Copepods
- Thread starter Nanobros
- Start date
Brieninsac
Member
You should have got the copepods first. You can buy them at your LFS or online. Algae Barn would probably be your best bet since you're going to need to buy a lot to get going and feed your dragonet. There's also frozen copepods that I have had mixed results with but might work for you.
I bought some live Copepods from my lfs I put some in and I don't know if there still in there I did that about 2 weeeks ago
scooter31707
New member
I'm afraid it may be too late. How old is your tank and are you running a fuge?
scooter31707
New member
I agree with jbvdhp, the dragonet may have already eat them, especially with your tank being so young.
Deinonych
New member
Your tank is too new to support a dragonet, sorry. Dragonets require a well-established tank (i.e. more than a year old) with a large population of pods in order to survive. Establishing a self-sustaining population of pods in such a new tank is going to be nearly impossible.
How large is the tank?
How large is the tank?
BigBlueTang
Active member
Sadly, them eating mysis is only a supplement to their pod diet. I would strongly consider taking that fish back to the store ASAP, otherwise it will starve.
ThRoewer
New member
It's much more efficient to set up a couple of tigger pod cultures. It's fairly easy and doesn't take much space. The only issue is that it may take up to a month to get the cultures dense enough to harvest.
I use the Container Store Womens Shoe Boxes. They take about a gallon of water which is about what you need. As a culture starter get a bottle of Reef Nutrition's Tigger Pods (LFS or online store) and some live Nannochloropsis (ebay). The Nannochloropsis may not even be needed, though I made good experiences with it. Primary feeding is with fish food flakes. Air bubblers are not required.
I have my cultures out on the balcony year round (Tigriopus californicus is a California to Alaska native species after all).
You get the best reproduction rates at salinities around 1.040 kg/L. They tolerate rapid salinity swings just fine - if too much water has evaporated I just dump some RO water in.
You can start one culture and split it when it gets dense, or you can start several in parallel, it depends on how much time you have.
ThRoewer
New member
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ThRoewer
New member
In the wild you find Tigriopus californicus in splash pools in rocky intertidal habitats well above the waterline. So there is rarely, if ever, a direct connection to the ocean. Whatever water movement there is comes usually only from the wind, which is why I keep my cultures on the balcony.
Temperature and salinity swings are usually well tolerated. I recovered cultures that had evaporated to salinities over 1.050 by just dumping freshwater in.
I usually harvest with a fine fish net, but dumping through a fine Artemia salina nauplii harvesting sieve will work too. Usually the culture peaks after about a month. At that point you can harvest all and use a part to start a new culture. I usually let them run until the culture starts slowing down. Though even such a culture can bounce back.
You will see a lot of sludge accumulating on the bottom - that's not bad at all but rather beneficial. I usually don't find many nauplii in the water so I suspect they like to dwell in the sludge.
How do u culture them? I tried doing it in a small container and it didn't work at all... I started with like 30 and then I had like 10 left so I just put them all in my tank... how do u culture them? Can U please tell me step by step. I'm planning on buying 3000 pods for $30 on algae barn
Brieninsac
Member
Roewer makes it sound easy. After spending $80 at Algaebarn for pods and phyto I never saw any population grow in my copepod container. I had it in my garage and speculate it was the temperature fluctuations that kept them from growing.
ThRoewer
New member
I got my stater Tigger Pods from Reef Nutrition (Reed Mariculture) via a local LFS. The Nannochlropsis I got from eBay.
I use old saltwater from water changes to set up the cultures and feed them from time to time with pulverized flake food.
It's really not that difficult.
Temperature and salinity swings are not a problem for Tigriopus as they encounter quite extreme conditions in their natural habitats.
Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
I use old saltwater from water changes to set up the cultures and feed them from time to time with pulverized flake food.
It's really not that difficult.
Temperature and salinity swings are not a problem for Tigriopus as they encounter quite extreme conditions in their natural habitats.
Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
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