me too. i love this part of our hobby
excellent info kiz. thanks. i'll be trying to get some of these to try out.They continue to spawn. My pods have finally started to build and I just got some more psuedo pods. I also now have a tetra culture. I haven't gotten a t-iso going but I have been buying phycopure copepod blend every two weeks from my LFS. I'm not paying much because I'm trading in stuff like some zoas and macro algae. I'm soon going to trade in my banggai babies if he'll take them. This week I'm going to take him some captain america polyps and maybe some Diseased (that's their name not their condition). He's usually fairly generous on the trade items. I also have some fire and ice that are nice looking.
I'm waiting on new ones from Algagen via my LFS I think they are the below he hasn't told me their names but that algagen says they are easier to raise and are for breeders so from their website.
Euterpina: small pelagic nauplii. Grows in substantial numbers, ubiquitous. It has been used successfully in breeding efforts. Great for reef tanks.
Nitokra lucustris: can be produced in large numbers. Has been studied extensively by Dr. Adelaide Rhodes. Easy to culture. May be a candidate to be raised on paste. Great for reef tanks.
Apocylops panamensis: We got this from Jim W. who has had great success working with it in his breeding endeavors"¦thank you Jim! He has raised this on paste. We do see very hi-production densities. Small nauplii and adult are visible with the eye but still"¦. Coming soon as AlgaGen PODSTM Apocyclops.
I told him I'd take one of each.
I also have a very interesting thing going on in my main tank. I have like a new copepod that just showed up. At least I think it is a pod and I think it is good. I'll have to try to get one on the microscope but they stick to the glass really well and I"m having trouble catching one. small numbers so far.
Great thread , sounds like a lot of hard work. Your write up about keeping dragonets was great information .
I practice alot of the same methods described on page 5 for keeping my rrd and p.mandarin and have made great use of a home made feeder based on the referenced threads on reef central.
I am not surprised to see the evidence that a rrd has a shorter starvation time than a mandarin. My ruby red will inhale fresh hatched bbs from his feeder while the mandarin is slow and methodical. Indicating to me the rrd may burn more energy running around when compared to a mandarin .
My mandarin will eat and actively hunt frozen mysis, while the ruby red will spit aside frozen mysis.
I will be checking back to hear the results of the pod cultures.