Great information! :)
----- Original Message -----
From: "unclescott" <unclescott_at_prodigy.net>
To: <nanfa_at_aquaria.net>
Sent: Saturday, March 01, 2003 12:20 AM
Subject: Re: NANFA-- Spawning Difficult Fish Outdoors & New Method for
Growing Oxygenator Plants
> Thank you Jeff for a lot of food for thought.
>
> My outdoor containers are mostly kept with raising daphnia in mind. I have
> found that usually if the containers are kept under the trees (and in my
> case strategically between a wood pile and berry patch to cut down on
> tourist traffic) the dragon flies have almost never found them to lay
eggs.
> (Knock on wood....)
>
> It was suggested to me that exposed water reflecting sunlight is visible
at
> quick a distance in the air. Some years back our exposed containers
> certainly drew dragonfly and subsequent larvae, damselfly and their
larvae,
> a couple of species of water bug, water skaters, and backswimmers. We are
> down wind from some marginal wet lands.
>
> Under the trees the daphnia gets joined by blood worms, other cladocerans
> (brought in by the wind? varmints' whiskers?) and the occasional glass
worm.
> If the daphnia population is maintained at a pretty high density, the vast
> majority of mosquito larvae are evidentally consumed while microscopic and
> few large larvae were found. (This last dry year for some reason was a
> better year for glass worms. Maybe a lack of alternate sites)
>
> Mossie egg rafts are useful floating in the tanks of small mouthed,
surface
> feeding fry and were skimmed off once in a while.
>
> Rarely damsel fly larvae will infest a culture. They don't seem to take
the
> toll that dragonfly larvae take and are pretty well accepted by fish if
the
> damselflies are bite sized.
>
> As an experiment last summer several smaller containers - the 20 gallon
> plastic tubs (blue in our case) sold for $6 each at Menards - were placed
> under the trees. Standard floating aquarium plants (water sprite,
salvinia,
> anacharis), water hyacinth and a little water lettuce were included in
> different containers. Fish growth wasn't very impressive, indicating that
> such small containers needed to be more often fed.
>
> We actually added RO and rain water to the tubs so that birds, squirrels
and
> chipmunks could drink without falling in.
>
> Despite a thinning of the tree leaves in the parched summer months, most
of
> the fish survived without noticeable predation.
>
> I would be interested, from the standpoints of live food production and
fish
> raising, in what the experiences of others might have been raising aquatic
> things in the shade as opposed to in the open sunlight.
>
> Jeff's accounts of larger containers are intriguing. Maybe a move after
> retirement would be to a larger parcel of land where projects such as that
> are possible. Then will have to learn to keep sunfish. :)
>
> Also ... know of killie nuts raising daphnia in stock tanks - then one
needs
> a freezer and bagging kit to save the daphnia. ;)
>
> Jeff, do you have photos of your outdoor tubs and of your greenhouse
on-line
> somewhere?
>
> Thanks and all the best,
>
> Scott
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