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Old 20-03-2007, 04:18 PM posted to triangle.gardens
Mac Cool Mac Cool is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Mar 2007
Posts: 15
Default fish pond = cant see 'em cuz the algea

me:
I would like to try some in my ponds. Is there a down side to these
crustaceans? Is there any possibility of disease? Do they get along
with Koi? (I have both Koi and local goldfish/carp in my ponds). Can
they be controlled simply by the fish in the pond?


There is no downside I'm aware of. Daphnia have a number of natural
predators such as carnivorus fish (including goldfish), dragonflys and
hydra. Daphnia eat algae, bacteria and a few other micro critters. They
are just tiny little critters, maybe a millimeter across, your Koi might
eat them but if you have enough plants in your pond they should find
plenty of hiding spaces. They are sort of like freshwater plankton.

Daphnia captured in the wild could transmit disease but I believe mine
are disease free, I got them from another person raising them for fish
food. I have been using them as food for months will no ill effects. You
could do what I did before introducing them into my aquarium... I raised
them in a container with water from my tank. After a week or two I
started adding them to my aquarium as food and my fish enjoy them.
Actually they are tough little critters you could just grab a bucket of
your pond water (with algae) and pour them in and they would thrive.

Daphnia really need only three things to thrive... food (algae, yeast),
calcium (to form their shell) and a little sunlight. Daphnia are an
early warning indicator for bad water conditions. If water quality goes
bad they will turn red then the colony will abruptly die.

I live in Garner, if you want a starter of daphnia send me an email:

--
Mac Cool