For sale are 100+ Daphnia eggs, an excellent way to establish a culture and produce a continuous supply of nutritious live food for aquarium fish. Daphnia are one of the most popular live foods in the aquarium hobby and are an excellent choice for growing fry, conditioning breeding fish and providing variety in the diet.
Newly hatched Daphnia are small enough for many types of fry, while adults provide a substantial live food for juvenile and adult fish. Because a healthy culture contains Daphnia of many different sizes, a single culture can provide appropriately sized food for a wide range of aquarium fish.
Daphnia are extremely prolific and, once established, can provide a continuous supply of live food. They are easy to culture and can be maintained indoors or outdoors.
Culturing Instructions
Add the eggs to a jar of green water and stir gently. Keep the jar in a well lit area and provide gentle aeration. Some of the eggs should begin to hatch within a few days.
It is normal for only a portion of the eggs to hatch initially. The remaining unhatched eggs can be collected and stored in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks before trying again. Subsequent hatching attempts may produce additional baby Daphnia. This staggered hatching is a natural survival strategy that helps Daphnia populations persist in temporary bodies of water where conditions may change considerably from one season to the next.
For best results feed Daphnia with rice bran, green water or algae paste. Rice bran, available here, is our preferred food because it is convenient, easy to use and provides a nutritious gut load for your fish.
To prepare rice bran, place a small amount in a piece of cloth and wrap securely. Submerge it in a small container of aquarium water and squeeze repeatedly until the water becomes milky. Add this suspension sparingly to the Daphnia culture, aiming to maintain only a very light haze in the water. For best results, feed every 1–2 days, adjusting the amount according to the size and density of the culture.
Pro Tips
#1 – Temperature Increase Can Help Stimulate Hatching In our experience, a rapid increase in water temperature can be an effective stimulant for hatching Daphnia eggs. Place the eggs in the hatching container and add room temperature water. Then float the container in a heated aquarium to quickly raise the temperature. Once the Daphnia have hatched, the culture can be maintained at normal room or outdoor temperature.
#2 – Excellent for Outdoor Cultures Daphnia are particularly well suited to outdoor culture and often thrive during the cooler spring and fall months. They can continue reproducing into surprisingly cool weather provided sufficient food remains available. You may also consider co-culturing Moina with your Daphnia. Daphnia tend to perform best during cooler spring and fall periods, while Moina typically become dominant during the heat of summer.
#3 – Use Rice Bran for Large Scale Production For producing Daphnia in larger quantities we recommend rice bran. Producing enough green water to support large cultures can be impractical while rice bran removes this production bottleneck. In our experience it can also support significantly denser populations. Even if green water is your primary food, it is a good idea to keep some rice bran on hand as a backup food source in case your green water culture crashes.
