- Flush new jars with hot tap water for about one minute each before using.
- Fill clean, rinsed jars approximately one half full with Daphnia and dechlorinated tap water from established culture. Try to leave debris behind in the jar.
- Top off these jars with fresh dechlorinated tap water.
- I avoid using chemicals such as NovAqua and StressCoat. While these probably won’t cause problems with your cultures, water can be dechlorinated by letting it sit out for a period of 24 hours. That’s one less thing you’ll have to troubleshoot if something goes wrong.
- Place on shelf under LED lights and sprinkle a pinch of crushed Carolina Protozoan pellets or small particles from an Alfalfa bale into the jar every 2-4 days.
- Place the unused, dirty Daphnia jars into the sink, fill with tap water and
add a little bleach (approximately a 10% solution) to each one. - Top off with dechlorinated water as needed.
I usually keep about 3-4 jars of Daphnia on hand…just in case something unexpected happens. The cultures should probably be replaced/restarted when there is substantial debris build up on the bottom of the jar (~1″).