FISHFOOD 



75 



A beginner will do well to make the acquaintance of an experienced 

 daphnia collector and go along with him on a trip. There are now 

 aquarium societies in many of the large cities, part of their activities 

 being the dissemination of such knowledge. All those interested should 

 have active or corresponding membership in such an organization. 



All beginners seem to develop the idea that sufficient daphnia to feed 

 with can be raised in a tub or trough. This has been tried many times, 

 but seldom with any degree of success. If the daphnia pools are too 

 distant to make collecting practicable it is best to try to inoculate some 

 suitable pond nearby, but there should be no fish in the pond. Daphnia, 

 if not crowded, may be shipped quite a distance. 



The practical way to raise daphnia for food purposes is described 

 in the chapter on Wholesale Breeding (page 217). 



A Method of Carrying Live Food growing in favor is to crate 

 them (without water) in layers in a tin box. Frames about 10 x 12 inches, 

 made of Ji-'m. square wood, are covered on one side with thin muslin. 

 These are floated, the daphnia dropped in, spread out evenly while the 

 raft is floating, then carefully lifted and placed in carrying box, which, 



Fig. 59. Carrying Case and Live-Food Trays 



of course, needs to be airtight. The number of layers is only limited 

 by the depth of the box. Daphnia may be spread to a depth of about 

 J^-inch, but mosquito larvae may be piled to }4-inch without injury. 

 This method avoids carrying the great weight of water needed in collecting 

 pails, and, in the experience of the writer, gets a higher percentage of 

 the food home alive. If spread out thinly and in a cool temperature in 

 October they have been kept alive in a moist condition on the rafts in 

 storage for two days. The only disadvantage is the chance that the rafts, 



