daphnia as a Feed: Today we want a special one again Delicacies for our ornamental fish imagine, because too Daphnia or water fleas should not be missing from the diet of guppy or killifish. Daphnia also like to eat other types of fish. In addition, you can easily breed the animals yourself if you want to. But what are daphnia anyway and what should you pay attention to when feeding them?
What are Daphnia?
The German name helps you very quickly, because most people can imagine what water fleas mean. These animals grow to a maximum of 5 mm and live mainly in ponds and ponds in the wild. In addition, the Daphnia can also be found in the rain barrel. The animals belong to the genus of crustaceans Crustacea and are therefore also closely related to other food such as red bloodworms or mosquito larvae Artemia, which are also well-known crustaceans and play a major role in aquaristics.
Daphnia as food
Anyone who maintains an aquarium should pay attention to variety, especially when feeding the animals. Giving only dry food from a can is not good. Although the dietary fibers are very high there, other proteins are very often missing. Daphnia and other animals can create a nice change here. In addition, these animals bring other possibilities of administration with them.
One can buy daphnia either in dried form. See also our picture of a can. These animals are also available as frozen food and also in live form. Daphnia are particularly popular when they are alive. Here not only the feeding instinct of the fish is stimulated, but also the hunting instinct, because the fish have to make sure that they reach the animals.
In addition to better dietary fiber, the feeding of Daphnia has another advantage. Especially with some fish species, including the tetra it stimulates the willingness to spawn and should therefore definitely be used in breeding.
Buy daphnia or breed them yourself
You can buy the animals in all forms in pet shops or online today. Certainly the easiest and most convenient way, although not the cheapest. You can also breed Daphnia yourself. Only a few steps are necessary for this.
First of all, of course, you need a suitable container. An old aquarium with a capacity of just a few liters will also do here. A heater and also a filter are normally not required. You can also do without a lamp as long as you have a suitable place with good light. A south-facing window sill would be ideal here.
If you want to do something good, you should do a small diaphragm pump and use an air stone. It has also proven useful to use ramshorn snails or other snails for cleaning.
Then you put the here water fleas a. You can either buy them or collect them yourself. However, we advise against collecting them, because there you can catch other unwanted animals. It is better to buy a packet and then let them multiply accordingly.
The animals are usually fed with spirulina powder or with algae and yeast. You can also buy ready-made food, although this does not have to be the case. However, the best experiences are made with Spirulina powder. So a certain reproduction should set in quickly, so that they always have fresh Daphnia. Of course, it's only worth it if you have a really big need. Otherwise, buying is rather unproblematic. Let's summarize again:
- Old aquarium from 20 liter water pure
- No heater
- No filter
- Possibly only air stone and membrane pump
- put in the light
- Temperature 20 to 25 degrees
- Use screws for cleaning
- insert daphnia
- Feeding with yeast, seaweed and spirulina powder
- Maybe a water change
- Sieve with an Artemia sieve and feed
Collect Daphnia yourself
Basically, this is also possible. Be it at the pond around the corner or in puddles and the like. However, as mentioned above, we advise against it, because here there is a risk that the animals are already pre-stressed and you can also get unwanted splashes fetch fish tank. Whether you can get rid of them again is questionable.
What do I have to consider when feeding?
Here, too, we would like to say a word of warning, because it has happened several times that you have too many of the animals in the aquarium and they were not eaten there, but survived and, in the worst case, can continue to reproduce there. That's why you have to be careful when feeding and always feed quite sparingly. You should only allow as much as the animals can eat right away. So always pay attention. Once the animals are inside, there is a risk of unwanted spread and reproduction. This should be avoided.
[the_ad id = “1019 ″]What are your experiences with Daphnia?