Yes, feeders will solve the competitive problem.
Feeding a mandarin goby
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Yes, feeders will solve the competitive problem.
mkoop
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I am harvesting and resetting my first culture of photoplankton and tigger pods today. Pretty excited my pod culture tank has thousands of visible pods right now. Assuming I'm able to sustain and keep these cultures going I should be able to provide enough pods to feed my other fish in the water column (which I think will cut down my pe mysis demand) and keep the tank crawling with pods too. I'm not sure how long they will live once I bottle them but should have far more than I need from one culture to the next
Excellent work. Not sure why you want to bottle them? And with regard to your signature, learning is sooooo much fun.
mkoop
New member
I probably could have been more clear, I'm going to be removing them from the culture tank, using some to populate the next culture. I am going to clean down the current culture tank and reset it -- this way I have a culture going at all times. I'm moving all the pods into some bulk reef supply space saver jugs that I have hooked up with some airline hose. This will be how I am planning to store / use them from these jugs/bottles -- I read that they should be fine to live for several months like this, but have yet to make that determination on my own. Another added benefit being, if my culture crashes I will have plenty on hand now to restart the culture. Just a bit of a space saving solution as the footprint was getting a bit more than I had planned space for. The photoplankton taking up fridge space too, lets just hope I grab the right juice before work in the morning
Finding new tips and tricks every day in this hobby, I feel like I've learned a huge amount, and still know very little. It's a great deal of fun to learn and share what you have learned.
mkoop
New member
This is actually incorrect.
It is a myth that tigriopus copepods are only coldwater species. While a majority of the species are found in colder waters those that are collected for the aquarium trade are actually collected in warmer waters. Tigriopus copepods will thrive and multiply in warmer water reef tanks just fine with the assumption your system has a safe "refuge" for them to maintain population.
It is also a myth that Tigriopus copepods are free swimmers and thus eradicated quickly. They are actually harpacticoid and are benthic (they spend the majority of time on substrate and surfaces).
I have cultured both tisbe and tigriopus copepods at this point, both at the same temperature and water parameters and prefer Tigger's for their ease, though there is very minimal difference when you get down to it.
T. californicus while found in cold water, live naturally in tidepools. Thus they can live from roughly 34 degrees up to around 90 degrees. This is great for culturing as you can refrigerate and feed as needed, I often feed live tiggers into the water column to supplement diets. Yet another benefit from naturally living in tide pools is the ability to tolerate large salinity swings which makes it very easier (and less expensive) to culture and acclimate them.
Below is a published scientific study depicting some research in regards to the temperature range tolerance of T. californicus:
http://journals.cambridge.org/actio...0713&fulltextType=RA&fileId=S0025315498000095
HTH
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Seeing as i'm at work I didn't get the chance to read the article yet, so for argument sake I will take your word and the abstract of the article. Would I have to acclimate the bottle to my water parameters to get them to breed in my tank (or is that just nonsense and won'[t happen in 80 gallons).
mkoop
New member
The article is definitely an interesting read and worth while if you are so inclined, just trying to help so feel free to take my word or do additional research if you wish, hopefully this should give you a good starting point though.
If you have any questions about cultivating pods feel free to shoot me a PM and I will help as much as I can. I'm still learning as well and am actually about to give some white worms a try and see how they compare to cultivating pods.
In regards to your question, do you run a sump / refuge for your 80? An 80 would be absolutely sufficient space for them to maintain population, the biggest issue being the ones in the tank will get hunted and eaten, so it is normally recommended to dump the pods into your fuge. This gives them a safe haven to repopulate without being hunted and they will naturally flow into your display from your fuge and ultimately keep it stocked (assuming of course your fuge is large enough and you have enough substrate for them to reside in your display).
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