I’ve got a pdf that goes into he culturing of apex pods. In this pdf, there’s instructions on how to build a Copepod nauplii harvester. Very useful. I’m building a small version. I have a ton of aquaculture mesh as I make specifically sized sieves for separating and working with zooplankton. Very useful to have this on hand. If anyone needs a set of sieves for working with pods, I make them cheaply. I also sell the mesh.
Help growing copepods in refugium
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I’ve got a pdf that goes into he culturing of apex pods. In this pdf, there’s instructions on how to build a Copepod nauplii harvester. Very useful. I’m building a small version. I have a ton of aquaculture mesh as I make specifically sized sieves for separating and working with zooplankton. Very useful to have this on hand. If anyone needs a set of sieves for working with pods, I make them cheaply. I also sell the mesh.
Larry L
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Chad at @Reef Nutrition has published a really nice PDF with instructions on small-scale culturing of Apocyclops:
https://reefnutrition.com/product_apex_pods.php#tab_use
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9249q0g7yuedmnt/product_apocyclops_panamensis_2017.pdf?raw=1
I think there have been some recent small improvements to his recommended process, so not 100% sure if that PDF has the absolute latest info, but I bet he will let us know one way or the other.
https://reefnutrition.com/product_apex_pods.php#tab_use
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9249q0g7yuedmnt/product_apocyclops_panamensis_2017.pdf?raw=1
I think there have been some recent small improvements to his recommended process, so not 100% sure if that PDF has the absolute latest info, but I bet he will let us know one way or the other.
kirstyflash
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Man I wish I had more space! I would go crazy. We just hit spring and had a pretty warm day today. I don’t know how it will go when we get the hot weather here...43c in peak summer.
Chad at @Reef Nutrition has published a really nice PDF with instructions on small-scale culturing of Apocyclops:
https://reefnutrition.com/product_apex_pods.php#tab_use
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9249q0g7yuedmnt/product_apocyclops_panamensis_2017.pdf?raw=1
I think there have been some recent small improvements to his recommended process, so not 100% sure if that PDF has the absolute latest info, but I bet he will let us know one way or the other.
These pdfs I’ve already been sending everyone. They are the PDFs that Chad Clayton from Reed Mariculture sent me. He is the author. They should be the latest version, the one with instructions for building a passive nauplii harvester for Apex pods and can be modified for other species.
Make sure that you take a look at the care and culture instructions of each individual species. Some, like Parvo, will only eat live algae and not the concentrated phyto product, RG Complete being one example. Check out their site, they are a great Company with great products.
I live in Texas and my cultures are done in the garage. 5 gallon buckets. S and L types from Reeds. No A/C. When its 105F by day and only gets down to 78F at night the garage cooks with the sun beating on the roof. My cultures died. I did not check the water temp but my pool gets in the mid 80's. Im sure it was somewhere close to 100, maybe even higher.
sam.veilleux30
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Green Hair Algea!
Be glad you dont know yet what it is... you might have to fight it in the future.
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Hypen2000
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Hey Pdisner, I think he meant into the DT/sump. Or at least that is what I would like to know =) I have 70-75 gallons for mine. Should I dose the phyto once a week? How much? Etc.
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Hypen2000
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Thanks! Yea, I think I have something like brown(?) hair algae right now. But it never pops up in the DT only my Sump. Is the brown stuff the most common? Just added the Sea Lettuce (in addition to the Cheato that was already in the sump) to help combat it.
wdavid
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Does this apply to Tisbe? I thought I recalled reading that Tisbe were benthic and will eat detritus and algae but the juvenile stages still benefit from phyto?
How do you recommend we go about it? I thought that phyto products required being refrigerated, but will it be okay being in a top off container with RO water for a few days? Also do you have any specific brand recommendations for Tisbe?
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Hypen2000
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Hey just want to pass this along. I chatted with the rep from AlgaeBarn and he told me that while Phyto is important when you first put copepods into your refug, they will start to eat Macroalgae and other algae in the tank. once the population is reproducing, he said no need for phyto. But of course, the phyto would still be helpful and produce more.
This does not apply to culturing them, say in a bucket. In that setting, where you are trying to grow a lot, phyto is the way to go. The MacroAlgae just sustains the population (assuming you have fish eating their fair share).
Again, this is not from my personal experience, bc I have little.
This does not apply to culturing them, say in a bucket. In that setting, where you are trying to grow a lot, phyto is the way to go. The MacroAlgae just sustains the population (assuming you have fish eating their fair share).
Again, this is not from my personal experience, bc I have little.
RG Complete is what I use. It’s from a company called Reed Mariculture. They are at the leading edge of microfood companies. They have many phyto products, which u will have to read about for yourself. RG Complete is probably the most cost effective. It’s got 6 strains of phyto, chlorAm-X and a bunch of extra nutrients. I also use this in my larval tanks when I am raising fish larvae.
When I was talking about putting it in top off water, I didn’t mean to confuse. You definately want to keep it refrigerated. I mix my feeding with RODI first before dosing it. I manually dose it. When I was talking about topping off, I was referring to topping off each culture container. I mix with the water so I kill two birds with one stone. But these are all 5 gal buckets or smaller.
“Benthic” just means that they live on or near the bottom. Clownfish are benthic fish for example. You are right, different species of copepods are either benthic or pelagic. They all will eat phyto, some requiring live. You need to read some studies, I use google scholar a lot. It will really help you understand bettter. There are ALOT of misconceptions about copepods. Commonly I see posts and it’s clear that there needs to be more education to a void these misconceptions. Mostly, I’ve seen copepods cinfused with amhipods, or put all in the same category. It’s a totally different animal, with totally different environmental and dietary needs. Even some of the most experienced reefers I’ve met, don’t know much about copepods. It’s my passion, and I love teaching what I have learned so far, so that others can enjoy the bountiful harvests of copepods that I do.
Hopefully the biologist from Reef Nutrition, Chad Clayton will visit this thread. He’s a great resource for me when I am stumped. He has a wide background and has also worked with breeding various species of marine ornamentals and for research.
Here’s a bottle of RG Complete.
Here’s a bottle of RG Complete.
As far as dosing to your tank I’m not familiar with doing this. You should experiment on your own. Just to give you an example, each Copepod culture that I have with moderate density i feed anywhere from 3 to 6 ml daily to give you an idea. Remember though that other filter feeders will be taking up the algae as well. So it’s really tough to say. I do put phyto in my display, but i dump the phyto that’s already in my rotifer tank. When I harvest the rotifers I just dump the whole harvest into my tank. So everything gets phyto.
You could probably but on a doser to deliver 1ml every other hour. It doesn’t take much. In the Apocylcopse pdf that I’m sending everyone, it has a link for a 4 channel doser from Jaebo I believe. It’s 60$. I’m goi g to get one.
JUST REMEBER, if you’re going to put in a dosing reservoir, just put enough of your phyto concentrate in there to last only 24 hours. More than that, you’re asking for trouble. It has to be refrigerated. REMEBER to rinse your container daily and even your lines every so often. It seems easier to use the dump method lol.
When using RG Complete in your Copepod cultures, there’s not specific amount that you’ll use because each culture is different with different densities. I wait for the water to clear a little bit before next feeding. Don’t over feed because you’ll quickly foul the water. So you’ll need to watch your cultures and feed daily if necessary. When feeding, tint the water so that you can just barely make out the bottom of the container. Does that make sense to everyone?
Well said. This is exactly what will happen. So what I tell anyone that wants to establish a good Copepod population, START A SEPERATE CULTURE FIRST. Then, harvest and put into your sump with the flow off so the settle and grab onto something. Harvest every other week or so, depending on your culture density. Use common sense. Don’t over harvest, because it can take weeks for one Copepod to mature, so you can bring a culture to a dead halt by overharvest.
