Copepod sustainability

[GarrettT]

Are copepods not as prone to crashing in our main tanks as there are in separate culturing tanks? I hear about how sensitive they are with cross contamination and how necessary it is to not let any established water enter into the culture tank. Does this mean once I culture copepods and put them in the main tank that they will be contaminated and unsustainable? Help me understand.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

not sure I understand.

You should culture the copepods in the sterile water, but never add tank water to the culture because then you contaminate sterile water. I follow you there.

When you add copepods to the tank, they become part of the biodome. Not sure what you mean they become contaminated and unsustainable. You should add some phyto to your tank periodically to feed them, so they can thrive. But if you see white dots on your glass then they are in the tank.

Sorry if I misunderstand.

 

[GarrettT]

You should culture the copepods in the sterile water, but never add tank water to the culture because then you contaminate sterile water. I follow you there.

Basically, how do copepods survive in the main tank, yet crash in a culturing tank if we don’t use sterile water.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I dont think the idea is that the culture will crash, more that culture will become contaminated with something else. There are only some 5 or 6 kinds of copepods we can buy, but there are thousands of kinds of copepods, who knows what people have in their tanks, especially people that use real ocean water or get real love rocks. Copepods will eat different copepods, so if you culturing one kind, you dont want to introduce another kind by accident.

I've cultured copepods with tank water so it is possible without crashing. I took a piece of rock out of my tank with tank water, I put it in a container with an airline and fed phyto and in a few weeks my container was full of copepods, but I have no idea what kind of copepods they are.

 

[GarrettT]

So wouldn’t it make sense to not buy any specific copepod, like tisbe or apex, because once in the main tank they will likely be outcompeted against and simply die off?

If so, shouldn’t we just skip culturing altogether and just dose phytoplankton directly in our tanks so that we can populate the dominate species?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

So wouldn’t it make sense to not buy any specific copepod, like tisbe or apex, because once in the main tank they will likely be outcompeted against and simply die off?

If so, shouldn’t we just skip culturing altogether and just dose phytoplankton directly in our tanks so that we can populate the dominate species?

I blame corporate marketing for tricking/brainwashing people into thinking they need it. But if you think you need it, then culturing your own is better than paying $30 per bottle. And if you want to culture, then easier to culture one single species.

There is also human greed, people want mandarins in their brand new tanks. So its same as above, either pay $30 per bottle or culture your own, and easier to culture one species

 

[ectoaesthetics]

Ok so I also culture pods. I agree a lot with most of what is being said here. I think. With the exception of the idea that people are being ripped off by vendors selling pods.

first off creating a pod culture with a reasonable density to support harvest and feeding can be quite challenging. Dosing phyto to a tank will not accomplish this goal. However I still dose pretty heavy doses of phyto to my tank to support the resident pod population. By culturing T Cali in my yard I can feed my fish (I have a small nano) a reasonable supplemental quantity of pods. When the cultures are dense it can be their sole food source for a few weeks.

if this culture were to become contaminated I could not grow at the same density. In my tank I have pods for eco system reasons and not just to feed the tank. Also T Cali do NOT reproduce well in the tank there is just too much water movement. I will still add different pods from time to time to time in my main tank as eventually things are out competed or hunted and you will lose them.

 

[Dinkins Aquatic Gardens Verified Sponsor]

Here's my take on this:

1. We use sterile water so as to avoid contaminating the culture. Crashing the culture is not normally an issue. But I don't want to sell Tisbe pods on my website and then inadvertently give you a bottle full of who-knows-what.

2. It's possible there's something in your tank water that might outcompete the copepods. For instance, if you have a ton of rotifers in your tank water and try to culture copepods, there's a good chance to rotifers will end up outcompeting your pods.

3. It's just a best practice. It's entirely possible that it will be perfectly fine for home use. It's kind of like sanitizing your home phyto culture after each split. You can probably grow nanno or tetra in the same container over and over for quite some time. But there's an increased chance of a crash each time you don't sterilize it. Same with copepods - culturing in tank water is entirely possible and for most people probably wouldn't be a problem. But just in case, we often suggest using new saltwater. It'll help you isolate any problems that might arise later.