Copepod breeding, worth it or not?

[oKrazyii]

So recently ive been thinking about starting to cultivate some copepods but im not sure how worth it it would realistically be, my plan was to grab maybe a 20g tote and leave it outside during the warmer months but im not sure if itll be valuable to me in any way? id prefer a method that requires little to no effort, no water changes, no testing, just grab and go basically. I should also add though i currently dont have many things that will actually eat copepods soi i would mostly be doing this just to keep my population up in my tank and also as a preperation for when i eventually upgrade and get some corals and fish that will eat them. in everyone opinion is it worth it to try? or am i better off just buying copepods from my lfs and online sites that sell them?

 

[MoeStachio]

I'd say that it depends on your tank

How big?

Livestock that eat pods?

Algae issues?

I seeded my tank with Tisbe, and largely skipped the ugly phase aside from diatoms.

But I have a 15ga.


If you have a massive tank and a mandarin or two- yeah it's worth it.

If it's just corals- seed it a few times and forget about it outside of feeding phyto

Just my thoughts

 

[oKrazyii]

I'd say that it depends on your tank

How big?

Livestock that eat pods?

Algae issues?

I seeded my tank with Tisbe, and largely skipped the ugly phase aside from diatoms.

But I have a 15ga.


If you have a massive tank and a mandarin or two- yeah it's worth it.

If it's just corals- seed it a few times and forget about it outside of feeding phyto

Just my thoughts

so i currently have a 30g, i only have a clownfish, 2 firefins, a yellow watchman, engineer goby, 2 cleaner shrimp (i have other cleanup crew but i dont think that all matters lol) and for coral i have 1 torch, gsp, an acan, and i believe its callede a favia coral? its an encrusting coral that looks like a lava rock lol.

 

[Lou City Reefing]

I’ve really thought about doing the same with copepods and phytoplankton. I have two extra 10 gallon tanks laying around and want to cultivate both phyto and copepods. That will definitely be too much for my size tank, but I’d like to keep a Red Dragonet and have ample amount of copepods for it.

 

[MoeStachio]

I'd say that it depends on your tank

How big?

Livestock that eat pods?

Algae issues?

I seeded my tank with Tisbe, and largely skipped the ugly phase aside from diatoms.

But I have a 15ga.


If you have a massive tank and a mandarin or two- yeah it's worth it.

If it's just corals- seed it a few times and forget about it outside of feeding phyto

Just my thoughts

so i currently have a 30g, i only have a clownfish, 2 firefins, a yellow watchman, engineer goby, 2 cleaner shrimp (i have other cleanup crew but i dont think that all matters lol) and for coral i have 1 torch, gsp, an acan, and i believe its callede a favia coral? its an encrusting coral that looks like a lava rock lol.

You'd be surprised.

My hermits went feral burying in the sand when they discovered the copepods lol

Ok so based on your tank size, you don't need a 20gal tub of pods. Scale it to suit your needs

A 1gal will probably work. Mandarins need like 1 copepod every 8-10 seconds or something so compared to just having them as a cleanup crew...

 

[exnisstech]

Do you see pods in your DT? The fish you list do not require pods TMK so I would say if you see pods you have pods so what would you gain by growing them separately? Pods are very beneficial but I'm genuinely curious because so many purchase and add them. I have pods in all of my tanks but I have never added any. I assume mine come in as hitchhikers in rocks and coral etc.
This 20g has only been up for 3 months but started with live rock. I've never added pods and my sixline and peppermint shrimp spend the day eating what I assume are pods living in the algae on the back wall.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Culturing copepods is free and super easy, and its an interesting experience if you've never done it. No testing no water changes no stress, just an occasional freshwater top off once or twice a week. Harvest in 3-4 weeks. I use plastic containers I bought from the dollar store. Check out youtube for some videos on "budget culturing copepods".

 

[Lou City Reefing]

Culturing copepods is free and super easy, and its an interesting experience if you've never done it. No testing no water changes no stress, just an occasional freshwater top off once or twice a week. Harvest in 3-4 weeks. I use plastic containers I bought from the dollar store. Check out youtube for some videos on "budget culturing copepods".

What is the best way to harvest them?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

What is the best way to harvest them?

Siphon or pour the water through a copepod sieve. I made my own copepod sieve, which was easy. I just bought mesh baggies from amazon of different micron sizes (50, 100, and 150) and glued them to a pvc pipe piece.

 

[oKrazyii]

Do you see pods in your DT? The fish you list do not require pods TMK so I would say if you see pods you have pods so what would you gain by growing them separately? Pods are very beneficial but I'm genuinely curious because so many purchase and add them. I have pods in all of my tanks but I have never added any. I assume mine come in as hitchhikers in rocks and coral etc.
This 20g has only been up for 3 months but started with live rock. I've never added pods and my sixline and peppermint shrimp spend the day eating what I assume are pods living in the algae on the back wall.

so ive seeded my tank like 3 times now and for some reason after like a month or so i no longer see many pods in it, idk if im just doing such a great job that they have no food and just die off (doubtful) or if something is eating them all but i figure instead of constantly spending the money on a insanely small bottle from my lfs for like $30 itd probably be better to just cultivate myself, plus as far as i know theres no harm in "too many" copepods, idk if thats true though lol