How to culture copepods?

[ScottyD36]

So I recently got a mandarin goby. My tank has copepods in it already but I wanted to look into doing a culture on my own. So it is easy to add them in because I understand the mandarin can eat a lot of them. I been reading up on different methods. I have a 3 gallon little tank that I use to quarantine new fish which I am thinking about turning into a place to breed copepods for my mandarin. I have read different methods. Is it really as easy as filling the tank up with saltwater, adding a airpump and dumping copepods in. Then just feed them and they start to breeding like crazy. I wanted to see peoples set ups that are doing it successfully. Any information or direction would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Yes it’s that easy. Saltwater and phytoplankton and a small air line but even that’s not needed. Water and phyto and in about 3 weeks harvest, clean the tank and start again. Very easy.

 

[ScottyD36]

Yes it’s that easy. Saltwater and phytoplankton and a small air line but even that’s not needed. Water and phyto and in about 3 weeks harvest, clean the tank and start again. Very easy.

Sweet thank you.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

Yes it’s that easy. Saltwater and phytoplankton and a small air line but even that’s not needed. Water and phyto and in about 3 weeks harvest, clean the tank and start again. Very easy.

more elab, and laymans pls!

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

more elab, and laymans pls!

Just like you see in the pic.... a tank + saltwater + green phytoplankton + an airline. Thats it, wait 21 days, then syphon through a seive, clean the tank, and start over.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

Just like you see in the pic.... a tank + saltwater + green phytoplankton + an airline. Thats it, wait 21 days, then syphon through a seive, clean the tank, and start over.

thats awesome, do you have 3 diffrent stages there? did you add pods then phyto? or just phyto? is the saltwater at 1.025? is there a temperature you go for ? how long have you let it sit for any longer than 3 weeks can it potentially go for ever just keep adding phyto and fresh water? if i thought longer i could have allot of questions.. but i guess i can just go try it i have some phyto in the fridge i got a week ago but the pods i bought are in the D.T already.. thanks im sure many will grab some information from this!!

 

[KC's CNC Creations]

............. My tank has copepods in it already

all you need to do then is make a safe place (preferable with lower flow) for them that no predators (the mandarin being one) can get to them and dose phyto to that area, they'll quickly populate the entire system with plenty of pods for anything and everything that might want to consume them.

this can be as simple or as elaborate as you want to make it............a chamber in your sump with rock/rubble dosed with phyto ever so often or you can use culture tanks like posted above. me personally, i have a 10g tank with a few rocks and rubble and about an inch and a half of sand substrate, it's got an overflow box and is fed with a small 160gph pump, it's easily movable and i set it up on any new system for a few weeks and dose it with phyto, within the first week you can see hundreds of pods on the glass in the new system. after the new system is populated, i stick the setup back on a shelf and let it cycle though one of my systems. i also siphon pods off the glass to give someone a boost to their tank or a starter culture when needed.

alternately, dosing your system with live phytoplankton to the point your water has a light green tint will not harm your system and will quickly boost the pod population within days, you can do this every few months if you don't want to make a safe-haven as described above.

 

[PeterZammetti]

Just like you see in the pic.... a tank + saltwater + green phytoplankton + an airline. Thats it, wait 21 days, then syphon through a seive, clean the tank, and start over.

When all three are mixed do you become Mr. Hyde };->

 

[DrZoidburg]

Easy to culture low flow, and feed. In my case have to culture the fish clean them out within 2 days.

 

[Jay'sReefBugs]

Pretty easy to start out with just feeding phyto. Down the line you can start feeding them more meaty type foods to advance growth and reproduction rates .

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

Easy to culture low flow, and feed. In my case have to culture the fish clean them out within 2 days.

why 2 days?

 

[DrZoidburg]

why 2 days?

they eat them all

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

they eat them all

so how do you start over if they all get eaten? sorry just trying to understand this complex organism and how i can grow and harvest it for my fish. thanks for the help

 

[G Santana]

so how do you start over if they all get eaten? sorry just trying to understand this complex organism and how i can grow and harvest it for my fish. thanks for the help

Keep some of the pods for the next batch, don't place all of them in the tank

 

[G Santana]

Started my tigger pod experiment on the 16th, seems to be alot more in there now, you can also hatch brineshrimp, it's easy and fast, a whole batch in about 30 hours

 

[Hallowhead]

Just like you see in the pic.... a tank + saltwater + green phytoplankton + an airline. Thats it, wait 21 days, then syphon through a seive, clean the tank, and start over.

You make it sound so simple..

I assume you heat the water, keep parameters same as tanks? Do you do water changes? Where do you buy your eggs or starts? No lights?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

You make it sound so simple..

I assume you heat the water, keep parameters same as tanks? Do you do water changes? Where do you buy your eggs or starts? No lights?

the water is at room temperature. The water starts at 1.025, I usually remember to top offer every 2 or 3 days so it fluctuates. No water change, I just usually start the tank at about half full, then add some new water after a week or so to eventually fill up the tank, to help dilute any building ammonia. Just buy a bottle of pods from your LFS, poor most of it in your tank, and keep a little to farm, even just a few pods will turn into millions in 21 days. When you harvest, syphon all your water through a sieve to catch the pods, clean the tank, and start again. They are super resilient, they can live through almost anything, just keep the water a light tint of green with phyto

 

[G Santana]

You make it sound so simple..

I assume you heat the water, keep parameters same as tanks? Do you do water changes? Where do you buy your eggs or starts? No lights?

I recently saw a video from a refer overseas, he takes a plastic container with salt water, adds a banana peel let's it sit outside in the sun until the water turns green and then he adds pods and harvests them periodically.
He leaves the entire bin out during the winter, it freezes over and in the spring he still has pods in the container.
I'm not saying this is bullet proof but you really can't mess this up.

I cleaned the container with alcohol, used RODI water added salt to 1.025 added phyto and pods. An airline with very little air to keep the water moving and wait 21 days. The jar is covered and I've not seen much in the way of evaporation in about two weeks or so.
Jump in, it's not hard

 

[Susan Edwards]

I used one of those drink dispensers like for parties or ice tea. I just open the spout let the water drain into a seive or a bowl, clean and start again. Also would drain some water out for the tank into a seive and just replace water and phyto. Grew my own phyto too. Should do this again...

 

[Hallowhead]

I recently saw a video from a refer overseas, he takes a plastic container with salt water, adds a banana peel let's it sit outside in the sun until the water turns green and then he adds pods and harvests them periodically.
He leaves the entire bin out during the winter, it freezes over and in the spring he still has pods in the container.
I'm not saying this is bullet proof but you really can't mess this up.

I cleaned the container with alcohol, used RODI water added salt to 1.025 added phyto and pods. An airline with very little air to keep the water moving and wait 21 days. The jar is covered and I've not seen much in the way of evaporation in about two weeks or so.
Jump in, it's not hard

I'm going to... Just have to decide what type of tank / container I wanna use. I like the margarita tank idea. Easier to empty. If I let them live right next to my tank would the overspill of light effect the growth ?

Phyto is another thing I need to work thru. If I can master it I would save 40 bucks a month