Copepod / Phytoplankton experts - help?

[leevh]

I've searched and searched and can't seem to find a definitive answer: Is dosing live Nannochloropsis phytoplankton a good food source to keep up populations of pods that Mandarins like to eat? (like Tisbe, Apex etc) Or should I switch to culturing something a different phyto species? I don't currently culture pods, and don't really want to, I'd rather try to keep them reproducing in the display tank/fuge if possible.

other details:

I've got a 10 year old 90g tank with lots of live rock and a 5g bucket fuge with chaeto. I have pods and have added more tisbe pods in the last 6 months. I culture my own Nannochloropsis to dose the tank (about an ounce per day). The main objective is to feed my new young mandarin.

Any thoughts? Thank you!

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Yes, nanno is fine. It’s the most commonly available from home harvesters. But store bought stuff works too, like live phyto feast for example. I’ve fed them all to my pod cultures, they work.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

From what I can find, Nanno should work for both of those.

It might be wise to mix it up at least occasionally though and dose some other phytos to your tank too, as the different phytos affect the nutrition profile of the pods in different ways (so adding some variety might help keep your mandarin a bit healthier - I'm not sure which, if any, phyto would be the best from a nutrition standpoint, so I'd assume a blend would be best).

 

[homer1475]

Should be fine, but you could up your dosage by ALOT.

Typical starting points for phyto is 1ml per gallon. I dose 3ml/G daily to my 80G cube and keep 2 mandarins well fed.

 

[Jay'sReefBugs]

Yes Nanno will work

 

[Derrick0580]

From my research nanno’s outter shell is too tough for some pods such as tisbe to eat. I believe this to be true because my tisbe culture didn’t fare well on my nanno culture. Tisbe are detrivores so you would be better of crushing flake or pellets and feeding that way or a small amount of reef roids although you may need to do water changes more frequently. I dose my tank directly from my pod culture with a turkey baster every other day and just top off with fresh saltwater so to me this is sufficient for a water change. This is with tigger pods though. To really get the population booming I started the culture and didn’t touch it other than feeding it for like 6 weeks because they are a slower breeding pod. Now I have soo many that I can pull 5-6 basters full out every other day and do not notice any decline in numbers as I think they are breeding and hatching at a high daily rate at this point. Now that I know tisbe do not fare as well on phyto I will be restarting another culture of those and feeding crushed flakes since they breed at a much faster rate. I have also found that some light on the culture helps, tried the whole ambient light thing in just a 5 gallon aquarium but didn’t notice the growth as I do in my lighted jars.

 

[Lavey29]

Should be fine, but you could up your dosage by ALOT.

Typical starting points for phyto is 1ml per gallon. I dose 3ml/G daily to my 80G cube and keep 2 mandarins well fed.

You must go through many gallons of phytoplankton?

 

[Dinkins Aquatic Gardens]

Nanno works, but as noted above, it has a tough cell wall that can make it difficult to digest. It's best to feed a mixture of different phytoplankton in order to give the best nutritional profile for your pods. I would suggest trying to grow some Tetraselmis as well to balance out your pods' nutrition. Tetra is pretty easy to grow. If you're feeling really ambitious, Isochrysis is excellent, but very difficult to grow.

 

[BuddyBonButt]

From my research nanno’s outter shell is too tough for some pods such as tisbe to eat. I believe this to be true because my tisbe culture didn’t fare well on my nanno culture. Tisbe are detrivores so you would be better of crushing flake or pellets and feeding that way or a small amount of reef roids although you may need to do water changes more frequently. I dose my tank directly from my pod culture with a turkey baster every other day and just top off with fresh saltwater so to me this is sufficient for a water change. This is with tigger pods though. To really get the population booming I started the culture and didn’t touch it other than feeding it for like 6 weeks because they are a slower breeding pod. Now I have soo many that I can pull 5-6 basters full out every other day and do not notice any decline in numbers as I think they are breeding and hatching at a high daily rate at this point. Now that I know tisbe do not fare as well on phyto I will be restarting another culture of those and feeding crushed flakes since they breed at a much faster rate. I have also found that some light on the culture helps, tried the whole ambient light thing in just a 5 gallon aquarium but didn’t notice the growth as I do in my lighted jars.

So youre saying tisbe pods don't do well with phyto? I've planned on growing tetra phytoplankton. I'm guessing I need to switch to different pods then?

 

[Derrick0580]

So youre saying tisbe pods don't do well with phyto? I've planned on growing tetra phytoplankton. I'm guessing I need to switch to different pods then?

Think its more of a pod size issue….tisbe are detrievores so they do good on spirulina and crushed up flake food

 

[BuddyBonButt]

Think its more of a pod size issue….tisbe are detrievores so they do good on spirulina and crushed up flake food

Well, what type do you recommend? I don't really have time to wait 6 weeks for tiggers to ramp up. Any other suggestions?

 

[Derrick0580]

Apocacyclops maybe, could always get one of algae barns 4 pack deals, dose ur tank with a jar, keep on aside for later dosing, and use the other two for culture

 

[AlgaeBarn]

Apocacyclops maybe, could always get one of algae barns 4 pack deals, dose ur tank with a jar, keep on aside for later dosing, and use the other two for culture

@leevh If you get our galaxy pods it is a 5 species copepod blend (Tigriopus, Tisbe, Apocyclops, Oithona, and Euterpina- the link will also give you a beak down on what each prefer to eat). This gives you the most diversity and that way you will have pods that will prefer to eat the live phyto you are dosing as well as eat detritus.

 

[BuddyBonButt]

@leevh If you get our galaxy pods it is a 5 species copepod blend (Tigriopus, Tisbe, Apocyclops, Oithona, and Euterpina- the link will also give you a beak down on what each prefer to eat). This gives you the most diversity and that way you will have pods that will prefer to eat the live phyto you are dosing as well as eat detritus.

Hi @AlgaeBarn I was looking at apocyclops pods and you said there's definition on what they eat but didn't see anything for them in particular. This is all I saw:

Apocyclops panamensis

Being slightly larger than Tisbe and slightly smaller than Tigriopus, these resilient copepods round out your tank’s zooplankton size range. Apocyclops is extremely nutritious with a very high amino acid and protein content. It reproduces quickly by laying eggs every 4-6 days–about twice the rate of Tisbe and Tigriopus! This cyclopoid spends much time in the water column, providing a continuous source of nutrition for seahorses, swallowtail angelfish, etc.

Do they eat tetra phytoplankton? The type I culture?

 

[AlgaeBarn]

@BuddyBonButt sorry about that- I thought it was there as well- Apocyclops pods feed on phytoplankton, fish waste, and other detritus in your tank. They can eat just tetra

 

[BuddyBonButt]

@BuddyBonButt sorry about that- I thought it was there as well- Apocyclops pods feed on phytoplankton, fish waste, and other detritus in your tank. They can eat just tetra

@AlgaeBarn Awesome! do you have any experience culturing Apocyclops pods? Are they slow or sustainable? I'll be happy to buy from you guys if they can keep up.

 

[AlgaeBarn]

@BuddyBonButt Yes we culture them and they reproduce quickly, laying eggs every 4-6 days, about twice the rate of Tisbe and Tigriopus.

 

[BuddyBonButt]

@BuddyBonButt Yes we culture them and they reproduce quickly, laying eggs every 4-6 days, about twice the rate of Tisbe and Tigriopus.

Awesome, thank you @AlgaeBarn i thought i did all the research i needed, dropped over $120 on supplies and phyto only to read that the tisbee pods that I planned on don't really like phyto as much as others. Glad I didn't waste money!