Favorite place to buy copepods

trevorhiller · May 12, 2022

Since I upgraded my tank, I’d like to buy some more copepods to boost the population in the new 60 gallon cube. What’s your favorite place to get pods from?

Last time I ordered from algae barn and tried to culture them, but they never really took off and my “culture” dwindled to nothing.

I’ve heard good things about reef nutrition, but for two bottles of pods and a bottle of phyto it’s like $100 shipped. I have trouble believing it costs $40-50 to ship copepods. Will they truly not survive priority mail shipping?

Any reliable budget options? I’d much rather spend money on more fish or coral than overnight shipping for two bottles of copepods.

blaxsun · May 12, 2022

I've used the Reef Nutrition pods myself. My mandarins gave it two fins up!

DaJMasta · May 12, 2022

What pods are you trying to culture? Different pods need different foods and feeding regimens, and there are definitely some that are more tolerant of low-care approaches. The supplier isn't really going to be the limiting factor unless you're getting pods raised at a low salinity or which didn't survive shipping.

trevorhiller · May 12, 2022

DaJMasta said:
What pods are you trying to culture? Different pods need different foods and feeding regimens, and there are definitely some that are more tolerant of low-care approaches. The supplier isn't really going to be the limiting factor unless you're getting pods raised at a low salinity or which didn't survive shipping.

I tried to culture tig pods from algae barn. I actually still had some in a jar sitting around until the other day (dumped it in the tank). But they never really took off the way I see others cultures take off. Mine also never looked large/red like many others do. Mine were barely visible--about the size of a light pencil dot on a piece of paper.

Cracks me up that algae barn and reef nutrition charge for overnight or two day shipping, yet there’s a thread of a guy growing them outside in a 5 gallon bucket of old saltwater with a rotten banana peel https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/more-pods.835488/

Makes me question whether urgent shipping methods are even needed if they are that hardy.

DaJMasta · May 12, 2022

I've had more sensitive cultures arrive mostly dead after several day shipping in cold weather, even in an insulated box with a heat pack. That said, there are species that are more robust, and again, it's very specific to the copepod.

You can culture tigriopus in no flow with a nearly saturated saltwater solution with most kinds of phyto and have great results. I've been struggling to keep my parvocalanus cultures stable and productive for months because of how touchy they are with feed density - if it gets more than a slightly brownish tint, the colony starts to crash within a day - and they just can't or don't eat several types of phyto you can culture.

Find out what species you're getting (or what comes in the mix), and then try to target your culturing methods to that species. While culturing a blend is possible, with time it will likely lose diversity with a few strains being outcompeted in your culture environment.

Look is also very dependent on species - tigriopus will have that longer reddish look, apocyclops will be little brownish ovals, parvocalanus are just barely visible - but behavior patterns between them will be pretty distinct even without magnification.

For tigriopus in particular, I keep my culture in a jug (actually using a 2 gallon jug with a dispenser sigot), the culture stays basically opaque green, and I don't change the water because they seem to benefit with having some mulm at the bottom. Once grown into the jug, I harvest 32oz every day and replace with live phyto at the density it's cultured at - so the only water change they get is when I remove them to feed to things - and I'm getting hundreds, if not a thousand or two, adults in 32oz of culture. The culture has been going for months in the same vessel, no heating, leftover light from the phyto on the same rack, and low aeration. The current phyto mix is tetraselmis, isochrysis, and chaetoceros (a diatom), but they've been fine with other types of phyto too, I think they're one of the more flexible species in that regard.

AlgaeBarn · May 12, 2022

trevorhiller said:
Since I upgraded my tank, I’d like to buy some more copepods to boost the population in the new 60 gallon cube. What’s your favorite place to get pods from?

Last time I ordered from algae barn and tried to culture them, but they never really took off and my “culture” dwindled to nothing.

I’ve heard good things about reef nutrition, but for two bottles of pods and a bottle of phyto it’s like $100 shipped. I have trouble believing it costs $40-50 to ship copepods. Will they truly not survive priority mail shipping?

Any reliable budget options? I’d much rather spend money on more fish or coral than overnight shipping for two bottles of copepods.

Our Tigriopus jars contain ranging from nauplii to adult sizes. We have free shipping of $40 and 2 jars would put you over that minimum. You wouldn't need to overnight the pods as they ship just fine with our free 2-3 day priority mail option. What kind of set up did you have for them, what were you feeding them, and how often?

New&no clue · May 12, 2022

@hollback has the best pods. I have bought from a ton of place AlgaeBarn, Pod your Reef, Reef Cleaners, and other. He definitely has the bang for your buck.

Ohio - Copepods FS - $15

I culture Tigriopus genus copepods for my system and prefer feeding them over flake or frozen. Every several months my staggered cultures sync and produce more than I need so time to clear them out! I have 8 oz bottles LOADED with hundreds of copepods for $15 per bottle. Shipping is USPS...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay'sReefBugs · May 13, 2022

You can buy pretty much any generalize consumer copepods and get them to breed there's a few key components that most people miss tho . You don't have to buy from me but I'll atleast get what you have hopefully in a better running state just message me so we don't clog the fourm

homer1475 · May 16, 2022

Jay'sReefBugs said:
You can buy pretty much any generalize consumer copepods and get them to breed there's a few key components that most people miss tho . You don't have to buy from me but I'll atleast get what you have hopefully in a better running state just message me so we don't clog the fourm

A mas producing company willing to share some secrets with the community. Now thats what I call upstanding customer service, and just a great service to the community.

trevorhiller · May 16, 2022

Jay'sReefBugs said:
You can buy pretty much any generalize consumer copepods and get them to breed there's a few key components that most people miss tho . You don't have to buy from me but I'll atleast get what you have hopefully in a better running state just message me so we don't clog the fourm

Sent you a PM.

Good customer service for sure!

Reef Nutrition · May 16, 2022

trevorhiller said:
Since I upgraded my tank, I’d like to buy some more copepods to boost the population in the new 60 gallon cube. What’s your favorite place to get pods from?

Last time I ordered from algae barn and tried to culture them, but they never really took off and my “culture” dwindled to nothing.

I’ve heard good things about reef nutrition, but for two bottles of pods and a bottle of phyto it’s like $100 shipped. I have trouble believing it costs $40-50 to ship copepods. Will they truly not survive priority mail shipping?

Any reliable budget options? I’d much rather spend money on more fish or coral than overnight shipping for two bottles of copepods.

Hey there!

Shipping perishable items is expensive, just like shipping corals and fish. It is not necessary to use priority mail for our copepods. FedEx 2nd Day is perfectly fine. We always recommend you buy from your LFS so that you can avoid the shipping costs, if that isn't an option, you can buy us from SalwaterAquarium.com. They have much more affordable shipping.

If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to reach out. Feel free to tag us in the future when posting things like this.

Best,
Chad

Paul B · May 16, 2022

Reef Nutrition · May 16, 2022

trevorhiller said:
I tried to culture tig pods from algae barn. I actually still had some in a jar sitting around until the other day (dumped it in the tank). But they never really took off the way I see others cultures take off. Mine also never looked large/red like many others do. Mine were barely visible--about the size of a light pencil dot on a piece of paper.

Cracks me up that algae barn and reef nutrition charge for overnight or two day shipping, yet there’s a thread of a guy growing them outside in a 5 gallon bucket of old saltwater with a rotten banana peel https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/more-pods.835488/

Makes me question whether urgent shipping methods are even needed if they are that hardy.

The problem with shipping copepods at high density in bottles is that, if the box gets too warm, they use up all their oxygen resulting in massive mortalities. In a 5 gallon bucket, you have plenty of gas exchange at the surface so the pods get oxygen. The copepods also aren't as dense in a 5 gallon bucket as in our 6 oz. bottles. While the copepods we work with are very hardy, they aren't tough enough to handle severe oxygen depletion. This is why we ship them at a maximum of 2 days transit time.

I hope this helps shed some light on this topic. We hate the shipping costs as much as you do, which is why we offer alternatives to buy like via your LFS or an online retailer like SalwaterAquarium.com.

Reef Nutrition · May 16, 2022

Paul B said:

I've got to say, I've always enjoyed your unique brand of jocularity. If you are ever at ReefAPalooza NJ, which is in June this year, please stop by our booth and say hi.

Paul B · May 17, 2022

Reef Nutrition, Thanks but I have no idea where that is. 2 years ago I did go to a NJ reef club but it was very far from here on eastern Long Island.

ScubaFish802 · May 17, 2022

I usually order from a guy on facebook, page named 'The Fish Dude copepod and live reef food'. The price and density is far above what I have gotten from the major brands I've tried. I feel like copepods get marked up pretty crazy in some cases and then you get a really low population density as well.

Reef Nutrition · May 17, 2022

Paul B said:
Reef Nutrition, Thanks but I have no idea where that is. 2 years ago I did go to a NJ reef club but it was very far from here on eastern Long Island.

Silly me. Where are my manners? ReefAPalooza is a marine aquarium trade show in Secaucus, NJ every year. It's June 25 & 26. Might be worth the trip if you've never attended.