Help with Refugium and Culturing Copepods

[SeaHorseQueen]

Hi, I'm not sure where to actually post this. I'm looking at starting a refugium but need help with how to go about doing this. I have a 5g tank just sitting with sand. Can I use this to culture the copepods and hook it up to the tank or would it be better to get an HOB and do it this way? How do you select an HOB if I go this route? If the 5g tank is ok to use for culturing then is there something I can use to transfer them to the tank without using a copepod net? I have a brine shrimp net. Would that still be too thick to catch copepods or BBS? To me, they look too big as far as holes go. I know how to hatch BBS so that is easy to do so that's another live food I want to use. Do I still need to add selcon to the live BBS and any foods I feed frozen? The main tank is 20g H (for a steal on marketplace from FB) and FOWLR with live sand. Currently tank doesn't have any occupants. I've heard that I can put a sponge in the refugium and place it in the main tank at harvest time. How often can you harvest once you start culturing copepods? When do you remove the sponges after putting them in the tanks? Does it matter what kind of sponge or should I get a copepod hotel set up? Any help would be great.

 

[Llyod276]

You can literally leave it with just sand, or even a bare tank. A sponge provides escape from predators in this case you.

The best ive ever seen for copepod culturing is just plain old cycling the tank, like the intial cycle. Idk what it was, but i had millions of them everywhere. Then i out one little clown fish in and the population bloom was never seen again.

The best advice, assuming its not a trade secret, would be from @algeabarn. It's kind of thier thing.

 

[SeaHorseQueen]

You can literally leave it with just sand, or even a bare tank. A sponge provides escape from predators in this case you.

The best ive ever seen for copepod culturing is just plain old cycling the tank, like the intial cycle. Idk what it was, but i had millions of them everywhere. Then i out one little clown fish in and the population bloom was never seen again.

The best advice, assuming its not a trade secret, would be from @algeabarn. It's kind of thier thing.

I'm planning on using Algaebarn for the copepods and sent them an email for help. Tank will have a pair of clowns for sure. I was wanting a mandarin and know it'd take a lot of copepods so I was trying to culture them as well as replenish the tank every couple weeks knowing they eat thousands a day. Also why I was aiming to hatch BBS every couple days as well.

 

[Llyod276]

There are videos on raising BBS without tanks. The copepod tank in my opinion should be fish free. I just can't think of a fish that will pass up a copepod snack. Maybe a shark? Or some other large predator?

 

[SeaHorseQueen]

There are videos on raising BBS without tanks. The copepod tank in my opinion should be fish free. I just can't think of a fish that will pass up a copepod snack. Maybe a shark? Or some other large predator?

Isn’t that what the refugium is for the copepods since there isn’t any fish in it? I have my BBS hatchery ready.

 

[Woodyman]

Thread 'Advice needed from folks culturing pods and rotifers' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/advice-needed-from-folks-culturing-pods-and-rotifers.902131/

 

[Jay'sReefBugs]

Hi, I'm not sure where to actually post this. I'm looking at starting a refugium but need help with how to go about doing this. I have a 5g tank just sitting with sand. Can I use this to culture the copepods and hook it up to the tank or would it be better to get an HOB and do it this way? How do you select an HOB if I go this route? If the 5g tank is ok to use for culturing then is there something I can use to transfer them to the tank without using a copepod net? I have a brine shrimp net. Would that still be too thick to catch copepods or BBS? To me, they look too big as far as holes go. I know how to hatch BBS so that is easy to do so that's another live food I want to use. Do I still need to add selcon to the live BBS and any foods I feed frozen? The main tank is 20g H (for a steal on marketplace from FB) and FOWLR with live sand. Currently tank doesn't have any occupants. I've heard that I can put a sponge in the refugium and place it in the main tank at harvest time. How often can you harvest once you start culturing copepods? When do you remove the sponges after putting them in the tanks? Does it matter what kind of sponge or should I get a copepod hotel set up? Any help would be great.

5 gallon would be a perfect culture size for your needs. You would use a copepod sive something in the range of 53-100 um should catch pretty much everything. The sponge stays don't touch it . Copepod hotels are more geared towards Amphipods not copepods. Rock rubble is also a great option as well for copepod breeding grounds .

 

[OceanPup]

Hi!

I dosed and left a 5 gallon tank next to the window with 1 Bottle of Reef Nutrition’s Tigriopus californicus, a bottle of Tommy’s Live Phyto, and a bag of Algaebarn (it contained both phytoplankton and Tigriopus californicus. Salinity I kept between 1.016-1.020, and left the habitat in a corner between my windows (East and south) and had a natural daylight cycle. I used a rotation of dechlorinated high TDS tap water and remineralized RO synthetic salt water to lower and raise the salinity during the top offs, depending on the evaporation rate due to the warmer climate in San Diego.

1 month later and weekly dosings of OTC probiotics (to handle detritus factor), and this is my result An explosion of copepods and phytoplankton.