Breeding copepods

[subielover]

So, I have been thinking of starting to culture copepods for my reef tanks. I have a spare 10 gallon tank lying around that I thought would work nicely. I am thinking of getting a small air pump and keeping the water slightly tea colored with phytoplankton. Am I missing anything? I would like to keep it under my tank in the stand, so basically no light, is this ok?

Does this sound like it should work? I am sure others have done this and would really love to hear how they have them set-up. Also, what pods are best to start a culture with. I have bought tigger-pods in the past which are in my refugium along with other pods, but which pods would do the best in the set-up that I have described? Thanks for any feedback.

 

[Harry_Y]

I'm doing it now.

I grow phytoplankton in Two 2 liter bottles,
and pods in Two 2 gallon storage containers.

I put 3 quarts of SW and 1 quart phytoplankton
in each of the 2 gallon storage containers.

I then added about half a bottle of pods in each.


How I grow Phyto:
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/f16/trying-my-hand-growing-phytoplankton-32075.html


How I grow Pods (sorta):
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2003/breeder2.htm


I still need to take pics of the Pod process


.

 

[subielover]

Where is the best place to buy a culture or two of copepods?

 

[deefib]

Here a pic of my pod tank, 5 gal, small pump with airstone, cheap 2 bulb fluorescent light. No heater.

There is live sand, some live rock rubble, a chaeto ball , assorted plants that were pruned from my main tank, some coral skeletons, and a blue plastic scrubbie.

The live copepods came from my LFS. Some stores do not know that the pod containers have to be opened or they will die, so make sure you see them jumping around before you buy.

I put in about a tsp. of phyto every couple of days, water change every 2 weeks. When changing the water, I take the plastic scrubbie which is full of pods, & shake it into a cup, which I then strain into a net & put in the main tank with the lights off, & the pump off ( for 10 min or so)

You can also just scoop the pods directly into your net, but they are fast little suckers.

One pod culture has lasted me since 6 months, just replenished it this week with some tigger pods.

 

[subielover]

Thanks for the info, this is what I am looking for. However, I don't really want to start a culture with tigger pods as I have read they are more of a cold water species. I have used reef nutrition's tigger pods to seed my fuge a couple weeks ago, and although I do see tons of pods in my fuge, I want more ;)

Where have people bought pods from?

 

[650-IS350]

reef nutrition

 

[subielover]

reef nutrition

Ok, any truth to the fact that tigger pods are better suited for cool water?

 

[Paul_N]

reef nutrition. Got one bottle over a year ago and never had to buy anymore.

 

[subielover]

Hmm, ok then. My lfs sells reef nutrition, so I guess I will try to breed those. I won't have time to set this up until early next year, but I will update this thread with my progress. Thanks for the opinions.

 

[Paul_N]

Do you have trouble with them multiplying in your display tank?

 

[subielover]

Not really, however I do have a mandarin. So I highly doubt I can sustain him indefinitely without constantly reseeding the tank.

 

[Paul_N]

I have a mandarin, yellow wrasse, and a margin wrasse and never had to reseed. I have a 75 gallon though so not sure if that makes the difference. I have pod piles in two corners and my rock is very porous.

 

[subielover]

Maybe I am being overly paranoid, but I would really rather be safe than sorry. We have grown very fond of our mandarin and would hate to lose him. I am really hoping that ORA will indeed be releasing captive-bred mandarins soon, as I would love to have a pair of them.

 

[Paul_N]

I would love to get a mate for my male target mandarin. I might look into finding a female when I upgrade.

 

[subielover]

How long have you had your mandy in the 75?

 

[Paul_N]

a little over a year.

 

[650-IS350]

I had a friend collect some past monterey bay ( tiger Pods ) and I cultured them in a 3 gallon tub and fed phyto. did great for months. I used reef nutrition to see my other tanks before, worked great.