This article discusses several easily cultured live foods: daphnia, microwoms, fruit flies, grindal worms and white worms. Live foods are a great way to put fish in spawning condition and are a necessity for many species which will not accept either flake or frozen foods but which are not consumers of other fish. Live foods will keep all native fish and tropical fish hale and hearty and provide nutrition which flake foods cannot.

Daphnia, also known as water fleas due to their jerky swimming movements, are simplicity itself to culture, as most daphnia are females and produce live young regularly if adequate food is present. Two species are generally available, Daphnia magna and Daphnia pulex. Daphnia pulex are smaller and do not do well in high temperatures. If exposed to higher temperatures or a lack of food, some of the daphnia will become males and mate with the females, producing resting eggs, which can resist drying and freezing. Once the eggs are being produced (they look like specks of pepper that float on the surface of the water), the culture is proably going to die out soon unless conditions improve. Daphnia magna, on the other hand, are more tolerant of higher temperatures, but are a bit bigger.

Glass aquaria, plastic buckets or a chilld's wading pool can be used to culture daphnia. Simply fill one or more containers with green water. The grunge siphoned out of existing tanks during water changes is an excellent starter media fo ...

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