How do you keep your Copepods.

[Flyride95]

Hey guys so I just wanted to here how some of you guys keeps your copepod population high. My personally I have quit a few of the but recently in the last 2 months they have exploded. Now this may be just me looking to into it but I beleive it is because I am now feeding the reef frenzy and there are phytoplankton in it. That and my huge thing of rock rubble in my sump so they have somewhere to go predator free. But how do you guys keep your levels high?

[Dean]

I have a refugium chamber in my sump. Rock rubble, macro, and live sand. Its crawling with pods.

- Dean

[Mike]

I have been told that the problem is those pods in the sump rarely make it alive through the return pump to get back into the display tank. Unless you have a gravity fed fuge above your tank, so the pods can naturally go from the fuge to the display. I have a ton of pods in the 140g, due to all the empty hermit shells laying around. Plus no one in the tank specifically eats the pods, since they eat bigger foods.

[slm222]

I have a 5 gallon bucket I use to culture pods. Keep it going 24/7. I scoop out some every other night and put into the main tank and refugium so they can go and find a safe place and populate.

[Flyride95]

Mike I agree with you on the pods in the sump and staying there. That is what usually happens to me. See I am going to try a dragonet because I have a pretty good pod population but I am afraid that soon enough they will be gone. Then I will be buying pods here and there which I am fine with but I am hoping someone here knows a bit of something I do not lol.


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[350gt]

I have a 5 gallon bucket I use to culture pods. Keep it going 24/7. I scoop out some every other night and put into the main tank and refugium so they can go and find a safe place and populate.

More info? Is it a pita?

I have a good population but would be cool to feed my fish some during the day...

[aceer15]

I have a 5 gallon bucket I use to culture pods. Keep it going 24/7. I scoop out some every other night and put into the main tank and refugium so they can go and find a safe place and populate.

Interested in this too, sounds like a great idea, what's the setup like?


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[slm222]

It's really what it sounds like. Not a PITA at all. I will load a picture via tap a talk. But it's just a bucket filled about half-way and your culture of Copepods put in there. Then an air pump, gang valve, air tubing and rigid tubing are used to give a slight aeration ( a lot of posts say you don't need to keep it constant, only about 30 min a day. But to keep it easy I just have slow bubbles going 24/7.) and finally a fluorescent light on a timer for 12 hrs.. I alternate feed spirulina powder and phyto plankton, when water turns clear I add more. Only put enough to get a green tint. To clean siphon out bottom once or twice a month, as needed. Then find a sieve, or like I did make one with PVC, wife's good panty hose (doesn't work with any other but the good ones), and super glue. Or you can find fine toule from a sewing store. Then when it looks like you have a million and one pods run the sieve through the water, use fresh saltwater and rinse over your tank to disperse them. Don't cross contaminate the culture. I don't heat or cool. I'll try to find the articles I'm going off of.

I'm trying this same method with raising brine shrimp... Just started this.

[slm222]

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/03/25/esy7y7ar.jpg

[aceer15]

Looks awesome! Really want to try it


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[Flyride95]

Ok so you feed them phyto and spirulina and those are in the food that I am feeding. I really think this is why I have seen the population grow lately.


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[slm222]

They also eat and live in hair algae.

[slm222]

If you try to culture they don't need the extra light, they would be fine with ambient lighting from a window or display tank. Something consistent

[aceer15]

Slm222 so you have that link?


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[slm222]

http://www.brineshrimpdirect.com/c90/Raising-Live-Rotifers-Copepods-c199.html

[kkiel02]

I just buy large tanks. :) when I started my tank over I just added the pods from reefcleaners when I did my clean up crew. Now they are everywhere. I have a male and female mandarin but they can't put a dent in the population. I am hoping to add a few more pod eaters soon but they don't eat as much as mandarins and will be weened onto frozen ASAP.

[Mike]

If you want to help your pods, make a small pile of LR rubble or shells in the back corners of the tank. Gives the pods a safe breeding ground. I have a ton of extra shells if you want some.

[350gt]

Heard of ppl making a basket out of eggcrate and stuffing it with Lr and placing it in the fuge....

Then shaking it or just placing it in the display for awhile...

Problem i had with rubble in my fuge was all the detritus that it would trap...

I made a eggcrate stand for my rock in the fuge to keep it off the ground and easy cleaning..

[aceer15]

Heard of ppl making a basket out of eggcrate and stuffing it with Lr and placing it in the fuge....

Then shaking it or just placing it in the display for awhile...

Problem i had with rubble in my fuge was all the detritus that it would trap...

I made a eggcrate stand for my rock in the fuge to keep it off the ground and easy cleaning..

Aside from the detritus did it was well for you?


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[350gt]

Aside from the detritus did it was well for you?


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Yes sir... Very well, lots of critters...

Build a little rack and makes for easy cleaning...

[aceer15]

Any pics of how you had it setup by chance?


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[350gt]

No pics atm.. But you can see a bit here in this video

http://youtu.be/NeN3k9Ci-dg