Calling all Copepod culturing experts!

[1epauletteshark]

Calling all Copepod culturing experts!
I have done some research and I want to start culturing copepods, not only to feed my fish but also just to challenge myself and try something new that won’t break the bank. I want to culture them from the beginning so including culturing phytoplankton by feeding F2. First question, can you feed phytoplankton directly to copepods or do you need to culture rotifiers too and feed the phytoplankton to the rotifiers then feed the rotifiers to the copepods? I did some research and I saw that any light will work to culture phytoplankton as long as it is on 24/7 is that correct?

I was also looking into tigriopus copepods but I also saw that they are so small as adults some fish can’t see them? I have two baby Ocellarus clowns, a baby yellow banded possum wrasse and a baby blue eye royal dottyback in my 17 gallon, will any of my fish eat them? I came across a starter pack that you dose directly into your tank for tanks under 100L the contents are as follows:

- 250 ml Phytoplankton
- 250 ml Copepoda
- 500 ml Rotifera
- 500 ml Tigriopus
And the instructions are as follows:

Packages for aquariums under 100 liters Serves to make your aquarium faster "mature" how to use - turn off the skimmer, pump and wavemaker - then pour the rotifers, copepods, tigriopus - give 30 drops of phyto plankton - shut up 30 minutes - after 30 minutes turn on the skimmer, pump and wavemaker again - Store Phyto in the fridge (don't freezer) Shake the bottle once a day or place the bottle in the door refrigerator so that the phytoplankton moves when you open the refrigerator - the next day routinely give 30 drops of phytoplankton until 1 bottle runs out +- 30 days - to keep zooplankton alive provide sustainable phytoplankton. (I would be keeping the phytoplankton in an aerated vessel to make sure the colony doesn’t die). Do I need to dose phytoplankton after the 30 day time period or will it reproduce in the tank and create its own colony?

In addition to culturing copepods I would also like to have them in my aquarium from the start would this “starter pack” be viable?

 

[Fish Think Pink]

Calling all Copepod culturing experts!
I have done some research and I want to start culturing copepods, not only to feed my fish but also just to challenge myself and try something new that won’t break the bank. I want to culture them from the beginning so including culturing phytoplankton by feeding F2. First question, can you feed phytoplankton directly to copepods or do you need to culture rotifiers too and feed the phytoplankton to the rotifiers then feed the rotifiers to the copepods? I did some research and I saw that any light will work to culture phytoplankton as long as it is on 24/7 is that correct?

I was also looking into tigriopus copepods but I also saw that they are so small as adults some fish can’t see them? I have two baby Ocellarus clowns, a baby yellow banded possum wrasse and a baby blue eye royal dottyback in my 17 gallon, will any of my fish eat them? I came across a starter pack that you dose directly into your tank for tanks under 100L the contents are as follows:

- 250 ml Phytoplankton
- 250 ml Copepoda
- 500 ml Rotifera
- 500 ml Tigriopus
And the instructions are as follows:

Packages for aquariums under 100 liters Serves to make your aquarium faster "mature" how to use - turn off the skimmer, pump and wavemaker - then pour the rotifers, copepods, tigriopus - give 30 drops of phyto plankton - shut up 30 minutes - after 30 minutes turn on the skimmer, pump and wavemaker again - Store Phyto in the fridge (don't freezer) Shake the bottle once a day or place the bottle in the door refrigerator so that the phytoplankton moves when you open the refrigerator - the next day routinely give 30 drops of phytoplankton until 1 bottle runs out +- 30 days - to keep zooplankton alive provide sustainable phytoplankton. (I would be keeping the phytoplankton in an aerated vessel to make sure the colony doesn’t die). Do I need to dose phytoplankton after the 30 day time period or will it reproduce in the tank and create its own colony?

In addition to culturing copepods I would also like to have them in my aquarium from the start would this “starter pack” be viable?

I culture tigriopus californicus (250-1700 microns) and find these to be easy. Most important part of my culture is salinity about 1.020 helps them breed fastest. I feed mine only powdered spirulina, with a bit of banana skin/peel in a tiny beverage container. I use a light only to encourage them to rise up in the water column so when I scoop them out to feed to my tanks and replenish pods in my tanks, then since they are off their food, if I am quick yet careful I pull out less sprulina in the 'brine shrimp sized' nets I use. Mine almost never get phyto, but it is an optional treat they get. I don't raise phyto - I've found that to be hard. I've found pods to be easy and even let me be lazy about taking care of them. Mine are tough little critters!

raising tig pods - tiny 2.5g tank experimental culture #2

2nd attempt at raising tig pods is officially underway. Original attempt was outdoor lazy banana leaf method I found online - that is still underway but seems to be failing. Suspect Texas temperature and full day direct sunshine is too much, but that pod culture experiment still underway. 2nd...

forum.dfwmas.org

 

[1epauletteshark]

I culture tigriopus californicus (250-1700 microns) and find these to be easy. Most important part of my culture is salinity about 1.020 helps them breed fastest. I feed mine only powdered spirulina, with a bit of banana skin/peel in a tiny beverage container. I use a light only to encourage them to rise up in the water column so when I scoop them out to feed to my tanks and replenish pods in my tanks, then since they are off their food, if I am quick yet careful I pull out less sprulina in the 'brine shrimp sized' nets I use. Mine almost never get phyto, but it is an optional treat they get. I don't raise phyto - I've found that to be hard. I've found pods to be easy and even let me be lazy about taking care of them. Mine are tough little critters!

raising tig pods - tiny 2.5g tank experimental culture #2

2nd attempt at raising tig pods is officially underway. Original attempt was outdoor lazy banana leaf method I found online - that is still underway but seems to be failing. Suspect Texas temperature and full day direct sunshine is too much, but that pod culture experiment still underway. 2nd...

forum.dfwmas.org

Do you feed yours to your fish or corals?

 

[LordofCinder]

rotifers have nothing to do with it, rotifers are used to feed newborn fish.

All pods are small, no larger than 100 microns. Tiggers are the largest and reproduce the fastest, tisbe and apocyclops are other good choices, smaller, and reproduce slower. Don't judge by the size, size doesn't matter in this case.

You can turn off your machines if you want when you add the copepods, to give them a chance to hide before being eaten. I don't turn things off anymore, I just add them.

You need a type of grow light for phyto (a pure white light won't work), even a cheap $20 plant grow light will work. If you don't have one, you can put your culture in the window in direct sun path, that works too.

I just add a little phyto every few days to my tank. There are no rules in this hobby, don't worry about exact timelines and exact percentages, you can't overdose pods or phyto. Some people never add pods or phyto, some add it often,some add it infrequently, you will find a way that works for your tank.

There are lots of videos on youtube for culturing both phyto and pods, check out a few of them to get different idea's from different people, there's always more than one way.

 

[Fish Think Pink]

Do you feed yours to your fish or corals?

Everything that can catch a pod, eats a pod...

I culture pods to make sure my mandarin has enough pods, since everyone else also eats its pods.

This is good info - don't let pod culture cause you stress:

rotifers have nothing to do with it, rotifers are used to feed newborn fish.

All pods are small, no larger than 100 microns. Tiggers are the largest and reproduce the fastest, tisbe and apocyclops are other good choices, smaller, and reproduce slower. Don't judge by the size, size doesn't matter in this case.

You can turn off your machines if you want when you add the copepods, to give them a chance to hide before being eaten. I don't turn things off anymore, I just add them.

You need a type of grow light for phyto (a pure white light won't work), even a cheap $20 plant grow light will work. If you don't have one, you can put your culture in the window in direct sun path, that works too.

I just add a little phyto every few days to my tank. There are no rules in this hobby, don't worry about exact timelines and exact percentages, you can't overdose pods or phyto. Some people never add pods or phyto, some add it often,some add it infrequently, you will find a way that works for your tank.

There are lots of videos on youtube for culturing both phyto and pods, check out a few of them to get different idea's from different people, there's always more than one way.

 

[LordofCinder]

I culture pods basically just for fun and education. Once they are in your tank, they are there forever, The population will always increase and decrease depending on food availability, but the population will never be zero.

Unless of course, like above, if you have a mandarin or other pod eating fish, then you need to resupply constantly.

I culture phyto because I have filter feeders, and I believe it helps against cyano, and phyto is very expensive to buy but costs nothing to culture at home.

 

[PotatoPig]

Culturing tigger pods also.

They're fairly easy to culture and don’t need elaborate setups.

I culture them in 2 gallon glass cookie jars from target (they’re like $12 or so). Hardy container. Decent volume. Easy to clean. Fill it about 3/4 with water to about match salinity in the tank, put an airline with adjustable valve so you can control bubbles, set to bubble 1-2 times a second to keep water moving gently about the container.

I feed mine spirulina. You can get like a half a pound of the stuff from Whole Foods or Amazon (it’s human edible also) for about $10. This is enough to culture a LOT of pods. I add a teaspoon to a small separate bottle of water, shake it up, then add a couple splashes to the culture container til the water is tinted, then put it in the fridge until the next dose.

The spirulina powder when dry keeps well, so no need for demanding culturing, storage or preservation.

For redundancy I have three of these containers running off a split airline. If one crashes just reset and seed the new culture from one of the other two.

Any planktivore fish will enthusiastically eat these.

 

[Pistondog]

I think phyto wants 16 hours on, 8 off.
5hats how i run mine.

 

[1epauletteshark]

I culture pods basically just for fun and education. Once they are in your tank, they are there forever, The population will always increase and decrease depending on food availability, but the population will never be zero.

Unless of course, like above, if you have a mandarin or other pod eating fish, then you need to resupply constantly.

I culture phyto because I have filter feeders, and I believe it helps against cyano, and phyto is very expensive to buy but costs nothing to culture at home.

Exactly why I want to too! Especially seeing as I am a teen reefer and still trying to figure out if I want to pursue a career in Marine Biology and I have a burning passion for trying to breed saltwater fish even though I haven't gotten the chance yet but this is the next best thing! I have a bit of cyano so I hope the pods will help with that too.

 

[BlueFynn_Ian]

Calling all Copepod culturing experts!
I have done some research and I want to start culturing copepods, not only to feed my fish but also just to challenge myself and try something new that won’t break the bank. I want to culture them from the beginning so including culturing phytoplankton by feeding F2. First question, can you feed phytoplankton directly to copepods or do you need to culture rotifiers too and feed the phytoplankton to the rotifiers then feed the rotifiers to the copepods? I did some research and I saw that any light will work to culture phytoplankton as long as it is on 24/7 is that correct?

I was also looking into tigriopus copepods but I also saw that they are so small as adults some fish can’t see them? I have two baby Ocellarus clowns, a baby yellow banded possum wrasse and a baby blue eye royal dottyback in my 17 gallon, will any of my fish eat them? I came across a starter pack that you dose directly into your tank for tanks under 100L the contents are as follows:

- 250 ml Phytoplankton
- 250 ml Copepoda
- 500 ml Rotifera
- 500 ml Tigriopus
And the instructions are as follows:

Packages for aquariums under 100 liters Serves to make your aquarium faster "mature" how to use - turn off the skimmer, pump and wavemaker - then pour the rotifers, copepods, tigriopus - give 30 drops of phyto plankton - shut up 30 minutes - after 30 minutes turn on the skimmer, pump and wavemaker again - Store Phyto in the fridge (don't freezer) Shake the bottle once a day or place the bottle in the door refrigerator so that the phytoplankton moves when you open the refrigerator - the next day routinely give 30 drops of phytoplankton until 1 bottle runs out +- 30 days - to keep zooplankton alive provide sustainable phytoplankton. (I would be keeping the phytoplankton in an aerated vessel to make sure the colony doesn’t die). Do I need to dose phytoplankton after the 30 day time period or will it reproduce in the tank and create its own colony?

In addition to culturing copepods I would also like to have them in my aquarium from the start would this “starter pack” be viable?

As others have said, Rotifers are not needed for Copepod culturing, they are mostly for raising fish larvae and are the more labor intensive of the cultures I have running.

I currently have am culturing Tisbe and Apocyclops pods in seperate tanks and two different types of phyto. Minimal equipment, just some gallon jars with airline tubes bubbling in them and a light that is on 16 hours a day.

Each week I just add a mix of my two phytos into the pod jars until the water is a cloudy green color, this sustains the pods well.

 

[1epauletteshark]

Found another product from the same seller would this be better for my aquarium? It is only 14 dollars AUD and the other was 12.5 so no real difference in price. (this is just the one time kit, have decided to go with culturing phytoplankton and Tigger copepods)

- 250 ml Phytoplankton
- 250 ml Copepods
- 250 ml Rotifera
- 250 ml Tigriopus
- 250 ml Amphipods
I kind of like the idea of Amphipods and I really don't need the 500ml of rotifer. Does anyone culture/breed amphipods with tips?

 

[1epauletteshark]

Once again, as always changing my plans. I plan on getting both, the Amphipod one to put directly into my tank and the tigger copepods one to culture copepods and tigger copepods. What should I do with the 500ml of rotifers? Put them directly into my tank? Will the copepods eat them at all?

 

[1epauletteshark]

Once again, as always changing my plans. I plan on getting both, the Amphipod one to put directly into my tank and the tigger copepods one to culture copepods and tigger copepods. What should I do with the 500ml of rotifers? Put them directly into my tank? Will the copepods eat them at all?

Will my BTA benefit from the rotifers at all?

 

[BlueFynn_Ian]

Found another product from the same seller would this be better for my aquarium? It is only 14 dollars AUD and the other was 12.5 so no real difference in price. (this is just the one time kit, have decided to go with culturing phytoplankton and Tigger copepods)

- 250 ml Phytoplankton
- 250 ml Copepods
- 250 ml Rotifera
- 250 ml Tigriopus
- 250 ml Amphipods
I kind of like the idea of Amphipods and I really don't need the 500ml of rotifer. Does anyone culture/breed amphipods with tips?

I've got a 5 gallon tank of amphipods going that has a bunch of Ulva and a filter sponge in it for their habitat. Just put a pinch of flake food in every couple of days and they are breeding like crazy.

 

[1epauletteshark]

I've got a 5 gallon tank of amphipods going that has a bunch of Ulva and a filter sponge in it for their habitat. Just put a pinch of flake food in every couple of days and they are breeding like crazy.

Will they eat phytoplankton?

 

[BlueFynn_Ian]

Will they eat phytoplankton?

I don't believe so, i use the Ulva to keep the water a bit cleaner and give them something to munch on. They mostly eat the flakes or sinking pellets if i put those in.

 

[1epauletteshark]

I don't believe so, i use the Ulva to keep the water a bit cleaner and give them something to munch on. They mostly eat the flakes or sinking pellets if i put those in.

Ok thanks for the help, do you put them in you DT?

 

[BlueFynn_Ian]

Yes, my DT has a massive population of them. Check on all the crawling critters just about every night when the lights are off.

Mostly culturing them just to see if I can and feed them to other tanks I have. So far I've had this culture going for about 5-6 months.

 

[1epauletteshark]

Is a small 6 liter aquarium with a filter and everything ok to culture copepods?

 

[BlueFynn_Ian]

I don't use a filter on my copepod cultures but that's my personal preference. I use 1 gallon (about 4L) glass jars with just some rigid airline tubing going in them.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/phytoplankton-and-copepod-system.961248/

That's another thread showing some ways people have their cultures set up. Is the kit you are getting have all the pods/amphipods/rots/phyto in the same culture or all seperate?