First try at raising Tomato Clowns

[tokomi]

Just as the title say, this will be my first try at trying to raise the little guys. My clowns have been laying eggs for almost a year now and I have final worked up the guts and funds to give it a go. I have been reading here and I have noticed everyone is using rotifers and then BBS. My question is why not use copepods? In the article stickied at the top of this forum, the copepod article by Frank Marini & Dwayne Sapp states in the first paragraph "In nature, many marine fish depend on copepods as their initial first food" I have found a good local source to me that has been culturing copepods for sometime now, and hope to start my own culture from his. Would you recommend using copepods as an initial food source? Why? Why not?

Thanks in Advance
MG

 

[ediaz]

If you have them yeah go for it, make sure you have a good concentration, you will need 'bout 8 to 10/ml.

Growing them to high densities is difficult that is why many don't use them.

Ed

 

[tokomi]

This guy claim there are 20,000-30,000 pods per 8 ounce bottle that he sale for $15. Do you believe that is a dense enough population?

 

[ediaz]

8 oz. is roughly 240 ml. you will need at least 185,000 'pods to achieve a density of 10/ml in lets say 10 gal. tank half full. ( 5 gal)

That would be about six bottles a day, if the larvae are eating rigth.

Culturing them at the same densities "that guy" does will not be easy.

Ed

 

[tokomi]

hrm ok, but how many larvae is six bottles a day sustaining? Also, I thought I read you can keep copepods and rotifers in the same tank? Does this mean culture them together?

 

[ediaz]

I would say an average of 200-300 larvae. I don't recomend co-culture one can outgrow the other but is possible.