Got my Algagen pods.....Now what

[110galreef]

I ordered 3 16 oz bottles....Tisbe, Parvocalanus, and Molina salina.....

I want to add some tonight after light out, the rest I'd like to culture additional in a small 6 gal refugium/separate tank.

Do I add the majority of these to the tank now? Add some over the next few days.....Let warm up first ????
The rest fridge or store where??

I will be able to get the fuge set up and running Friday.......

[W8lifts]

Anybody? Also I would like to know if the pumps and the vortech powerheads would kill the pods?

[Rocdoc]

I have been keeping a culture going for a couple of weeks in an extra 10 gallon tank. I have Moina Salina, Tangerine, and Tigger Pods (from Reef Nutrition). The Tiggers are a little bigger than the others. I have a heater and a small airstone and I've been feeding them Reef Nutrition's "Phyto Feast." (I found that AlgaGen's "Copepod Blend" is quite dilute and only has a shelf life of 2-4 weeks, so I've been happier with the Phyto Feast to this point). They are growing like gangbusters and I've been feeding them to the fish in my QT and seeding the refugium of my DT with them.

I have two Eheim 1262 pumps for return to the DT and they do fine going through them. I have two Vortech MP40s in the DT that they are either staying away from or managing to survive trips through. There should be no problems with your desired setup.

I would recommend floating the bottles for a few minutes, then dumping half into the fuge and the rest into your remote fuge. Remember to feed the pods in the remote fuge at least once a day (feed less if the water isn't clearing, more if it clears too fast). Start the remote fuge culture with new saltwater (don't get it from your display tank as the DT can have contaminants that will quickly polute your culture).

Hope that helps.

Bryan

[110galreef]

The fuge will be fed from the sump with I'm thinking like 25gph off a manifold. Sound good? Still feed phyto? Turn pump off for the fuge for a bit when feeding phyto?

[Rocdoc]

The problem with feeding the remote fuge from your sump is that it may make it more difficult to balance. The copepods require a fair amount of microalgae (i.e., enough to turn the water the color of weak green tea) to thrive. Most people are not satisfied with that level of color in their display tanks.

If you have a well-established tank with lots of LR, you may be able to get the pods to establish in the tank without the addition of phytoplankton, but it is not a sure bet. That's why I chose to use a completely unattached 10G tank as a culture tank. I can feed the copepods to maximize their growth while keeping my tank from "going green."

Every few days I grab a couple of strainers full of copepods and dump them in my fuge, my display tank, and in my fish-only quarantine tank. I don't really care if they establish in any of these areas or not as I have a theoretically unlimited supply of them in the 10G. This thins the population in the 10G so it doesn't crash and provides more pods at once than I may otherwise be able to maintain in the other tanks.

I ordered a couple AquaMedic Plankton Reactors from Premium Aquatics during their 11% off everything sale last week http://premiumaquatics.com/aquatic-s.../AM-76008.html. This may make keeping the culture going a little easier (easier to clean and change out the water without losing a bunch of pods) and should allow easier harvesting of the copepods for subsequent feeding. I'll try to remember to let you know how it goes after I've set them up and used them for a while. While the initial cost is high and you can get much the same results with bleach-sterilized 2L bottles, I figure they will pay for themselves if I can keep pod cultures indefinitely and avoid paying for any more bottles of pods from AlgaGen.

Bryan

[110galreef]

Is the link you provided in place of doing his in a 10 gal tank? Or is this to just grow phyto/zooplanton to feed to pods?? Lost here??


Here was my plan:

I ordered a large (6gal) HOB CPR aqua fuge 2 to grow/cultivate the pods. I know not much, but better than not. It will hang on the side of my sump and overflow into it in the return pump section.


I plan to add a small amount of cheato as well and will light on reverse time as my tank to help stabalize pH a tad. Also the extra chaeto harvest can't hurt. This will atleast provide a place the pods can grow and provide a SLOW continuous food supply to the tank. KEEP ANYTHING ELSE IN HERE?? I don't need anything but will a little LR help the pods?? Is the cheato worthles for this size system..300+gal

I will try to add a small amount of phyto, a few days before or if I feel the need to harvest from it to get the color you suggested. I will turn off flow to this for a few hrs when doing this. The extra phyto that goes back to the tank will be minimal from a 6g fuge to a 300g+ system.


Next: I will try a small 5-10g remote tank to cultivate additional pods to see how it goes. Harvest like you sugeested as well. How often?? Just heat, phyto and pods is all i need?? Any tiny amount of flow or light?
Thanks for the help.

OR just toss the fuge idea and simply do the remote 10g tank?? AGAIN my hole intent was to simply harvest pods for my tank so as not to have to buy them!

[Rocdoc]

I was planning on trying the reactors in place of the 10G (easier to do water changes, get pods out, etc.

I've not tried keeping the AlgaGen pods alive with just Chaeto. From what I understand, they really require the microalgae to keep them happy. You probably will get no change in your pH with such a small amount of chaeto compared to the size of your system, but it certainly won't hurt.

I think you'd be fine to do as you suggest, adding microalgae directly to the fuge since there is very little volume. The problem I see with that is that the pods need to be fed at least once a day, so that's a lot of messing around with turning the flow off and on.

If you just want to keep up a steady supply of pods, you may just be better off scrapping the hang-on fuge and setting up a remote culture. You need a container, a small air pump, and possibly a heater (the AlgaGen pods are tropical species). This will allow you to add a small amount of microalgae every day without having to worry about it. Depending on your growth rate, you should be able to harvest some pods every day or two and keep up a perpetual supply.

I'm sure there are lots of ways to do this. I'm just letting you know what has worked so far for me.

[110galreef]

Enlighten me on the reactor idea and how u plan to use and incorporate it. Ideas ideas!

[Rocdoc]

Hehe. Not quite sure yet. Was thinking that I'd use one or two just like the 10G tank. The reactor is a little over 2L in volume. A gang valve and small pump should keep things aerated. I think the inverted design should allow detritus to fall to the bottom where it can be emptied into a waste cup, then the pods can be harvested easily.

I haven't even received them yet, so I may end up using them as a paperweight, a doorstop, or maybe even a nice brooch!

[BSprite]

We floated a bottle of Tangerines and the green tisbe bag about 10 mins then dumped them in our fuge with all pumps off for an hour. Thriving cultures today in the rocks/chaeto.

[W8lifts]

What about putting them in my ATS? as there is plenty of algea in there.