Live Daphnia - Water Flea Starter Culture for Fish Food

Jump‑start your microfauna ecosystem with Puffer Pantry’s Live Daphnia, a clean, active, and reliable culture grown with intention and care. Daphnia are one of the most beloved live foods in the hobby — gentle, self‑regulating, and endlessly beneficial for all kinds of fish, shrimp, fry, and planted tanks.

Cultured in my solar‑powered microfauna farm, grown with the same care I give my own tanks for freshness and quality you can see.

These Daphnia are raised on a balanced diet of live, home-cultured phytoplankton (Chlorella + Tetraselmis), spirulina, yeast, and trace minerals to ensure strong reproduction and long‑term stability. Whether you’re feeding fish, enriching a shrimp tank, or starting your own continuous culture, these little water fleas are ready to thrive.

What They’re Great For

- Conditioning breeders
- Supporting scuds & copepods
- Feeding fry of all species
- Enriching shrimp tanks
- Creating stable microfauna ecosystems
- Natural water polishing
- Low‑maintenance live food production

How to Keep Them Thriving

For Feeding Tanks

- Add a small scoop directly to your aquarium
- Safe for all freshwater species
- They self‑regulate and won’t overpopulate

For Culturing

- Use a clean container (1–5 gallons)
- Provide gentle aeration
- Feed sparingly with live phytoplankton, spirulina powder or yeast
- Perform small water changes weekly
- Keep out of direct, harsh light
Daphnia reproduce quickly when conditions are stable — most cultures double every few days.

Storage & Care

- Do not refrigerate
- Keep at room temperature
- Avoid overfeeding (cloudy water = too much food)
- Top off evaporated water with seasoned or aged water

Our Quality Promise

Puffer Pantry cultures are solar‑farmed, small‑batch grown, and handled with care from start to finish. If your culture arrives anything less than active and healthy, message me and I’ll make it right. Because your critters deserve the best — and so do you.

Live Culture Shipping Schedule and Temperature Policy

We ship out Monday-Wednesday only to ensure our live cultures arrive fresh! Orders placed after 12:00pm PST Wednesday will be shipped out the following Monday.

Note: We currently only ship to the U.S. and do not ship to Alaska or Hawaii at this time.

To keep your live cultures safe in transit, Puffer Pantry ships only when temperatures support a healthy arrival.

We do not ship when:  

- Origin or destination temperatures are below 35°F  

- Origin or destination temperatures are above 95°F

If temperatures fall outside this range, your order will be held until conditions improve.