Grow your own reef food! Do you have a DIY culture station?

[CBonito]

Does having a HOB Refugium with copepods count?

In my opinion it's the only way to go.

 

[Reef By Steele]

That's fine, I wasn't working for a multistrain culture anyways. There isn't any other live phyto product available in my area other than what comes with the pods.

If it doesn’t work out for you, PM me. I ship out live phyto every week. We can determine the best strain or strains for your needs and getting you up and running.

 

[Reef By Steele]

I’ll be honest, the algae is so thick on the glass I can’t see much, and I can’t really recognize the different kinds of the smaller ones but I do know what the Tig pods look like and they are everywhere, but they are also the first ones to get eaten when I add them to my display. Almost immediately actually. My clowns tear them up

Add them one hour or more after lights out and they have a chance to get into your rock work. Your fish will still find and eat them, but not the feeding frenzy that keeps them from colonizing in your DT.

 

[Reef By Steele]

One of my must have fish is the Psychedelic Mandarin. Being from Nebraska we had to get Ruby Red Dragonets as they are Husker Colors (yeah but we were a powerhouse once, maybe we will come back), sand sifting gobies, wrasses and other “Pod Hunters” so we bought them often.

We discovered Clownfish eggs and wanted to give raising them a try, so I started a rotifer culture. Then moved to doing baby brine shrimp for the clowns. Decided to culture phytoplankton for the rotifers. Ordered phyto starters and decided I might as well do pods.

Best advice I can offer is having twice as many vessels as you use. So much easier to have clean jars, jugs, etc and start the new one. Then take the harvest and blend store whatever you’re doing with it. It took so long to wash up everything and then wipe with alcohol and wait for it to fully evaporate.

 

[Jeremy_d]

nice. Waiting for the biofilm to grow... fed some mysis last night to keep up nutrients.

Add them one hour or more after lights out and they have a chance to get into your rock work. Your fish will still find and eat them, but not the feeding frenzy that keeps them from colonizing in your DT.

One of my must have fish is the Psychedelic Mandarin. Being from Nebraska we had to get Ruby Red Dragonets as they are Husker Colors (yeah but we were a powerhouse once, maybe we will come back), sand sifting gobies, wrasses and other “Pod Hunters” so we bought them often.

We discovered Clownfish eggs and wanted to give raising them a try, so I started a rotifer culture. Then moved to doing baby brine shrimp for the clowns. Decided to culture phytoplankton for the rotifers. Ordered phyto starters and decided I might as well do pods.

Best advice I can offer is having twice as many vessels as you use. So much easier to have clean jars, jugs, etc and start the new one. Then take the harvest and blend store whatever you’re doing with it. It took so long to wash up everything and then wipe with alcohol and wait for it to fully evaporate.

I really want to try and grow out some clownfish fry. Maybe not as many as i can find but maybe try raising 25-30 and getting credit at my LFS.

 

[blue-thumb]

I have grown phyto, amphipods and copepods. Phyto is a feed from copepods. It's cheaper to buy phyto then to grow it. It's not hard. It's time consuming. It consumes space. There are many good vendors for starter cultures. Got to be careful not to introduce hitchhikers. It would be easy to introduce pathogenic organisms along with your food. It's helpful to grow copepods and brine shrimp for fussy animal like seahorses, mandarins, and pipefish. I have grown them for raising seahorse and pipe fish babies. I am not sure of their value in a coral tank. Coral are primarily photosynthetic. They gather food opportunistically from the water column. It isn't their primary source of nutrition.

 

[blue-thumb]

Does having a HOB Refugium with copepods count?

The vast majority of pods are grown in my refugium. I like watching them crawl around the cheato.

 

[blue-thumb]

I've been culturing copepods and phytoplankton since 2004.

What do you do when you go on vacation? I don't have anyone to maintain them. My cultures typically crash.

 

[Spicy Reef]

I do rots and baby brine.
Has anyone automated the culture and feeding?

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

I’ve set up my Aquariums to be Copepod and Amphipods Friendly. Used mix media sand beds. 65 Gallon has the Plastic Corrugated Sign Material buried in the sand. 120 has lots of Shell Rubble in the mixes media. Plastic Snap in Grommets in the filter socks, so pods can escape.

 

[Duzzy]

I run live brine because of my Sally project. I don't know if that counts but every tank gets live brine shrimp daily. No other live foods.

Brine shrimp culture for dummies like me:
scoop out a cup of tank water, put in shrimp eggs, there you go you just grew live food for your tank.

Maybe people who actually understand this stuff will see this, why doesn't tossing shrimp eggs into my sump work?

Hi there,

how do you grow the shrimp to adult? I feed baby brine and have for 30yrs in hobby (mainly fresheater) but I’ve never grown them

regards Duzzy

 

[Reef By Steele]

Hi there,

how do you grow the shrimp to adult? I feed baby brine and have for 30yrs in hobby (mainly fresheater) but I’ve never grown them

regards Duzzy

Hey Duzzy

I add them to a 10 gallon aquarium that I have set at 5 gallon with auto top off. I then add phyto every time the water clears.

When grown I place them in a cup of phyto and add a little Selcon for an hour. Then strain and feed. Or just add the mixture if I haven’t doses phyto yet.

 

[Duzzy]

Grow your own reef food: Do you have a DIY culture station?

There are many food options for your reef from pellets, flakes, powder, frozen, phyto, and more. With all the commercial choices, some people still choose to mix their own and even grow their own reef food. Live foods that you can grow from a culture Include brine shrimp, copepods, rotifers, and phytoplankton. There are many reasons to raise your own foods and many ways to go about it. Have you ever had a DIY culture station? If so, please share your experiences as well as any tips or techniques that you have successfully used.

Photo by @York1


This QOTD is sponsored by: www.worldwidecorals.com

“At WWC our staff takes the worry out of the equation by culturing extremely healthy corals, giving you a hassle-free guarantee, and providing you with a full online customer service team to ensure you are completely satisfied with your purchase.”

I plan to do pods, phyto, brine and rotifers

Hey Duzzy

I add them to a 10 gallon aquarium that I have set at 5 gallon with auto top off. I then add phyto every time the water clears.

When grown I place them in a cup of phyto and add a little Selcon for an hour. Then strain and feed. Or just add the mixture if I haven’t doses phyto yet.

how long will they last/keep for as you feed them? And selcon?

 

[taulgrl]

I’ve been culturing live white worms for over a year now. My fish love them and, once you get that initial culture going, they are easy!

 

[Reef By Steele]

I plan to do pods, phyto, brine and rotifers

how long will they last/keep for as you feed them? And selcon?

The brine shrimp for me last as long as they live. I culture them in an aquarium with phyto. I harvest what I need want and put them in a measuring cup of ohyto and add some drops of selcon vitamin supplement.

Selcon? Vitamin additive for fish foods.

Selcon Vitamin Fish Food Supplement

Why does BRS recommend this? Selcon is a vitamin and fatty acid booster for marine fish that has proven its value in this hobby. A little Selcon will go a long way by soaking any type of food in it for a few minutes prior to feeding, increasing any foods nutritional value. Selcon is a vitamin...

fresh.bulkreefsupply.com

If you plan to culture phyto and pods. Check out these culturing kits.

Plankton Culturing Kits

Everything you need for culturing except Saltwater and an air pump!

reefbysteele.com

 

[Duzzy]

The brine shrimp for me last as long as they live. I culture them in an aquarium with phyto. I harvest what I need want and put them in a measuring cup of ohyto and add some drops of selcon vitamin supplement.

Selcon? Vitamin additive for fish foods.

Selcon Vitamin Fish Food Supplement

Why does BRS recommend this? Selcon is a vitamin and fatty acid booster for marine fish that has proven its value in this hobby. A little Selcon will go a long way by soaking any type of food in it for a few minutes prior to feeding, increasing any foods nutritional value. Selcon is a vitamin...

fresh.bulkreefsupply.com

If you plan to culture phyto and pods. Check out these culturing kits.

Plankton Culturing Kits

Everything you need for culturing except Saltwater and an air pump!

reefbysteele.com

Do you mean they last until you run out? Or they keep breeding?

 

[Reef By Steele]

Do you mean they last until you run out? Or they keep breeding?

If you keep up with them I have seen smaller brine in the tank, I run two tanks and net larger ones into the other tank as I start new hatches to avoid cannibalism. I don’t know if they will self sustain or not as I pull them out too fast and it is so easy to hatch them.

 

[Boehmtown]

I cultured phyto and pods. Eventually I went with phyto feast and a small 5 gallon fishless softie tank as my culture. My most successful long term culture.

 

[Duzzy]

If you keep up with them I have seen smaller brine in the tank, I run two tanks and net larger ones into the other tank as I start new hatches to avoid cannibalism. I don’t know if they will self sustain or not as I pull them out too fast and it is so easy to hatch them.

Thankyou

 

[Kanshi]

I culture Tisbe pods just to keep my mandarin fat and happy.