DIY Culturing your own Copepods

[santeeeyyy]

Hello, I have been fascinated with copepods, and to be honest, The main reason I wanted to do this was to get a mandarin goby, but then I saw and read and heard the benifts of copepods, and how expensive they are. So I just said ok, lets just culture my own and I believe I have all that I need right here. I have a 3.5 gallon I found at goodwill, a tiny breza pump so far, and I have some airline tubing. I am working on getting the airline plastic valves, and of course I need to get tigger pods and I food I also need to get. But the plan is simple, Just drill a hole for the tube, and a smaller hole for air exchange right? And they only need ambient lighting so no heaters and just toss it somewhere with light ig?

 

[DJF]

Yep- and buy some sieves. Copepods are fun & easy to culture. (Much easier than rotifers)

 

[santeeeyyy]

Yep- and buy some sieves. Copepods are fun & easy to culture. (Much easier than rotifers)

Yup, I was planning on getting a sieve and attaching it to 2 pvc pipes, one smaller than the other

 

[DJF]

Yup, I was planning on getting a sieve and attaching it to 2 pvc pipes, one smaller than the other

You’ll want a couple different sieves. I had 4 that stacked, each getting a finer mesh (not sure on exact micron size). Clumpy phyto gets caught in the top… then adults, then smaller fellas, then rotifers (if you keep them together). Its handy to sieve out the clumpy stuff ahead of the pods

 

[santeeeyyy]

You’ll want a couple different sieves. I had 4 that stacked, each getting a finer mesh (not sure on exact micron size). Clumpy phyto gets caught in the top… then adults, then smaller fellas, then rotifers (if you keep them together). Its handy to sieve out the clumpy stuff ahead of the pods

and I take out the poopy stuff that gets on the bottom right? to keep reusing the same culture?

 

[bshonesy]

What does one use for a sieve? Can you just stretch panty hose over a 3” pvc?

 

[DJF]

Copepods are more forgiving than rotifers but same process; you essentially harvest a percentage of water and replace with new. There will be a tint of green that you like to keep it at… when you put in the new water, make it that color green again with phyto… definitely grab out the older phyto clumps with the water you pull out.

 

[santeeeyyy]

What does one use for a sieve? Can you just stretch panty hose over a 3” pvc?

Can pantyhose work?

 

[DJF]

They can- look up the micron size of the holes. You’ll want varying sizes… google copepod sieves for the idea (I used Mercer). You do want weight behind the sieve because as you sieve water thru and the level raises in the surrounding bucket you want the sieves to stay stationary

 

[PotatoPig]

What type of copepods are you culturing?

If Tigger pods, which made good culture subjects, then for a strainer get yourself a 100 or 200 mesh strainer off Amazon. It’s a white plastic thing with nylon mesh. This will pull the adults out while leaving the babies to grow.

Note that tigger pods will be eaten by all planktivores in the tank and probably won’t colonize your tank no matter how many you add.

Things that are smaller, Eg Tisbe, need a finer mesh, and are a little more mandarin centric, being too small for many planktivores to bother with, but they’ll also readily colonize your tank.

 

[thedon986]

They can- look up the micron size of the holes. You’ll want varying sizes… google copepod sieves for the idea (I used Mercer). You do want weight behind the sieve because as you sieve water thru and the level raises in the surrounding bucket you want the sieves to stay stationary

+1 for the Mercer of Montana sieves, a bit small but just gotta go slow.

What size micron you do use to strain out the mulm/algae/etc? I have 53 and 120 micron so far for adults and juvies.

 

[santeeeyyy]

What type of copepods are you culturing?

If Tigger pods, which made good culture subjects, then for a strainer get yourself a 100 or 200 mesh strainer off Amazon. It’s a white plastic thing with nylon mesh. This will pull the adults out while leaving the babies to grow.

Note that tigger pods will be eaten by all planktivores in the tank and probably won’t colonize your tank no matter how many you add.

Things that are smaller, Eg Tisbe, need a finer mesh, and are a little more mandarin centric, being too small for many planktivores to bother with, but they’ll also readily colonize your tank.

Tisbe,are these similar in tigger pods?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

and I take out the poopy stuff that gets on the bottom right? to keep reusing the same culture?

I harvest, then completely clean the container, then start again.

 

[PotatoPig]

Tisbe,are these similar in tigger pods?

Tisbe are one of the popular commercial species. They’re very small - much smaller than tigger pods, and aren’t much of free swimmers, they like to hang out on rocks.

 

[Rp8]

Following, make sure to post you step by step, I’ll be using this lol

Hello, I have been fascinated with copepods, and to be honest, The main reason I wanted to do this was to get a mandarin goby, but then I saw and read and heard the benifts of copepods, and how expensive they are. So I just said ok, lets just culture my own and I believe I have all that I need right here. I have a 3.5 gallon I found at goodwill, a tiny breza pump so far, and I have some airline tubing. I am working on getting the airline plastic valves, and of course I need to get tigger pods and I food I also need to get. But the plan is simple, Just drill a hole for the tube, and a smaller hole for air exchange right? And they only need ambient lighting so no heaters and just toss it somewhere with light ig?

 

[santeeeyyy]

Following, make sure to post you step by step, I’ll be using this lol

thats the plan lol. I wanna make alot of step by steps of anything I try so I can get inputs and advice

 

[santeeeyyy]

I harvest, then completely clean the container, then start again.

can you clean the container with regular RO water? Also I need to clean this one out bc I have no idea what it was used for. Should I just use a little bit of diluted bleach, alcohol, or can I just rinse it with soap and water?

 

[santeeeyyy]

Tisbe are one of the popular commercial species. They’re very small - much smaller than tigger pods, and aren’t much of free swimmers, they like to hang out on rocks.

So would tisbe pods be a better asset than tigger's?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

can you clean the container with regular RO water? Also I need to clean this one out bc I have no idea what it was used for. Should I just use a little bit of diluted bleach, alcohol, or can I just rinse it with soap and water?

I use hot tap water to clean it, then final rinse with rodi water

So would tisbe pods be a better asset than tigger's?

tisbe and apocyclops are better than tiggers IMO. I don't bother with tigger anymore

 

[Rick's Reviews]

I have these growing outside in two plastic containers in the UK, I tried the whole pump in a container but no success in my attempts, my outside containers have been consistently providing, some small yields and some large, I have successfully kept a mandarin for nearly 5 years now (I do all this for him )

I used to order and pay for monthly copepods but my tubs are producing enough

In regards to sieves, you want a sieve that can capture the adults, at the moment I'm using a 250micron but I'm looking for a bigger/i would also advise on bigger, maybe 300-350

I suggest this as at the moment as feel 250 is too small and catching medium sized.. so not fully grown adults

Iif anything I hope this helps, but this is solely for my mandarin care and not retail,