Dinkins Aquatic Gardens
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Hey guys! One thing I've meant to write about for some time is why we chose the three species - and only those three species - of copepods for our Snacklebox blend. After all, there are thousands of different species of pod, and you've probably seen vendors who offer a 5- 6- or 7-species mix of copepods. Why don't we do that?
It turns out, there are only a few species of pods that eat detritus in your tank and that can survive exclusively on detritus. You'll often see species like Acartia Tonsa or Parvocolanus listed in some other blends - both species of copepod require phytoplankton exclusively during at least part of their life cycle. Parvo, in particular, will only eat live Isochrysis phyto - which is among the hardest phytoplankton to grow. What that means is that if you dump a 6-species bottle of pods into your tank, unless you're heavily feeding the right types of live phytoplankton each day, half the pods you just poured in will die. The most useful and adaptable copepods - Tisbe, Apocyclops, and Tigriopus - will survive on the detritus in your tank. But many of the other species present in the bottle will not.
Another problem is that all environments have a carrying capacity - they can support only a certain number of organisms. Bottles and jugs face the same limitation. Each individual copepod consumes a certain amount of oxygen and produces a certain amount of ammonia per day. Shipping times are usually 2-3 days, which means that there are a finite number of pods you can put into a bottle and still have them survive the trip. Let's say, hypothetically, that a bottle of fresh saltwater with a small air pocket can support 15k individual copepods for three days. If we packed that bottle with 15,000 pods, you'll have 15,000 copepods that will survive and thrive in your tank. If you get a 6- or 7-species blend of copepods at the same density (15k in a bottle), it may be that only 5,000 or 6,000 of the truly "useful" copepods will actually survive in your tank. The "exotic" species of pods will die off due to lack of the appropriate live phytoplanktons.
We selected Tisbe, Apocyclops, and Tigriopus pods because they are voracious consumers of detritus, and can live exclusively on a diet of detritus during every stage of their life cycle. If you never feed phytoplankton, they will still create a sustainable population in your tank and thrive. Yes, phytoplankton *does* help, by providing nutrition that's missing from a solely detritus diet. So your pods will produce faster and impart even more nutrition to your corals and fish if fed phytoplankton. But they will survive and thrive even without phyto.
Is there anything wrong with buying a blend containing more species? Absolutely not. We just wanted to provide more of the copepods that will make a real difference in your tank and will survive long-term in your ecosystem. Since each shipping bottle can only hold so many pods, we want to make sure each bottle or jug is full of the right copepod species that will make a major impact on your reef!
It turns out, there are only a few species of pods that eat detritus in your tank and that can survive exclusively on detritus. You'll often see species like Acartia Tonsa or Parvocolanus listed in some other blends - both species of copepod require phytoplankton exclusively during at least part of their life cycle. Parvo, in particular, will only eat live Isochrysis phyto - which is among the hardest phytoplankton to grow. What that means is that if you dump a 6-species bottle of pods into your tank, unless you're heavily feeding the right types of live phytoplankton each day, half the pods you just poured in will die. The most useful and adaptable copepods - Tisbe, Apocyclops, and Tigriopus - will survive on the detritus in your tank. But many of the other species present in the bottle will not.
Another problem is that all environments have a carrying capacity - they can support only a certain number of organisms. Bottles and jugs face the same limitation. Each individual copepod consumes a certain amount of oxygen and produces a certain amount of ammonia per day. Shipping times are usually 2-3 days, which means that there are a finite number of pods you can put into a bottle and still have them survive the trip. Let's say, hypothetically, that a bottle of fresh saltwater with a small air pocket can support 15k individual copepods for three days. If we packed that bottle with 15,000 pods, you'll have 15,000 copepods that will survive and thrive in your tank. If you get a 6- or 7-species blend of copepods at the same density (15k in a bottle), it may be that only 5,000 or 6,000 of the truly "useful" copepods will actually survive in your tank. The "exotic" species of pods will die off due to lack of the appropriate live phytoplanktons.
We selected Tisbe, Apocyclops, and Tigriopus pods because they are voracious consumers of detritus, and can live exclusively on a diet of detritus during every stage of their life cycle. If you never feed phytoplankton, they will still create a sustainable population in your tank and thrive. Yes, phytoplankton *does* help, by providing nutrition that's missing from a solely detritus diet. So your pods will produce faster and impart even more nutrition to your corals and fish if fed phytoplankton. But they will survive and thrive even without phyto.
Is there anything wrong with buying a blend containing more species? Absolutely not. We just wanted to provide more of the copepods that will make a real difference in your tank and will survive long-term in your ecosystem. Since each shipping bottle can only hold so many pods, we want to make sure each bottle or jug is full of the right copepod species that will make a major impact on your reef!
