copepod breeding tank

[fishgate]

I want to dedicate a 29g tank to copepods (only fill about 1/2 way). If I just set it up and dump them in, will they do ok? The instructions I found say to put very low flow like one air bubble and do 100% water changes weekly but I am not sure about that. I was going to do large changes but in order to do 100% I'd have to remove the pods. If I use the 80/20 split could I add some live rock to the other side (in which case I'd probably do a 50/50 split) so that I don't have to do large changes at all?

My plan was to separate the tank with a fine mesh screen about 80/20 split so I can do large % water changes on the 20% side without sucking away the pods.

Does anyone have a plan for growing them outside the DT? I do not have a sump or any plans to get one. I want to just grow them and dump a netfull a day into my DT once I have a population going.

[WetShepherd]

Just replying to tag along with this. I'd like to know what other strategy people have tried. All I've really done is add a refugium, so that my current pods have a safe place to reproduce. I have a couple of spare tanks though and what you are proposing sounds interesting.

[rogermccray]

Don't copepods need some place to live on? What about to eat? You could just drill the tank and tie it into your sump and not need any water changes.

[izzy123]

tagging along too, always wondered how to increase my copepods.....

Good question!

[fishgate]

I have no sump. They eat pod food which you can buy. But I was also going to have a large amount of cheato algea in there. Essentially I am building a refugium but it will not be tied to my DT.

[kriv4o]

You might find this thread interesting. Subscribing to this one because I want to grow my own micro-food.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...=phytoplankton

[seapug]

The the live tigger pods frequently offered for sale by companies like Reef Nutrition can be grown in a mason jar sitting on a kitchen windowsill. Freshwater topoffs and a couple drops of phytoplankton every so often will keep them alive,happy and multiplying. Extreme heat is about the only thing that will kill them.

[Teddynola]

Hi seapug, I've been growing pods for a few months now and with some trial and error, this is what works best for me:

I started out using a blue 5g bucket, filled approx 1/4-1/3 full with 1.026 saltwater and I used the tisbe species. They can tolerate a pretty wide spread of temps and salinity and they are benthic pods, which means they live in the rocks and substrate vs. free swimming. I fed them nannochloropsis as needed. They multiplied rather quickly, so I expanded to another 5g bucket. Those seemed to do pretty well, too. And I also aerated, using a small air pump and flexible and rigid airline tubing, 2-3 bubbles/sec.

I then decided to try a new method, so I bought shallow, rubbermaid plastic containers, approx 9x13 and added some pods, algae and air. Short story, the shallow pans work much better. Eventually, the large cultures seem to fizzle out. I've since transferred all of my pods to 10 shallow pans and have great growth.

You do need to clean your cultures periodically, a gunk of uneaten algae and molts will form on the bottom, but not once a week, I do every month or so. You'll also need to top off after evaporation with rodi, just mark your original sw level on the container. If you remove water to harvest, replace that with sw. You will need a set of sieves, 53 micron will catch adults and nauplii. They can be purchased on the internet, or I've read that you can make your own, I bought mine.

I've read that people have had problems growing them in glass aquariums, but I have no first hand knowledge of this. I don't use any live rock, it's not necessary.

If you have any specific questions, pm me and I'd be glad to share what knowledge I've gained.

Terri

[Teddynola]

Sorry fishgate, this was directed to you, as you are the OP.

[Reefmedic79]

Don't mean to hijack thread, but I've been out of the reef keeping loop for awhile, and wasn't aware that raising pods for food in a free standing system was being done.

Where can I get these starter cultures/eggs?

Does anyone "gutload" the pods before feeding them to the tank?

[Aaarrrggg]

I've been using dark colored "shower poufs" in my fuge for the pods to colonise. Its too early to say if they're working or not, but I saw it recommended in another thread and it seems like it should work as substitute chaeto.

[Teddynola]

Here is where I bought mine:
stores.aquaculturenurseryfarms.com

[Saltydrip]

If I put a culture in my fudge would it do good, I'm planning a different baffle system because I want to design a setup that would keep them in the fuge and I could add them to my DT as I feel nesasary .

[Teddynola]

Sure you can, Saltydrip, that's where you want them. It's a "refuge", where they can multiply. You will need some chaeto, or you can use the "shower pouf" method and shake the pouf in the DT after lights out, to transfer some pods.