Reef By Steele
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I get asked every week as to what pods are the right ones to start a tank. This is a great question and fairly easy to answer. However there are some tank specific factors that should be considered to achieve the best selection.
My first choice of copepods to start out a tank are the benthic (crawling) copepods. There are three main pods in the industry that are benthic. Apocyclops, Tisbe, and Tigriopus. Almost all suppliers sell these three, due in large part as they are easy to acquire and to culture. Of these three, the Apocyclops and Tisbe are the most likely to colonize an aquarium. Tigriopus are the least likely to colonize, I believe in large part due to two factors. The first is in stocked tanks, Tigriopus tend to be in the open and move with a particular twitch which makes them a target for predators. The other reason is that the Tigriopus californicus thrive in tidal pools on the California coast. These tidal pools do not share the parameters we strive for in our tanks. This would explain why people in warmer climates like FL and CA can culture them in totes outside without need for chiller or other cooling equipment.
At www.reefbysteele.com we developed an additional benthic pod we refer to as our Harpa pod. It is a close cousin to the Tisbe beneminsis, according to the university we sent it to for identification. These were sold by an online retailer as three different species, but when placed under the microscope it was obvious that not only were they not the pelagic pods represented but were all the same vs 3 species. We had them identified as they reproduce at amazing quantities providing for super dense cultures.
All four of the above listed pods are excellent as micro clean up crews, live food source for a variety of fish, especially Madarins, sand sifting gobies, scooter blennies and an entire host of fish we see in our aquariums.
Any selection of the above with the exception of the Tigriopus are great options for starting a new tank, and establishing colonies either with or before adding fish into the tank. Although not known as colonizers Tigriopus are still rock stars at eating algae and detritus and as a live food source.
Then there are the other circumstances to consider when seeding a tank. This is where the Pelagic (free swimming) copepods come into the mix. We culture and offer Acartia, Pseudo, and Parvo pelagic pods. These pods live in the open water column, making them a readily accessible for predation. As such, they are much less likely to colonize, yet the serve an important role with certain fish species. We feel they are a must in tanks wishing to house high metabolism fish such as sand sleeping wrasses like our Blue Star wrasse “Sparky”, Anthias and other cruisers requiring multiple daily feedings. Adding these pods early can be a method of getting populations strong in the anticipation of introducing these fish, but even with this, these types of pods do need to be regularly added for the health and happiness of these demanding fish species.
Although not necessary for copepods survival, as the first component of the food chain, regular addition of live phytoplankton will encourage higher productivity rates and nutritional values for every species of copepods whether mentioned within this thread or others available in the market or wildly collected.
What experiences have you had with copepods in aquariums and the results you have seen from their addition?
My first choice of copepods to start out a tank are the benthic (crawling) copepods. There are three main pods in the industry that are benthic. Apocyclops, Tisbe, and Tigriopus. Almost all suppliers sell these three, due in large part as they are easy to acquire and to culture. Of these three, the Apocyclops and Tisbe are the most likely to colonize an aquarium. Tigriopus are the least likely to colonize, I believe in large part due to two factors. The first is in stocked tanks, Tigriopus tend to be in the open and move with a particular twitch which makes them a target for predators. The other reason is that the Tigriopus californicus thrive in tidal pools on the California coast. These tidal pools do not share the parameters we strive for in our tanks. This would explain why people in warmer climates like FL and CA can culture them in totes outside without need for chiller or other cooling equipment.
At www.reefbysteele.com we developed an additional benthic pod we refer to as our Harpa pod. It is a close cousin to the Tisbe beneminsis, according to the university we sent it to for identification. These were sold by an online retailer as three different species, but when placed under the microscope it was obvious that not only were they not the pelagic pods represented but were all the same vs 3 species. We had them identified as they reproduce at amazing quantities providing for super dense cultures.
All four of the above listed pods are excellent as micro clean up crews, live food source for a variety of fish, especially Madarins, sand sifting gobies, scooter blennies and an entire host of fish we see in our aquariums.
Any selection of the above with the exception of the Tigriopus are great options for starting a new tank, and establishing colonies either with or before adding fish into the tank. Although not known as colonizers Tigriopus are still rock stars at eating algae and detritus and as a live food source.
Then there are the other circumstances to consider when seeding a tank. This is where the Pelagic (free swimming) copepods come into the mix. We culture and offer Acartia, Pseudo, and Parvo pelagic pods. These pods live in the open water column, making them a readily accessible for predation. As such, they are much less likely to colonize, yet the serve an important role with certain fish species. We feel they are a must in tanks wishing to house high metabolism fish such as sand sleeping wrasses like our Blue Star wrasse “Sparky”, Anthias and other cruisers requiring multiple daily feedings. Adding these pods early can be a method of getting populations strong in the anticipation of introducing these fish, but even with this, these types of pods do need to be regularly added for the health and happiness of these demanding fish species.
Although not necessary for copepods survival, as the first component of the food chain, regular addition of live phytoplankton will encourage higher productivity rates and nutritional values for every species of copepods whether mentioned within this thread or others available in the market or wildly collected.
What experiences have you had with copepods in aquariums and the results you have seen from their addition?
Reef Legends is a great company I have worked with several times now but I have bought all my currents pods from them and would love to add another species or two. I 10/10 recommend them when you are ready giving him a shout! He is fantastic at helping give pointers and trouble shooting in the beginning!
