Is Codium Algae good for culturing Tisbe pods?

[capspath83]

Hey all,

Haven't posted in a while because been busy with life and all and my main tank is doing great!

I have been wanting to start a dwarf seahorse tank for quite some time now and I have a tank set up and cycling right now. I converted a whisper filter to a refugium and put some live rock and a decent sized piece of codium algae that I took from my main takes overflow. However I am not sure if it will do as good of a job as cheato does. I have a light on it set up for opposite display lighting. I added a Tisbe culture and can't seem to see anything right now. I ordered 2 more bottles of Tisbe pods, a brine shimpery, 2 bottles of live phytoplankton and a bottle of Selco boost to gutload frozen brine. My main concern is the Tisbe pod culture. I want to make sure there is enough in the tank and that they can and will reproduce so they seahorses have enough food to constantly forage in between feedings. Should I dump the codium and get cheato? I'm just trying utilize macro algae that I have a ton of in my main tank. ..Thoughts?


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[Subsea]

Tibsee copepod are very small. They are not herbivores, they are opportunist, they will eat almost anything.

 

[Subsea]

IMO, you don’t really need the light in your HOB to grow copepods or even amphipods. I used a mixed culture of copepods from Algaebarn in my 120G. After 2 weeks with no predators in display tank, copepods were everywhere during lights on display. I have no lights in my 40G unlit refugium. It is crawling with amphipods & copepods.

 

[capspath83]

IMO, you don't really need the light in your HOB to grow copepods or even amphipods. I used a mixed culture of copepods from Algaebarn in my 120G. After 2 weeks with no predators in display tank, copepods were everywhere during lights on display. I have no lights in my 40G unlit refugium. It is crawling with amphipods & copepods.

Thanks Subsea. I was under the impression that the light is used to keep the macro algae thriving, and to keep the ph level pretty even. Not so much for growing Copepods. After the addition of the other 2 bottles I should be fine then. There is nothing in the tank yet and I am not adding the captive bred seahorses until I see a good sized population of tisbes. The seahorses are also trained to eat frozen brine and I am also getting live brine. I just don't want to be stuck at the tank 3x a day to feed and want enough food for them to get by until their next feeding.


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[Subsea]

With no light, biofilm will grow, just check the inside diameter of any of your plumbing if you think biofilm needs light. This biofilm feeds amphipods & copepods.

Incidendtly,opposite light cycles to stabilize pH are a myth created by hobby forums. The myth is that pH needs to be stabilized. Normal pH fluctuations on thriving reefs is .2 -.5 pH units.

 

[Scrubber_steve]

I think the opposite light cycle's main intention is to oxygenate the water (closed system)

 

[Subsea]

I think the opposite light cycle's main intention is to oxygenate the water (closed system)

Yes, it would add oxygen during photosynthesis.

If our reef tanks are nor designed with maximum gas exchange, when photosynthesis stops in the main display, tank processes reverse with photosynthetic organisms consuming oxygen and producing carbon dioxide. Combine this with the respiration rate of bacteria in a DSB and oxygen is critical in a ref tank.

If you have a sump, oxygen with lights out is a non issue. Surface skimmer removes water which, in my case, tumbles into sump over rock rubble. I have only two tanks with refugiums/sumps, both are unlit. On tanks without refugiums and surface skimmers, it is ne essassary to break surface tension and provide maximum gas exchange.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

First off, congrats on success with codium! But yeah, something bushier would be better for pods, like chaeto or ulva even. I think Tisbe are pelagic. It might be good to add some benthic pods as well. Do ponies pick pods from surfaces too? Seems like they would but I don’t know. That sounds like a good idea, having natural grazing opportunities between feedings. Vlangel, do you approve?

 

[vlangel]

First off, congrats on success with codium! But yeah, something bushier would be better for pods, like chaeto or ulva even. I think Tisbe are pelagic. It might be good to add some benthic pods as well. Do ponies pick pods from surfaces too? Seems like they would but I don't know. That sounds like a good idea, having natural grazing opportunities between feedings. Vlangel, do you approve?

Yes, I think pods do best in a macro algae that provides a thicker cover. My pods prefer cheato or a fast growing red titan. Even caulerpa prolifera works.

As far as dwarf ponies go, they are predominantly ambush predators. I have never kept them so I am giving you info that I have read. They will just stay hitched and wait for the pods to happen by. For that reason I am thinking that dwarfs will eat either provided they are offered in a dense enough population. I hear they can wipe a large population of pods out in a very short amount of time.

 

[capspath83]

Thanks all for your help. I check the refugium at night and there is a bunch of the pods living on and in the live rock that I have added. I will look to change out the codium with some cheato as soon as possible, but in the meantime it looks like the dwarves like where they live and that they are fed well. The Tisbes keep them happy at night, I also grow my own Artemia baby shrimp and I bought some ready made ocean nutrition instant shrimp that I froze into a micro ice tray and give them 2 ice cubes a day.


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