BiOrb for Copepod culture?

[cmross13]

Long story short, my LFS doesn’t breed pods in winter and I’m looking for a semi-sustainable source, so I’m making my own.

I know all I need for hardware is a container and small air pump. Well, I just happen to have an old LED BiOrb laying around that may be a perfect fit.

Upside to BiOrb: LED and Air pump with one outlet.

Downsides: ? That’s why I’m here.

Also, any good info or links to proven methods would also be welcome. I don’t need to grow my own Phyto as LFS has that year round and is cheap enough to just buy.

 

[T-J]

If you're buying phyto, I don't think it matters what light you use, pods really don't care. Actually, they like it when it's nighttime!
EDIT: when I was growing phyto and pods, I just had a cheapo grow light on it without any issues.

 

[Isopod80]

You'll have better luck using live phyto if you can get/ grow it. It can also help to keep your culture water cleaner. The phyto serves as both food and filter.

 

[pbrown]

Long story short, my LFS doesn’t breed pods in winter and I’m looking for a semi-sustainable source, so I’m making my own.

I know all I need for hardware is a container and small air pump. Well, I just happen to have an old LED BiOrb laying around that may be a perfect fit.

Upside to BiOrb: LED and Air pump with one outlet.

Downsides: ? That’s why I’m here.

Also, any good info or links to proven methods would also be welcome. I don’t need to grow my own Phyto as LFS has that year round and is cheap enough to just buy.

I use a drink dispenser to cultivate tisbe and tiger pods. Separately. I learned the hard way my tiger ate my first set of tisbe. I use a third dispenser to grow live plankton. This works well. I have this built in my garage. In winter I do need to have a small heater on to maintain temperature so I built a unit that is encapsulated where I can just heat the 3 containers and maintain temp. I watched a bunch of you tubes to get started. It's fun and not a lot of work. My wrasse thanks me . My goal is to get a mandarin in 6months so I am building up coepods in my tank and back up in the garage.

 

[MikeTheNewbie]

Hi @pbrown can you share pictures of your setup? How often do you split the culture or perform water changes?
I've had great luck culturing phytho but I just can't keep pods alive :S

 

[cmross13]

well i bought a tank teardown a few months ago that included the biggest Mandarin ive ever seen. literally body is almost the size of a twinkie, plus fins, despite the fact that nearly all sources say 3" max. my first thought was to sell Mandarin as my tank was relatively new at that point(6mo or so) but it has a jacked up dorsal fin(something must have nipped it bad enough to not grow back) and my sister HAD to have it in her 32g BioCube that i hot rodded up a bit for light and flow. knowing this is/was a bad idea, ive been dumping about a pint of pods in there every couple weeks along with some phyto. well, the pod supply is running out, and so i need a better solution. side note: it LOOKS like the Mandarin is eating mysis, and he hasn't gotten any smaller, but i still want to provide the pods to her tank and mine year round.

i understand there is benefit to DIY Phyto, but i simply can not take on the added tanks/containers nor added "work" to simply grow pods. i can just as easily buy pods on a weekly basis, i just kick myself when i see those shipping bills lol