Culturing pods - general question

[bdturtle21]

I've been culturing copepods (Tisbe) for my scooter dragonet. The only issue is I have no idea how to add them to my DT. Every time I do, I get an algae bloom....

I've tried:
1. pipetting them directly (so no duh I get an algae bloom) - got a cyano bloom about a week later (though parameters stayed the same - phosphate, nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia = 0)
2. adding a pile of the chaeto from pod tank to DT (and switching back and forth every day or two) - got a slime algae outbreak a week later (again, parameters stayed the same).

Most recently I tried making a net out of 120uM mesh - but that didn't seem to work.

So, I'm curious how one goes about getting the pods from the culture tank to their DT without all the other nutrients and stuff...?? It seems like there must be a simple solution - I've had no problems growing TONS of pods.... it just getting them into my tank w/o causing other problems....

Thank you in advance for your help!

 

[Sk8r]

I suspect your DT may be a little rich in phosphates for the slight add from the culture tank to be able to have that effect. This is long-distance guesswork, but if you can knock down the DT phosphates, the amount coming in from the culture shouldn't be enough. You might test to see what the level is.

 

[bdturtle21]

Thanks Sk8r!!
I did recently add GFO and am monitoring my phosphates. They are currently at 0.25ppm - but the tests I use (API or Red Sea) aren't that sensitive, so I'm guessing the fact that it is measuring anything means I have high phosphates?


So you think if I get my phosphates/nitrates at zero, adding up to 300mL of the culture water every other day shouldnt cause any issues? It certainly isn't clean water - but the pods sure do seem to love it!

Thank you!

 

[ViktorVaughn]

Brine shrimp direct on ebay makes some great sieves for this exact purpose. I have the 53 micron and simply suck them out with a turkey baster from my culture tank and wash them through the sieve which is sitting in a Tupperware to collect the culture water. After the sieve is pretty full with pods I just turn it upside down in my sump or over the DT and wash the pods out with DT water.

 

[BuzzPion]

I use a gold screen coffee filer, works great.

 

[bdturtle21]

Awesome, thank you all!! (My scooter thanks you too!!)