Culturing Copepods with substrate and macroalgae

[waitwut]

I'd like to start culturing copepods - I do have a refugium but I have UV on my return so I don't think many pods really make it out of the refugium into the DT. I also don't seem to build up much of a population in the refugium anyway. I have been buying more live pods fairly regularly to keep the population up and this is getting quite expensive so culturing them seems like a good option.

I'm aware of the simple method with a bucket/jar and an airstone, but this seems to require fairly consistent upkeep with a lot of water changes and very regular harvesting to avoid a crash. I'm wondering if it's possible to effectively culture pods in a small stable aquarium - ideally one that doesn't look too ugly either as this will be sitting next to me in my home office.

I'm picturing a 10 or 20L nano cube with a cheap clip on light, a small air powered sponge filter, coarse sand or crushed coral substrate and some kind of pleasant looking macroalgae like Caulerpa. I will still feed with liquid phyto or powdered spirulina but the macroalgae will provide an extra food source that will hopefully reduce the risk of underfeeding. Ammonia shouldn't be an issue as this will be a negligible bioload for the sponge filter + substrate.

Is this a good idea or am I just creating more maintenance for myself? My hope is that harvesting by scooping out a cup of water (either dumping it into the DT or filtering out the pods and just adding those) and then topping back up will be sufficient water changes to keep it stable, I'll just need to vacuum the substrate every now and then.

 

[RedoubtReef]

How large is the refugium? Mine is a little more than 40 gallons and the caulerpa and mud are crawling with pods and worms. Could it be that the UV that is wiping out your population as they spawn?

 

[waitwut]

Refugium is around 35L, though it has a DSB so it's not that much actual water volume. I get pod population explosions periodically - sometimes the glass in both the refugium and the DT is crawling with them - but generally the population doesn't seem that high.

I'm sure the UV is killing them but I think the upsides of having it on the return outweigh the downside of a low pod population which is why I'm considering culturing them externally.

 

[Dinkins Aquatic Gardens]

A setup like that would definitely work. Just be careful of the sponge filter stripping out your phyto and getting really dirty. Watch your ammonia levels too- you’d be surprised!

The good news is that UV doesn’t harm copepods. It’s extremely difficult to get UV to kill a single cell Protozoa like Ich. Pods have thousands of cells and are just too big and complex for an aquarium grade UV to harm.

Good luck!

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

A copepod culture is actually completely hands-off.

I put saltwater in a tupperware with phyto and leave it. Every few days I add a little freshwater, and maybe a little more phyto and thats it. After 3 or 4 weeks, drain the tupperware through a sieve to collect the pods, then clean the tupperware and start again.

No filtration, no water changes, no heater no lights, just an airline to keep the phyto from settling.

 

[waitwut]

If the UV isn't killing the pods then perhaps I need to look at my mechanical filtration. I have 225 micron filter socks which I believe should let most pods through - is there a better alternative? Will they get through filter floss?

@Mr. Mojo Rising - that does sound easy. Harvesting every 3-4 weeks might not be frequent enough to feed something like a dragonet but I guess I could run two cultures simultaneously if I needed more. I did like the idea of being able to harvest more or less continuously with the approach I'm considering though.

Also, are you using live phyto? From what I've read the more hands-off approaches require live phyto because it won't decay, it sounds like more frequent feeding is required when using the preserved phyto mixes or powdered spirulina.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

If the UV isn't killing the pods then perhaps I need to look at my mechanical filtrationi. I have 225 micron filter socks which I believe should let most pods through - is there a better alternative? Will they get through filter floss?

@Mr. Mojo Rising - that does sound easy. Harvesting every 3-4 weeks might not be frequent enough to feed something like a dragonet but I guess I could run two cultures simultaneously if I needed more. I did like the idea of being able to harvest more or less continuously with the approach I'm considering though.

Also, are you using live phyto? From what I've read the more hands-off approaches require live phyto because it won't decay, it sounds like more frequent feeding is required when using the preserved phyto mixes or powdered spirulina.

thats right, live phyto works better, lasts longer without fouling the water. Its easier to go a full month live pjyto. I think folks that culture their own pods mostly culture their own phyto as well. The whole idea is to cut the cost.

Powdered spirulina works too, I use it if I've run out of phyto. The bottled phyto, or synthetic phyto, also works, but I find the pod population much less with these 2, I think they foul the water too fast