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| SCUDS & RR DAPHIA Fluorescent lit co-culture |
| Item #1571535002 |
Current Auction Time: Tue Apr 23 06:04:10 2024
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Final: | $20.00 | First Bid | $20.00 | ||
| Time left | 00:00 | # of Bids | 1 (bid history) | |||
| Started | Oct 5 2019 - 08:30:02 PM | Location | Veneta OR 87982 United States | |||
| Ended | Oct 19 2019 - 08:30:02 PM Auction Closed |
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| Seller | Food (354/358)  |
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| (View seller's feedback) (view seller's current auctions) (ask seller a question) | ||||||
| High Bidder | Caloy001 (17/17)  |
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| Payment | PayPal | |||||
| Shipping | Will Ship to United States Only Buyer Pays Actual Shipping Cost, | |||||
Seller assumes all responsibility for listing this item. You should contact the seller to resolve any questions before bidding. Currency is U.S. dollars (US$) unless otherwise noted. |
Cost: $20(culture) + $8(shipping/USPS priority)= $28 total.
Make payment with Paypal using: ryanthehut@gmail.com
My Paypal account is a business account and accepts debit & credit.
I can't combine orders as this fills the package.
Don't request an invoice unless vital to you.
Auction:
75 Russian red daphnia & 50 scuds from a co-culture kept in the garage. The culture is only heated in winter where it's kept at a minimum of 60 degrees. The culture is lit by fluorescent daylight spectrum(6,500 kelvin).
Tip: Don't start a culture with more than a couple daphnia per gallon. Why? Your new culture, after the addition of daphnia, continues to cycle. The 'cycle' we are referring to is the flora & fauna(biome) that keeps your culture stable and some of it is food for daphnia/moina. If start with too many daphnia they can strip elements out of the evolving biome. When you add too many daphnia, they have too many babies too fast, and your biome can falter - crashing your culture. Don't be tempted to add more daphnia thinking that will increase your odds of success - daphnia don't work that way.
What is a coculture:
A coculture is just as easy to maintain, and in many aspects, makes the culturing of daphnia easier. Most cultures you see are cocultures with snails, but other things are just as effective, such as scuds. How? Daphnia/moina are a filter feeder, so organic matter not at a microscopic scale, and that is not suspended in the water column, is unavailable to them. Scuds, by ripping apart & consuming solid organic matter, release nutrients for the daphnia to consume, and their excrament is rich in bacteria(another food source for the daphnia).
Tip: For a larger scud population provide more surfaces for them to cling on.
What is a scud?:
They are shrimp about the size of a large grain of rice. They are extremely easy to culture - much easier than daphnia & moina. Daphnia are popular because they are so interesting, but if I had to choose one aquatic organism to culture, especially indoors, it would deffintely be scuds. There are many reasons: their cultures are always harvestable, a culture is nearly impossible to kill off, one large scuds is enough to feed most aquarium fish, and you can add hundreds into a fish tank to feed fish for weeks.
FYI: A common concern about scuds is that they eat aquarium plants. That isn't accurate as scuds consume 'decaying' organic matter. Plants are something you want to keep with scuds as it gives them surfaces to cling to and the plants will shed organic matter.
Keep some of what I send as a backup:
Scuds are very hardy and little needs to be said about them. However, daphnia are well known for being sensitive when transitioning to a new water source. You can completely eliminate this risk by saving most of the water I send you along with a few of the daphnia/moina.
When you recieve the bottle gently pour it into a more usable container(a glass jar with wide lid works great), fill a couple tiny cups with my culture water, net out most the daphnia/moina and all the scuds, divide them into the cups, and then transition to their awaiting tanks. The culture water that is left over, about 1.5-liters, along with a dozen moina/daphnia, is then placed under fluorescent light at 6500 Kelvin(daylight spectrum). The population will rise to a certain number and any daphnia/moina you take from it will be replaced almost immediately. Then, if your primary cultures fail to start, you have a backup culture to pick daphnia/moina starts from. Remember, it only takes a couple daphnia to start a culture, and you should start a culture with only a few to begin with - so even a little 1.5-liter culture is plenty big as an emergency backup.
I add food prior to shipping so don't feed for two weeks. After that add a few drops of aquarium mulm. Hopefully, by this time, you will have successfully transitioned some of the daphnia/moina as you most want a daphnia backup using your water.
Tip: Always have a daphnia backup - always. Culturing in a soda bottle is just as easy as the largest of cultures so you have no excuse keeping you from having a backup tucked away somewhere. My favorite type of backup is a closed-cycle culture, 2-liter soda bottle, that sits on a windowsill in my garage. All it takes is a heavy dose of aquarium mulm and you don't touch it after that. It's the same as placing snails and plants into a container and placing under light; the snails and plants grow to a certain population/level and remain that way. You don't have to feed it as the organic matter is in a permenant/balanced cycle. A small backup like this will survive for years.
How to start a main culture:
The key to a successful daphnia/moina startup is raising the level of organic matter and allowing it to cycle until stable. Daphnia/moina enjoy an organic rich enviroment. The more organic matter, with the addition of light, promotes the growth of flora & fauna. That flora & fauna aid in feeding the daphnia, keeping the culture stable, and absorbing nitrates. To build up organic matter in a new culture use mulm from a fish tank. What is mulm? It's the debris you vacuum from the bottom of a fish tank. A fish tank with fish, snails, plants, etc, will provide a well rounded. Fruits & vegetables are also helpful, such as cucumber, banana peel, melon, grapes, etc.
Tip: The goal in starting a daphnia culture is adjusting them to a new water source. Once adjusted future generations of daphnia will be much more robust. In addition to keeping most of the water I send you as a backup, to increase your odds of a successful startup even more, is starting a few small cultures. A small culture, something like a soda bottle, milk jug, etc, is just as easy as a large culture. My point is, even if you are going for a monster culture, starting a couple small cultures, each set up differently, will increase your chances of a successful daphnia/moina startup. If your primary culture fails to start, one of the small cultures should, and if they don't you will have what I sent you as an emergency backup.
Tip: Keep in mind everything you add to a culture contributes to the organic level. The greater the organic level, the more naturally occuring flora & fauna(the biome) there is, which aids in feeding daphia.
Steps:
Week 1:
The vessel can be anything from soda bottles on windowsills, aquariums under lights, to outdoor tubs & ponds. Lets assume a 10 gallon culture for proportions.
Place under flourescent light(6,500 Kelvin) or where it receives filtered sunlight.
Add water. Aquarium water is ideal. If using tap water allow an extra week or two for cycling.
Lightly coat the bottom with mulm(2 to 3 shot glasses).
Add 1/4 slice of fresh banana peel.
Gravel, driftwood, aeration, are helpful but not required. A water only culture works fine.
Week 2:
Add 1 shot glass of aquarium mulm.
Add 1/8 slice of banana peel & thin slice of cucumber.
Week 3:
Add thin slice of cucumber.
Week 4:
Add 1/8 slice of banana peel & thin slice of cucumber.
Add 2 to 3 daphnia per gallon. Don't add more as that stresses the cycling biome.
Feeding:
Outdoor: So much debris naturally falls into a culture, organic dust, bugs, leaves, your dogs slobber as it drinks from the culture, etc, there is little need to feed it. For a boost throw in a banana peel each month.
Indoor: Each week I add a small amount of cucumber/grape/tomato/etc, and every two weeks a 1/4 slice of banana peel.
One of the most common questions I receive is why I prefer using banana peel & cucumber over something like yeast? I like them because they release some of their nutrients directly into the water for an instant feeding, they are low impact, and as they decay bacteria is also released for the daphnia to consume. A banana peel decays slowly over several months - acting like a time release food capsule. Nothing can beat that.
Maintenance:
There is little need to clean or change water as the gradual buildup of organic matter keeps your culture growing - that decaying matter encourages the growth of flora & fauna that the daphnia can dine from. Nitrates, something that will cause a complete crash, aren't an issue as the biome also grows. To clean lightly vacuum the bottom of a culture every month, or two, or three, or not until it's super gross months later. Replace water with aquarium water for best results as it contains flora & fauna the daphnia can consume.
Scuds:
I have stated scuds aren't challenging but there are few things they do appreciate. They like 'soft' fruits & vegetables, and surfaces to cling to, such as plants, driftwood, rocks, etc. If something is too hard boil it. Other than this there is little more to culturing scuds.
GUARANTEE:
If DOA I will replace it at no cost. Please don't file a claim as that adds additional steps for us both - just let me know and I will send another without a guilt trip.
FYI: During shipping, distance isn't a risk factor, neither is temperature - what will kill the culture is sunlight. It's critical this not be left in your mailbox. If you don't greet your mail carrier and receive the package directly from them its not likely to survive.
WHITE WORM MAN:
Visit both my Facebook page and YouTube channel for a variety of culturing information. No culturing information comes with the package.
Facebook page and YouTube channel links, or search White Worm Man:
YouTube Channel: White Worm Man
Facebook Page: White Worm Man
Bid History:
Bidders Bid Time Bid Comments Caloy001 (17/17) Oct 19 2019 - 06:27:17 PM $20.00 BUY IT NOW
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