Daphnia

Daphnia is a tiny water bug who thrives off green water. Daphnia is quite easy to culture, but you want to have more than one going at any time, to prevent the culture crashing and losing all your daphnia.

There are many different methods, but here's how I do it:

 

Before your culture arrives, set up some plastic tubs of water outside. Pick a spot that gets a little sun, and a little shade, not complete sun or complete shade. You need the sun to create the green water. Let this water sit undisturbed for a week or two.

 

Once your culture arrives, put them into this water, half in each tub. Every few days, I gently swirl a knife dipped in natural unsweetened yoghurt through the water as food. Do this often if you have very large cultures, or they will dwindle from lack of food. 

The daphnia should continue to thrive on it's own, so long as you remember to feed them.

 

 

Microworms

Microworms are great for newborn axolotls, they are nice and small, and easy to culture.

What you’ll need: 

- A starter culture

- Rolled oats

- Potato flakes (optional)

- Active yeast

- Some small plastic containers

 

Start by putting some rolled oats and a little bit of potato flakes in a container.Add warm water, mix, and leave for twenty minutes to soak in.

If necessary, add more water, it needs to be a little soupy, not too dry. Add a sprinkle of yeast, and a little more potato flakes and oats if necessary (but you don’t want the culture to be too deep).Sit for another twenty minutes or so, add water if too dry.

 

Spoon a few spoonfuls of the starter culture on top, and leave for a few days to develop.

The worms should be climbing up the sides of the containers, an you just swipe em out with your finger. Be careful not to get much, if any, of the culture on your fingers, as it fouls the water.

 

When the culture starts to smell worse than normal, and get too watery, or not produce many worms, start a new culture. Using that one, and the starter culture to get it going. You can eventually throw out the old culture, wash the container, and start again.This is just the method I use, there are probably others, and more successful ones, on the internet. But this works for me. Personally, I don't find the microworms really get eaten, but depends on many factors.

 

White worms

Whiteworms are great once your baby axolotls start to get bigger. They multiply quickly and are easy to care for. What you'll need:

 

- Some small plastic containers (takeaway containers are great for this) with a few holes punched in the lid.

- A starter culture of whiteworms

- Some peat or soil (peat works much better in my experience)

- Bread

- Natural unsweetened yoghurt

 

You basically want to copy the set-up your mother culture has, and this is how mine goes:

Fill the container about halfway with peat. Spray the peat with water, mix it up, until it is all damp. Not soaking wet, just damp.

Dig a lil crater in the middle and spoon some of the microworms in.

Overtop, place a slice of bread that has the crust removed, and has been coated, both sides, in the yoghurt, and left to soak it in for awhile.

On top of this, place a small strip of clear plastic (I cut up another takeaway container lid). This keeps mould down, and gives you a look at the culture.

Leave for about a week to culture.

Whenever the food starts to run out, replace it. Once the peat starts clumping together, start a new culture.

 

 

Baby Brine Shrimp

There is the quicker "proper" method to hatching baby brine shrimp, and then there is the slower but easier method. COMING SOON.

 

Worms

COMING SOON