Finding Daphnia in NYC pond

[schoukah]

Hi!

I'm trying to find Daphnia in the Central Park pond to start culturing them and I'm very new to this. I already checked out this and other forums before. The only problem is I can't seem to find them at this period of the year (which is strange). I went at dusk, really looked for them but there doesn't seem to be much to catch when you're in one spot and can't move around in a boat or canoe. Maybe I should get in further into the water? I'm kinda scared of getting caught though, I don't think we're allowed to catch live animals without a permit in a public park...

Any advice? Thanks,

Sarah.

 

[vwill279]

People here arent going to help you do something that is illegal. Please check your local ordinances to make sure it is ok for you to harvest daphnia from the pond. Usually ordinances dont extend to microinverts like daphnia, but you should still check. Also, just so you know, it is incredibly difficult to see daphnia with the naked eye, especially in a large body of water.

 

[kenjivaj]

It easier and cheaper to buy it (gas money and time). Don't waste your time. You might get daphnias with parasites. Ebay has them.

 

[mpmistr]

getting daphnia can't be that hard cause I got all the daphnia in my tank by mistake lol..

 

[RisiganL.]

I doubt that you need a permit for catching daphnia. Too most people, it would be like needing a permit to catch fireflies. If there is a body of water with fish in it, you have very little chance of finding daphnia. If you find a fishless body of water, go there at night and hold a flashlight over the water for several minutes (tie it to a branch if you want to). This attracts hoards of daphnia, cyclops, and other aquatic organisms. Once you catch them, you can sort it out.

 

[KillerVirusB]

Before collecting ANYTHING from NYS waters, please note that New York is a VHS positive state:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viral_hemorrhagic_septicemia

 

[captmicha]

I agree. Better to get clean, captive bred daphnia so you don't introduce anything unwanted to your fish. But if you're set on doing it... Set up green water, grab some water from a fishless body of water or body of water rich with plants, introduce to your green water culture, ignore for about a week and then go check out your daphnia with a magnifying glass while holding a flashlight to the water.