copepod help?

[p00num3lli]

just some questions that i need answered

i was wanting to start getting copepods living and breeding in my tank.(im going to get a mandrin in a few months)i have a 65 gal and was wondering how many i should buy, theres a pack of 200 would that be enough to get started?i only have a percula and hippo tang and idk if they would eat em. but what do copepods need? can they live with high nitrates?i also have about 70ib of live rock, and about 10ib of it is rocks with a lot of holes which i heard is perfect for them to breed? and i have two #3 korolas in my tank, would they be blown all around my tank and wouldnt b able to stay in the holes n breed?

thanks, your help is needed

[Darth-Tater]

I seeded my fuge a couple of years ago with one bottle. I have it full of cheato and they multiply like rabbits. My Mandarin has been gulping them down for a year. I would recommend growing cheato in your fuge and letting them go from there. But.... I could be wrong.

Tater

[zcatzmeow]

There's so many different ways to do it. Here would be my particular recommendation. Towards the back of your tank pile up little piles of rubble. These little piles of rubble will become a pods safety zone. They can proliferate here, but also move out to other areas of the tank.

If you can afford #1 - Saturate your tank. I've bought from someone on ebay that sells lots in 1,000 or 2,000. They are very tiny creatures. Add them into your main tank at night with the lights are off, and turn off your filters as well. Dump them in and give them a chance to scurry about and find safespots. They will find little holes and be safe.
If you can afford #2 - Add on a refuge or create a separate culture tank with lots of Sea Lettuce and a small amount of chaeto. Chaeto is great for hiding and sea lettuce is a meal for them. Every couple days add a tiny tiny flake of food and a good amount of Phytomax. Things are going good if your water has a green tinge to it. Give them regular light cycles, wait a couple weeks, then pod explosion!

[zcatzmeow]

Hey

Your inbox is full so my PM can't go through

[johnmaloney @ Reef Cleaners]

Those are some really good tips. They love Ulva and if you have a refugium all the better. Just to throw my hat in, you can get one of those cheep breeder hang on nets, (like $8 tops you can find them on Ebay if the LFS doesn't have one). and use that. Just keep moving those out of the breeder into the tank and you will be stocked up very fast. The pods also like to hide in macros, caulerpa, chaeto (as mentioned), codium and sargassum seem to be popular. If you live near a beach pm me and I will teach you how to catch a million or so in an hour. Never worry about buying them again. If you don't try not to buy copepods kept in green water, it tends to cause nuisance algae blooms.

[johnmaloney @ Reef Cleaners]

Here is how to catch copepods:

Sandy beaches work, but the best is mud flats if you have them nearby. Look for "wrack", a term for washed up seaweed if you are unfamiliar. The stuff on mud flats at low tide is the best. It has to be somewhat moist. When you find a good amount, (maybe a storm or high wind earlier in the week), brush your hand through it, when you see things jumping off it congrats you found copepods. Stick the entire bit of wrack in a bucket and pull out the seaweed bits one by one, and give them a brush on the way up, it will get the copepods off. Living by the gulf will give you a lot of good spots, as the wind will bring things in but the waves aren't as bad as what we get on the Atlantic, and there are plenty of mudflats I am sure.

Happy hunting!