Can't see any of my tisbe pods in culture?

[DiscoMush]

I recently started a Tisbe pod culture and am following a few guides on r2r as well as on youtube, but I'm starting to wonder whether I even got any live pods?

I've got two cultures going each in a 1.7l jar, both have airline tubes connected to them at 1.025 salinity.

I feed phyto once every two days as well as reef roids. There's some chaeto in the jars as well as a small sponge to provide a place for the pods to hide. No matter how long I look at the culture it just seems like I literally have no pods in there? When I purchased the bag of tisbe pods they were still within their "use by" date but I wasn't really able to see them in the bag either..

Previously, I had a tigger pod culture going, so I know the jittery movement that I should look for in seeing if I have any pods, but I hardly see any movement except for what seems like particles floating around due to my air bubbles.

In this case, did I just purchase a bad bag? Or are tisbe pods just very difficult to see in the life stage they're sold as?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I recently started a Tisbe pod culture and am following a few guides on r2r as well as on youtube, but I'm starting to wonder whether I even got any live pods?

I've got two cultures going each in a 1.7l jar, both have airline tubes connected to them at 1.025 salinity.

I feed phyto once every two days as well as reef roids. There's some chaeto in the jars as well as a small sponge to provide a place for the pods to hide. No matter how long I look at the culture it just seems like I literally have no pods in there? When I purchased the bag of tisbe pods they were still within their "use by" date but I wasn't really able to see them in the bag either..

Previously, I had a tigger pod culture going, so I know the jittery movement that I should look for in seeing if I have any pods, but I hardly see any movement except for what seems like particles floating around due to my air bubbles.

In this case, did I just purchase a bad bag? Or are tisbe pods just very difficult to see in the life stage they're sold as?

Typical- Then all of a sudden they are plentiful. They grow fast enough

 

[PotatoPig]

When you look, are you looking by turning room lights off so you’re in the dark and lighting up the culture with a flashlight from the side then looking down into it from above?

 

[DiscoMush]

When you look, are you looking by turning room lights off so you’re in the dark and lighting up the culture with a flashlight from the side then looking down into it from above?

I haven’t tried looking from above in a dark room yet. I usually just shine my phone light to the side and wait to see if they clump together similar to brine shrimp, but I’ll try giving that a try!

 

[mfinn]

I recently started a Tisbe pod culture and am following a few guides on r2r as well as on youtube, but I'm starting to wonder whether I even got any live pods?

I've got two cultures going each in a 1.7l jar, both have airline tubes connected to them at 1.025 salinity.

I feed phyto once every two days as well as reef roids. There's some chaeto in the jars as well as a small sponge to provide a place for the pods to hide. No matter how long I look at the culture it just seems like I literally have no pods in there? When I purchased the bag of tisbe pods they were still within their "use by" date but I wasn't really able to see them in the bag either..

Previously, I had a tigger pod culture going, so I know the jittery movement that I should look for in seeing if I have any pods, but I hardly see any movement except for what seems like particles floating around due to my air bubbles.

In this case, did I just purchase a bad bag? Or are tisbe pods just very difficult to see in the life stage they're sold as?

I don't have the exact numbers, but I do know that tisbe pods are much smaller ( even adults) than tigger pods.
So seeing the jittery movements are much harder with out a magnifying glass or microscope.
Those particles are probably the tisbe pods.

 

[mfinn]

From a google search;

Tisbe are one of the smallest types of Copepods ranging in size from 15 microns nauplii to 200 micron in adult size. Tigger Copepods are a large variety that can get up to 2 millimeters in length as adults. Copepods are essential to establish a whole life cycle aquarium reef tank habitat.


1mm = 1000 micrometer

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

How long has it been? It takes 3-4 weeks to become plentiful enough to see them with naked eye.

I use a magnifying glass from the dollar store, tisbe's are among the smallest pods.

Or shine a flashlight from the back of the container, you should be able to see little white dots moving around in the light.

 

[PotatoPig]

I haven’t tried looking from above in a dark room yet. I usually just shine my phone light to the side and wait to see if they clump together similar to brine shrimp, but I’ll try giving that a try!

These things are really really small. Even when I know where they are they’re almost impossible to see without lighting them up in the dark then viewing from the side/above.

 

[Jay'sReefBugs]

Could be a multitude of things. Bad starter culture, to much ammonia etc . I would say be careful with reef roids as it can foul the water pretty quickly if left unchecked. My experience with Macro algae in a pod culture is it just doesn't work well as it lacks the elements needed .It normally ends up just melting ( my experience) . I agree with others turn the lights off in your room kill the air pump and check the culture with a flash light . You should see some type of movement for fully formed adults

 

[DiscoMush]

How long has it been? It takes 3-4 weeks to become plentiful enough to see them with naked eye.

I use a magnifying glass from the dollar store, tisbe's are among the smallest pods.

Or shine a flashlight from the back of the container, you should be able to see little white dots moving around in the light.

It’s been around a week and a half, and I didn’t know they took that long to be visible to the naked eye! I’m a bit more optimistic now knowing they’re so tiny though lol

 

[DiscoMush]

Could be a multitude of things. Bad starter culture, to much ammonia etc . I would say be careful with reef roids as it can foul the water pretty quickly if left unchecked. My experience with Macro algae in a pod culture is it just doesn't work well as it lacks the elements needed .It normally ends up just melting ( my experience) . I agree with others turn the lights off in your room kill the air pump and check the culture with a flash light . You should see some type of movement for fully formed adults

Would you recommend me taking the chaeto out? It’s still green and doesn’t look like it’s melted, assuming that melted chaeto looks brown/wilted. I thought I’d throw the chaeto in there to help with excess nutrients, but I haven’t been testing ammonia/nitrates in the culture anyways

 

[bradreef]

Tisbe can be seen with the naked eye if you shine indirect light on the bottle. Something isnt right if you cant see them. Ive had great luck raising them with live tetra phyto. It seems to me that people lose their cultures due to amonia and live food help with that. Just my experience.