Don’t really know what to tell ya about the micro-pellets, besides try something else.
For the daphnia, I’d suggest pre-soaking it, or try frozen (if you can find it).
I feed a mix of finely crushed (just about powdered) ‘Omega One’ cichlid flake & shrimp pellets and ‘San Francisco’ FD bloodworms.
I mix it with water first and the introduce into filter out flow, I feed twice a day, they seem to like it quite well and are thriving.