Has anybody used the copepods in a bottle?

[adamprice271]

I have seen this on the net before and I'm pretty sure I saw some at GWA last week. Has anyone used this? My tank has only been running for about 6 days(150g) and I put in 12 gallons of NSW(buddy works at petco and hooked it up) last week and about 20ish pounds of LR. Last night I was looking at the tank and doing any last rearanging. I saw several copepods in there, but I want to add more so later down the road, I can get a Mandarin Goby and or possibly a Copperband Butterfly. I'm getting my water tested tonight (going to GWA) and also picking up a new test kit. Should I try a bottle of these guys or no? Thanks!

Adam

Edit**- I have an Aragonite Sand Bed between .5-2" in depth pending on where in the tank you measure.

 

[Sk8r]

I use tiggerpods from www.reefnutrition.com

The mandarin loves them, and using them [4 bottle set] periodically and feeding Phytofeast nearly nightly to my 52 gal tank makes it possible for me to keep a mandarin healthy without a fuge.

 

[adamprice271]

Awesome, thanks for the help and the link :thumbsup:

Adam

 

[DrBDC]

One little baseball sized rock has more copepods than a whole bottle does. If you see the copepods, they probably aren't unless you have super vision. It will look more like a dust particle in the water. You're probably seeing amphipods. One mandarin will eat a half a dozen or more bottles of that a day. Now for instance if you wipe out your rock and whole tank, then start from scratch you could try it but it's still easier to just buy 1/2 pound of live rock and add it.

 

[zrs6v4]

yea I agree and I saw a bottle for about 22 bux at a LFS, I would only see using these if you are trying to boost there growth in your tank. I bought some purpled live rock and there are tons of amphipods I can see off of each rock and probably tons of copepods as well.. So I was going to ask DrBDC, do these things spread pretty rapidly?

 

[Sk8r]

They multiply rapidly, particularly if there's phytoplankton available; best have rubble piles in your tank, where they breed in safety from predation. A mandarin will eat all they see, and can deal with a heavy pod population super fast. They also seem to react to predation by hiding, so they're not totally helpless.

Note: Arctipods [the orange stuff] are prepared food, not live. Tiggerpods [clear, with swimmers] are live and capable of breeding.

 

[adamprice271]

I am just trying to get a decent amount of pods in in my tank now, so that I can get a good colony going in my tank. I will probably add a few bottles soon and in a few months, I'd like to get a Mandarin Dragonette. Like you said, I'm just trying to get a population going so when I do get a fish that does eat them, there will plenty there already. I have small rubble pile, but I'll get some more rubble and make it bigger. Thanks again for the tips.

Adam

 

[levon15]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8372578#post8372578 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sk8r
I use tiggerpods from www.reefnutrition.com

The mandarin loves them, and using them [4 bottle set] periodically and feeding Phytofeast nearly nightly to my 52 gal tank makes it possible for me to keep a mandarin healthy without a fuge.

so did you dump in four bottles of triggerpods that you feed with the phytofeast ?

Does feeding with phytofeast keep the population of the pods up enough

 

[Sk8r]

I acclimate the bottles: when you receive them they need to be aerated and warmed and fed. After dark [to give them a running start] I add all to the tank at once, then feed the whole tank with Phytofeast, again, to give them the best possible start. I have rubble piles here and there in the tank, a breeding zone.

I initially lost almost all my pods to Chemiclean or the red slime it was designed to combat; I have had to build the population for months afterward with a mandarin snacking on them. After four months, I have gotten to supplementing only every other month. I continue to feed phyto, and have had a great increase in the size of featherdusters, sponges of all sorts, and in the general health of the sandbed, in addition to being close to self-sustaining. When a tank loses all its pods as mine did, it's a blow to the tank on a lot of levels. No more Chemiclean for me, unless the situation is desperate.

 

[adamprice271]

Well, I got some smaller peices of LR tonight and made a small rubble pile in the front right. I also have a few more old skeletons of corals that I am going to place on the other side of the tank for them. Once my water parameters are perfect, I'm going to add the 4 bottles and after a few months hopefully pick up something nice. Thanks for the tips.

Adam