136 



LIVING FISHFOODS 



All beginners seem to develop the idea that sufficient daphnia can be 

 raised in a tub or trough to feed with. This has been tried many times, 

 but never with any degree of success. If the daphnia pools are too far 

 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 64). 



A method of carrying live food which is growing in favor is to crate 

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

 made of %-in. square wood, are covered on one side with thin muslin. 

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

 and placed in carrying box, which, of course, needs to be airtight. The 



Fig. 126. Carrying Case and Li\'e-Food Trays 



number of layers is only limited by the depth of the box. Daphnia 

 may be spread to a depth of about y^-mch, but mosquito larvae may 

 be piled to %-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. 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 may blow away while 

 collecting. If the rafts are dried immediately after using and all daph- 

 nia cleaned out from between the fabric and the wood, they will last 

 several seasons. The bottom frame is usually blank, so that the 

 slightly sagging cloth on the one above will have drainage and not 

 stand in the shallow water bound to collect in the bottom of can. The 



