# Competing zooplankton with my daphnia



## Puffersrule (Dec 26, 2018)

Good day all. I’ve had a few daphnia cultures come and go and I’m gradually getting a bit better. (How rarely things play out according to internet advice lol). Everytime my culture eventually gets taken over by cyclops. They are hitchhiking on the aged tank water I use. (The fish tank is full of predators it’s not a shrimp tank or anything). My issue/question is that for 99 out of 100 articles say to use existing tank water and only 1 out of 100 articles mentions competing zooplankton being contained in said existing tank water. So I’d like to hear from someone here that it is a legit problem and 99 out of 100 people are wrong or the problem is on my end in which case what can I do? I just seeded a culture with dechlorinated tap water and nothing hatched for three weeks….. so I’m kinda screwed here….

any advice would be appreciated


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## Dietmar (Dec 15, 2011)

Puffersrule said:


> Good day all. I’ve had a few daphnia cultures come and go and I’m gradually getting a bit better. (How rarely things play out according to internet advice lol). Everytime my culture eventually gets taken over by cyclops. They are hitchhiking on the aged tank water I use. (The fish tank is full of predators it’s not a shrimp tank or anything). My issue/question is that for 99 out of 100 articles say to use existing tank water and only 1 out of 100 articles mentions competing zooplankton being contained in said existing tank water. So I’d like to hear from someone here that it is a legit problem and 99 out of 100 people are wrong or the problem is on my end in which case what can I do? I just seeded a culture with dechlorinated tap water and nothing hatched for three weeks….. so I’m kinda screwed here….
> 
> any advice would be appreciated


I am assuming you rear food for the daphnia in separate containers? Does this water contain any undesirable cyclops or anything else you do not want?
What dechlorinating solution do you use? What does your municipality add to the water to chlorinate it? If it is just chlorine, which is a gas, then just put the water in a pail with an airstone and 24 hrs later it is good to go. If they add chloramine, then other measures need to be taken.
To be clear, I do not raise any daphnia nor food for them, however, reading your post, I am thinking of questions rather than answers.


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