copepod culturing

[philosophile]

I've been thinking about culturing copepods a lot lately... A lot of the how tos on line say that I need some kind of aeration, and I was hoping I could do it without the aeration. Maybe a 2 liter bottle with it 1/4 full, on its side so that it would have a lot of surface area for oxygen exchange, and opening it up every so often for fresh oxygen, maybe shaking it up to really get some oxygenation going.

Or maybe putting some chaeto into the bottle with it, and leaving it in the window for light.

Feeding would be fish pellets or phyto. Seems like most people get the best benefits with phyto, so thats what I'm leaning towards.

I'm hesitant to use a pump because I've got cats that would share the window space, and they would be prone to knocking the bottles over. So if there is a hole anywhere, it would pose a potential leaking hazard.

Any suggestions?

 

[maglofster]

I use two 3 liter "buckets". I have one culture in each. No aeration. Once a week i pour one bucket into my sump. Then I split the remaining one into both buckets and fill the rest up with tank water. This works just fine for me. I feed with dead phyto.

 

[Kyleben]

Im doing the same thing with 5 gallon buckets....i used spare lights i have around the house and an airstone in each bucket.....2 buckets have cheato in them and 2 dont (the lfs said i dont need macro alge if I feed it phyto feast) all buckets get phyto every other day....Im lighting 16 hours a day and thinking about swtiching to 24/7.....if you dont split the cultures it can cause a crash but Im seeding my tank for my mandarins so im flying thru pods....

 

[Haksar]

I am thinking of culturing copepds and would like to know as well.Any reason why cheato is added.

 

[philosophile]

The chaeto is for making sure there is enough oxygen and absorbing nitrates and such. You can't really do water changes for the bottles very easily. Maintaining water quality is the hardest part of of culturing pods I think.

Depending on the pod, it might actually munch on the chaeto a bit too.

 

[Mrcat]

Kyleben, how fast do your mandarins go through the Copepods? I've been working on my Copepod cultures and I have been debating on 2 or 4 5 gallon buckets. I currently have a pair of syncheropis splendidus, and a picturates (currently looking for a female the right size for him). Also I don't think I noticed any one saying what species of copepod they are culturing? Tigriopus califoricus seem to be the most available in my area...

Thanks guys,

 

[philosophile]

I'm culturing Tisbe and Tigs. I got the tigs from Reed's TiggerPods, and I got the tisbe from Reefpods from Algagen.

If you have other fish with your mandarins, I'd suggest not to go with Tigs, only because they tend to stay in the water column, rather than on LR. Plus they don't reproduce in the tank. Tisbe will reproduce in your tank (or refugium if you have mandarins, since they will eat all of them in the DT), as well as in your culture.

As for the size... I only have a 30 gal DT, so I'm doing mine in 2 liter bottles. I'd suggest that you at the very least START off the same, so you can have a higher population density initially (unless you're willing to buy multiple bottles of culture). Then slowly ramp up to the point where you can harvest enough for your tank load. Seems like everything I read, if you heat your culture water, they will reproduce faster, but much more can go wrong. So unless you need rapid production (and you might, since you have multiple mandarins to feed), I'd go unheated and covered (so you don't have to top off).

There's a really good thread on culturing pods here: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=135137

 

[djkms]

I have 2 zooplankton cultures going, both in 5 gallon buckets. In one bucket is rotifers & tisbe pods and the second bucket is rotifers, tisbe and tigriopus copepods. Both buckets get fed roughly 4 oz of live nanno phyto which I also culture. I add a few drops of amquel to each bucket on split. I aerate with about 2 bubbles per second through rigid tubing.

 

[studentdriver]

That's why the Tiggerpods didn't work for me. They don't say that on the bottle that they will not reproduce in the tank

 

[CJO]

The bottle doesn't say that, because they could reproduce in the tank, given the right conditions. All they need is an area free from predators (refugium) and enough phyto.

I culture my copepods without aeration. You just have to make sure that you have enough surface area for the volume of culture for proper gas exchange. I have a 5-gallon bucket filled about 3 inches high.

The macro algae also gives them a place to breed. I don't have any macro algae, but I saw a huge boost in the growth rate when I put in a filter pad.

I do approximately a 50% water change each week and strain the old water through a sieve to pull out the copepods (Tisbe and Tigriopus californicus). I replace the water with fresh phyto that I culture (T. Iso, Nanno and Thal. Weissflogii).

CJ