Live Food Discussion Thread

[lapin]

Link?

This place has these
http://www.aquaculturenurseryfarms.com/sieves-plankton-collectors/sieve-stackable-low-pro-6/
Tons on ebay

 

[Osidedude]

Great talking with you yesterday! We look forward to seeing what you can do with the Apocyclops panamensis copepods!

I have a quick question about your rotifer culture. How much RGcomplete are you offering them daily? Are you feeding them multiple times a day?

Chad

Yes...a minimum of 2 times but most days 3 or 4 smaller servings.

 

[Paul B]

Subsea, in some places there are so many grass shrimp that they have to take turns getting in the water.

 

[Subsea]

Subsea, in some places there are so many grass shrimp that they have to take turns getting in the water.

You should open a theam Park, “Swim with the Grass Shrimp”.

I have caught them in both fresh water and marine estuaries. Through the semi clear body you could see green egg mass which was good food for the tank. Often when feeding flake food to grass shrimp tank, the colors of food were evident in shrimps clear body.

 

[Cyked1]

Question on the farming/culturing of phyto and pods and your setups (whether it be a separate tank or soda bottles)? What's the main tank setup like, do you have a sump/fuge? Can you be successful with having a fuge in your sump?

 

[Paul B]

You should open a theam Park, “Swim with the Grass Shrimp”.

If you swim anywhere here, you swim with grass shrimp. You can't get away from them.

 

[Osidedude]

Question on the farming/culturing of phyto and pods and your setups (whether it be a separate tank or soda bottles)? What's the main tank setup like, do you have a sump/fuge? Can you be successful with having a fuge in your sump?

I have a sump and fuge and that is where most of my pods come from in my tank. Buy a bottle of Reef Nutrition (my preference as they have a wide variety) and a bottle of their phyto (in my opinion the best on the market) and dump in the fuge to start your tank. I would suggest that your fuge be at least a little mature and have algae already growing as this will help but not necessary hence the phyto. Phyto will last several weeks following directions. This will really get your population going and your fish happy.

 

[Osidedude]

I have a sump and fuge and that is where most of my pods come from in my tank. Buy a bottle of Reef Nutrition (my preference as they have a wide variety) and a bottle of their phyto (in my opinion the best on the market) and dump in the fuge to start your tank. I would suggest that your fuge be at least a little mature and have algae already growing as this will help but not necessary hence the phyto. Phyto will last several weeks following directions. This will really get your population going and your fish happy.

I also culture Rotifers and next week start with Apex pods in their own set up (neither separate tank or plastic bottle...lol) I would also suggest starting your fuge out with one of the larger pods.

 

[bo0sted2g]

I gotta build one of these!

 

[Wen]

Wanted to share a live food option for those in Florida:

I received a 3" tiny Copperband on Friday. He only eats frozen brine. (not frozen spirulina brine, not frozen mysis, not frozen minced krill, not frozen black worms, not freshly frozen little neck clam on the half shell and definitely not pellets! lol) He is on the thin side, and the LFS that carries live black worms was closed today. I was feeling desperate, I do not want to lose this adorable fish.

So, I drove to the beach, scooped up a cup of sand from under water at low tide and headed home. There were about 20 tiny Coquina clams in the cup, so I dumped the whole thing in my 20 gal "observing QT". There is only 1/4" of sand in there, so the Coquinas were struggling to hide. Little Copperband became very excited and is now happily hunting and eating fresh clams just his size. This should help buy time as he acclimates to frozen foods.

I dropped a couple Coquinas in my 150 gal display tank and Mr. Yellow Canary Coris wrasse was on it! The pair of flame hawks were also involved in disseminating the Coquinas in a few mintues.
I am so happy to have found a live food source to supplement my new Copperband's diet!

Read this on Florida Fish and Wildlife site: The coquina clam (Donax variabilis) is a common inhabitant of Florida's sandy beaches. Known for their highly variable color patterns, coquinas can be found buried just under the surface of the sand in the wave-swept area of the beach known as the swash zone. These algae filter-feeders are a critical food source for fish, crabs and shorebirds. Along with other animals such as the mole crab (Emerita talpoida) and ghost crab (Ocypode quandrata), coquina clams are considered indicator species for beach habitat. Because of their sensitivity to environmental changes, indicator species can act as an early warning system for biologists.

I did not collect the cup of sand from a national park or protected area. fyi

 

[Subsea]

Wanted to share a live food option for those in Florida:

I received a 3" tiny Copperband on Friday. He only eats frozen brine. (not frozen spirulina brine, not frozen mysis, not frozen minced krill, not frozen black worms, not freshly frozen little neck clam on the half shell and definitely not pellets! lol) He is on the thin side, and the LFS that carries live black worms was closed today. I was feeling desperate, I do not want to lose this adorable fish.

So, I drove to the beach, scooped up a cup of sand from under water at low tide and headed home. There were about 20 tiny Coquina clams in the cup, so I dumped the whole thing in my 20 gal "observing QT". There is only 1/4" of sand in there, so the Coquinas were struggling to hide. Little Copperband became very excited and is now happily hunting and eating fresh clams just his size. This should help buy time as he acclimates to frozen foods.

I dropped a couple Coquinas in my 150 gal display tank and Mr. Yellow Canary Coris wrasse was on it! The pair of flame hawks were also involved in disseminating the Coquinas in a few mintues.
I am so happy to have found a live food source to supplement my new Copperband's diet!

Read this on Florida Fish and Wildlife site: The coquina clam (Donax variabilis) is a common inhabitant of Florida's sandy beaches. Known for their highly variable color patterns, coquinas can be found buried just under the surface of the sand in the wave-swept area of the beach known as the swash zone. These algae filter-feeders are a critical food source for fish, crabs and shorebirds. Along with other animals such as the mole crab (Emerita talpoida) and ghost crab (Ocypode quandrata), coquina clams are considered indicator species for beach habitat. Because of their sensitivity to environmental changes, indicator species can act as an early warning system for biologists.

I did not collect the cup of sand from a national park or protected area. fyi

Thank you very much. That is good stuff to know.

For those of us on the Gulf of Mexico coast, grass shrimp are perfect in a refugium or a macro lagoon display tank. Usually available in salt water marshes.

 

[radiata]

Here's some interesting Coquina info, with an orientation to human consumption :

http://www.eattheweeds.com/coquina-tasty-tiny-clam/

One important takeaway is that they are subject to the evil Red Tide.

 

[VillainzReefExotics702]

I love using reef nutritions oyster feast and Phyto feast I always get great results

 

[Reef Nutrition]

I love using reef nutritions oyster feast and Phyto feast I always get great results

Thanks so much for mentioning us. We are very pleased to hear our oyster eggs and phytoplankton are giving you good results.

Chad

 

[Wrangy]

Thanks so much for mentioning us. We are very pleased to hear our oyster eggs and phytoplankton are giving you good results.

Chad

I just wish we had a company like you guys here in Australia! It's severely lacking here

 

[Reef Nutrition]

I just wish we had a company like you guys here in Australia! It's severely lacking here

We sell our phytoplankton into aquaculture in Australia through a distributor, but getting our other Reef Nutrition products in is no small feat. Australia has some very strict importation requirements. We are selling our products in New Zealand and hope that this is a stepping stone into Australia. Thanks for your comment!

Best,
Chad

 

[av8]

Chad (at Reef Nutrition) or others successfully raising pods:

Do you have any suggestions for nitrate, nitrite & ammonia reduction in copepod grow out vessels? I'm using Phyto Feast (and a home brew supplement) to successfully rear Apex pods and Tigger pods, in both 1/2 gallon ball jars (research projects) and 5 gallon buckets (to feed the reef.)

I'm hoping to find an alternative to frequent water changes to keep water parameters within acceptable limits in the growing vessels. The cost of the RO/DI saltwater is not the issue, just the amount of work involved ...

thanks!
John (not a new sport, my clown is in her 30th year ; )

 

[Reef Nutrition]

Chad (at Reef Nutrition) or others successfully raising pods:

Do you have any suggestions for nitrate, nitrite & ammonia reduction in copepod grow out vessels? I'm using Phyto Feast (and a home brew supplement) to successfully rear Apex pods and Tigger pods, in both 1/2 gallon ball jars (research projects) and 5 gallon buckets (to feed the reef.)

I'm hoping to find an alternative to frequent water changes to keep water parameters within acceptable limits in the growing vessels. The cost of the RO/DI saltwater is not the issue, just the amount of work involved ...

thanks!
John (not a new sport, my clown is in her 30th year ; )

Hello John,

We have found that our Tigger-Pods and Apex-Pods can tolerate very high concentrations of the compounds mentioned. For example, our Apex-Pods broodstock tanks can go for 45-60 days without a water change. Our Tigger-Pods cultures go even longer than that, up to 90 days, without any water changes. We run them as batches. Make sure to run a light over your cultures to get some live algae growing so that the copepods have something to feed on in between Phyto-Feast feedings.

Hope this helps.

Chad

 

[Wrangy]

We sell our phytoplankton into aquaculture in Australia through a distributor, but getting our other Reef Nutrition products in is no small feat. Australia has some very strict importation requirements. We are selling our products in New Zealand and hope that this is a stepping stone into Australia. Thanks for your comment!

Best,
Chad

I completely understand just how difficult things are to sell here with the import regulations but the fact that you're trying is amazing and I know I'm not the only one here that truly appreciates it! We miss out on a lot of things due to such stringent bio security laws haha

 

[revenant]

I have been buying small batches of pods from one eBay seller in FL and they have been consistently good, 99% alive when I receive them. My flame hawk and six line go crazy for them... I have been doing this once a month. Seemed good to give them some live food.