My tigger pods are not multiplying, help

[plancton]

Hi, I bought Tiger pods a week ago, I have them in a barebotom 1 galon tank and I am feeding phyto feast. I have stopped the air pump since I think they don't need it do they?

But after a week I see the same ammount of pods, why aren't they multiplying or how do I boost their spawn rates or something?

 

[ann83]

What temperature are you keeping them at? Kept too warm, and they'll only produce male offspring, which will obviously hault the reproductive cycle. I was keeping them at 68* when I had them.

 

[GreshamH]

What temperature are you keeping them at? Kept too warm, and they'll only produce male offspring, which will obviously hault the reproductive cycle. I was keeping them at 68* when I had them.

Sorry that may be your expereince but it does not hold true for us and a heck load of other people. If you actually read the paper people get that "info" from the it states a minor shift of 50:50 to 49:51. Furthermore we grow Tigger-Pods (not Tiger-Pods, that's a knock off brand with a different strain) at 75-80f. We got our largest harvest this past summer with the air temp in the green house reaching 140f at the roof and 100 at the tank. The tanks were running mid 80's at that time.

 

[ann83]

Oh darn, I actually didn't even read any papers on it, I was just pulling from what I got from other people. Nevermind. It is good to know though, thanks.

 

[GreshamH]

Hi, I bought Tiger pods a week ago, I have them in a barebotom 1 galon tank and I am feeding phyto feast. I have stopped the air pump since I think they don't need it do they?

But after a week I see the same ammount of pods, why aren't they multiplying or how do I boost their spawn rates or something?

You won't see a boom in a week. Give it time, just like everything else in this hobby. I'd also suggest feeding some crushed up flake food.

Are they Tiger-Pods or Tigger-Pods?

 

[GreshamH]

Oh darn, I actually didn't even read any papers on it, I was just pulling from what I got from Vera and those that have been working with him. Nevermind.

He truly believes that and he did grow his in a cold room. We've spoken about it numerous times. I'll believe him once he starts harvesting 1/100 of what we do

We grow ours in a green house and the only thing we control is the low temp. We don't let them get below 75f anymore.

 

[plancton]

They are tigger pods by reef nutrition, I'm keeping them at room temp, right now the weather is cold but here in Mexico it doesn't get that cold.

So I guess it takes some time before they start to boom? When would I start seeing more?

 

[GreshamH]

Visually or actual count? I never go by visually as it's very hard to gauge the amount of such a small animal. You can barely see the copepidites and that is where the density expansion comes from. They have ~100 day life cycle to it could be a month before they get large enough to see a visually density expansion. I suggest taking samples and counting them one by one one paper. Mix the culture up very good, take a 1 ML sample, count it and multiply by total volume of the culture.

 

[seafarm]

Most species of copepods go from "being an egg" to "producing an egg" in 25-40 days. The reason fish hatcheries use rotifers instead of copepods (which are a much more natural feed for larval marine finfish) is that they go from egg to producing eggs in 18 hours! If anybody could find a copepod that came even close to a rotifers fecundity, hatcheries all over the world would immediately switch to it.

 

[plancton]

I see, is tigger pod culturing still a good idea or I should switch to rotifers?

 

[seafarm]

It depends on what your goal is. Rotifers are super easy to grow, but they must be grown in a separate system. We have an easy protocol for doing this at http://rotifer.pbworks.com/Culturing-Rotifers-At-Home. They are also much smaller than many copepods (150-250 microns). Copepods are great because they will grow in your reef system and they help to keep it clean by scavenging the bottom. And of course they are a great food

 

[plancton]

Cool info. I have a question though, this is what the reef nutrition site says: "Tigger-Pods are perfect for culturing and restocking reeftanks & refugiums, as well as an excellent feed for fish, including mandarins and pipefish. They breed rapidly producing hundreds of eggs per female."

This statement contradicts the one saying that copepods breed slow. Should I still work with them?

 

[seafarm]

Tigger-Pods breed rapidly compared to many other species of copepods. Almost nothing in the ocean breeds like a rotifer, so you just can't compare them in the same category.

 

[GreshamH]

They also breed rapidly compared to other stuff in your tank... fish, corals, etc.

It also depends on your definition of rapidly

 

[reefstew]

Along with crushed flake, what type of algae do you feed them?

 

[GreshamH]

diatoms

 

[JTL]

What is generally considered the best product to feed pods. I have no idea what type they are but I have them in my sump and DT. I want to get the population up to sustain a mandarin. I am currently dealing with an outbreak of flatworms I wonder if they are eating pods.

 

[thorden]

Anyone ever try feeding them spirulina powder?

 

[GreshamH]

Yes, no real advantage.

 

[Louis Z]

Gresham do y'all feed them only diatoms as for the algae portion ? I was going to order the phytofeast preserved which contains other strains . Do they eat the other strains or would that just contribute to fouling the water. Or should I order the instant algae TW.