water is their eggs.
>
> Susan

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