Growing Copepods in a bucket

[AyoItsRocco]

So basically I'm looking into culturing copepods on my screened porch in a 5 gallon bucket to see if it works. Other than the Pods and Phytoplanket, what else is needed to grow a decent sized culture? I'm new to the whole copepod thing so any tips and advice are greatly appreciated!

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

sure it will work, thats going to be a lot of pods though lol. I culture them in small tupperwater containers.

Only other thing you should have is an airline going into the water, just to keep the water from going stagnant and help keep the phyto suspended in the water column.

 

[AyoItsRocco]

sure it will work, thats going to be a lot of pods though lol. I culture them in small tupperwater containers.

Only other thing you should have is an airline going into the water, just to keep the water from going stagnant and help keep the phyto suspended in the water column.

I agree lol it will be quite alot, just trying to start it with all the things I have at my house.

 

[floridareeflabs]

Hello, our 2 cents:

airline with slow bubbles
dose Dead or live phyto daily so green tint, depends on species but tetra or nano is typical but some like one over the other per harder to eat etc.
gravity of water depends on species of copepod, but in general 1.022-1.025 is best.
Try and keep lid on buck with small hole for positive pressure escape
Dont bother adding a special light, just allow bucket to have some ambient light near by so they are not completly in the dark, they are "afraid" of the dark. :)

 

[bradreef]

I have two tigrio cultures inside with airlines in them and a 10ish gallon( half full) container outside with no air movement and a lid on it for minimal evap. That one grows the best. Just add phyto at least every 2 days

 

[pezcadoazul]

sure it will work, thats going to be a lot of pods though lol. I culture them in small tupperwater containers.

Only other thing you should have is an airline going into the water, just to keep the water from going stagnant and help keep the phyto suspended in the water column.

Do you start with eggs or live copepods. Which one's. If starting with bought live copepods, how long does it take for them to mature and reproduce? If starting with eggs, same question. Is it easier than growing brine shrimp? Thanks

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Do you start with eggs or live copepods. Which one's. If starting with bought live copepods, how long does it take for them to mature and reproduce? If starting with eggs, same question. Is it easier than growing brine shrimp? Thanks

You should check on youtube or search this forum, there are a hundred different ways to do it. But each way is set it and forget it kind of thing.

I use small tupperware, fill with new saltwater.
Buy a bottle of live copepods from somewhere (cannot buy copepod eggs) and add most of the copepods to your aquarium and keep a third of the bottle to start your culture.
Add phytoplankton until the water is lite green. You can add the store bought stuff, but I find I get better results when using cultured phyto.
Add an airline to the culture, to keep the phyto suspended.
They reproduce in about 3-4 weeks, I harvest them once a month. I drain the water completely, clean the container, and start all over again. My culture is below.
Thats it, I top off with fresh water once a week, but nothing else to do but wait.

 

[christianhherzog1980]

Hello, our 2 cents:

airline with slow bubbles
dose Dead or live phyto daily so green tint, depends on species but tetra or nano is typical but some like one over the other per harder to eat etc.
gravity of water depends on species of copepod, but in general 1.022-1.025 is best.
Try and keep lid on buck with small hole for positive pressure escape
Dont bother adding a special light, just allow bucket to have some ambient light near by so they are not completly in the dark, they are "afraid" of the dark. :)

Hey love you guys multiple time customer in fact I have two things of your phyto on their way to my house right now. 2 questions how come they do not like the dark and also is it true that they grow better in dark buckets as opposed to white buckets?

 

[floridareeflabs]

Hello,

First, sorry if being funny confused the facts per saying "afraid" of dark as they are obviously not afraid of the dark.

To explain, copepods do not have a traditional eye compared to us but are very much attracted to various spectrum's of light. If a bucket/vessle is clear/light colored we have found that they tend to stay on the sides and top and never get as dense as one would hope for. Having a dark bucket they tend to "travel" around more but some ambient light is good so they are stimulated/attracted to other spots of the vessel they are being raised in; at least in our experience. Also, depending on the species of copepod some have been seen to do better with some UV light while others just need very little ambient light near by. We have tried completely dark environments and it just was not as successful as ones with some ambient light.

It is true copepods do not "need" light to survive but some light seems to help even if only for minimal hours a day.

 

[Mannyman123]

You should check on youtube or search this forum, there are a hundred different ways to do it. But each way is set it and forget it kind of thing.

I use small tupperware, fill with new saltwater.
Buy a bottle of live copepods from somewhere (cannot buy copepod eggs) and add most of the copepods to your aquarium and keep a third of the bottle to start your culture.
Add phytoplankton until the water is lite green. You can add the store bought stuff, but I find I get better results when using cultured phyto.
Add an airline to the culture, to keep the phyto suspended.
They reproduce in about 3-4 weeks, I harvest them once a month. I drain the water completely, clean the container, and start all over again. My culture is below.
Thats it, I top off with fresh water once a week, but nothing else to do but wait.

 

[Mannyman123]

Do you use airstone or just bubble the water out of the air tube and what is the purpose of the air? What do you feed them I have read reef chilli, and powdered phyoto a well as liquid phyoto. Can/do you grow different types and if you are emotying your bucket monthly are you buying new monthly? do you run them trew a screen to catch them? how are you getting tghem in the tank?

 

[floridareeflabs]

Do you use airstone or just bubble the water out of the air tube and what is the purpose of the air? What do you feed them I have read reef chilli, and powdered phyoto a well as liquid phyoto. Can/do you grow different types and if you are emotying your bucket monthly are you buying new monthly? do you run them trew a screen to catch them? how are you getting tghem in the tank?

Hello,

Bubbles to stir water and to keep oxygen levels up. If oxygen drops their populations will dwindle. Live or dead phyto is truly best as fouls the water less. There are lots of options but you risk fouling water and crashing. As for upkeep you have to keep water light green really, so larger the container the potential for larger quantities but requires a lot more phyto. We dose our cultures for example well over 30 gallons a week so you have to be mindful of culture size. A home culture of 1 gallon is great as requires less phyto but it will also foul quicker so watch for those signs and smell and restart often. A 25-50 micron sieve is best for catching the copepods but larger micron if need to filter out mulm at bottom.

Hope that helps, and good luck!!!