Parvocalanus bucket culture...thoughts?

[Reef Nutrition]

Would 1-2 bubbles per second be overkill? I remember reading about the algae issue in the Apocyclops manual. (Side note...would daily nauplii harvest improve Apocyclops production?)

I was going to experiment with both Isochrysis and Parvocalanus culture long before I have any fry to feed.

1-2 bubbles is perfectly fine. It is always good to harvest nauplii on a daily, or every-other-day, basis. Adult reproduction is strongly effected by density. The more pods you have in the tank, the less likely they are to reproduce. We keep our copepod cultures at 3-4 adults per ml and remove naups as often as we can.

 

[LordJoshaeus]

1-2 bubbles is perfectly fine. It is always good to harvest nauplii on a daily, or every-other-day, basis. Adult reproduction is strongly effected by density. The more pods you have in the tank, the less likely they are to reproduce. We keep our copepod cultures at 3-4 adults per ml and remove naups as often as we can.

Good I may experiment with Apocyclops in the future due to their resilience, though their relatively low daily nauplii production compared to Parvocalanus means I am unlikely to use them exclusively (my landlord has limited me to 30 gallons of tankage, so every gallon counts!). How long can I (safely) leave a reproducing Parvocalanus culture running before restarting it with some of its nauplii, assuming a temperature in the high 70's fahrenheit?

EDIT: The apocyclops page on reed mariculture states that you have been getting 80,000-100,000 nauplii per day from your 60 liter cultures (coming to about 1,333-1,666 nauplii a liter). Has that value gone up since then? (For comparison, the following article reports that by daily harvesting of Parvocalanus nauplii, they were able to get an average of 83 million eggs/nauplii from 6000 liters of nauplii producing setups - corresponding to 13,833 nauplii/eggs per liter [I had given a higher value earlier in this thread, but I had not realized that the figure I used was for all four 1,500 liter setups, not just one of them]; https://www.aquaculturealliance.org/advocate/advances-in-intensive-copepod-production-technology/ )

 

[Reef Nutrition]

Good I may experiment with Apocyclops in the future due to their resilience, though their relatively low daily nauplii production compared to Parvocalanus means I am unlikely to use them exclusively (my landlord has limited me to 30 gallons of tankage, so every gallon counts!). How long can I (safely) leave a reproducing Parvocalanus culture running before restarting it with some of its nauplii, assuming a temperature in the high 70's fahrenheit?

EDIT: The apocyclops page on reed mariculture states that you have been getting 80,000-100,000 nauplii per day from your 60 liter cultures (coming to about 1,333-1,666 nauplii a liter). Has that value gone up since then? (For comparison, the following article reports that by daily harvesting of Parvocalanus nauplii, they were able to get an average of 83 million eggs/nauplii from 6000 liters of nauplii producing setups - corresponding to 13,833 nauplii/eggs per liter [I had given a higher value earlier in this thread, but I had not realized that the figure I used was for all four 1,500 liter setups, not just one of them]; https://www.aquaculturealliance.org/advocate/advances-in-intensive-copepod-production-technology/ )

Yes, as long as you can culture abundant amounts of live Isochrysis, you can produce a lot of Parvo nauplii. They are much more productive than Apos because they broadcast their eggs as opposed to holding them in sacs while they mature.

It takes about a week for Parvo naups to become sexually mature, so you want to set aside the first day's nauplii for maturation. Then collect in the next 6-8 days and feed subsequent naups to coral, fish, etc. Once the adults get older and reproduction starts to drop, you will have the next batch matured and ready. Rinse and repeat.

 

[LordJoshaeus]

Yes, as long as you can culture abundant amounts of live Isochrysis, you can produce a lot of Parvo nauplii. They are much more productive than Apos because they broadcast their eggs as opposed to holding them in sacs while they mature.

It takes about a week for Parvo naups to become sexually mature, so you want to set aside the first day's nauplii for maturation. Then collect in the next 6-8 days and feed subsequent naups to coral, fish, etc. Once the adults get older and reproduction starts to drop, you will have the next batch matured and ready. Rinse and repeat.

OK! Thanks

 

[Levinson]

@Reef Nutrition
I know this is an old thread but can I ask some questions about culturing Parvo copepods? I've recently started culturing Parve copepods. I got 2 Parvo culture bottles going at the moment, plus one small 1 litre bottle without aeration as an experiment to see if it's possible to culture them in a small bottle without any aeration with just an occasional gentle shake.

My questions are:

1. Since I see there are the nauplii harvesters/collector and all, I was wondering, are there any reasons why the eggs or nauplii should be separated from the adults? Are the babies separated/collected just for harvesting purposes to be used as live feed (or to start a new culture) or is there a different reason perhaps more related to the management of the culture? From what I've read, the Parvos are not a predatory copepod and feed only by filter feeding so I assumed they won't eat their young like Acartia Tonsa copepods do.

2. If I want just the adults as live feed rather than the babies, can I just collect the adults by emptying the whole culture through 100 micron mesh into a new container and then continue the culture with occasional 100% water change and feeding? If this is alright, I plan to have a number of culture bottles going on a rotation to collect the adults on a regular basis.

3. Is it okay to use live Isochrysis galbana as a sole feed for them?

4. I've read you can only feed live phyto to the Parvos and also heard Isochrysis cannot be stored live in a fridge (unlike Nanno or Tetraselmis) so I've been feeding them only when I harvest my Isochrysis culture. Is this correct? Or can I feed Isochrysis kept in a fridge? If not, is there a good way to store live Isochrysis in a bottle for a week?

Sorry to ask so many questions at once. I'm sure there were like a hundred more questions but this is all I can think of now. It's quite difficult to find much detailed info on culturing Parvocalanus crassirostris.

 

[Reef Nutrition]

@Reef Nutrition
I know this is an old thread but can I ask some questions about culturing Parvo copepods? I've recently started culturing Parve copepods. I got 2 Parvo culture bottles going at the moment, plus one small 1 litre bottle without aeration as an experiment to see if it's possible to culture them in a small bottle without any aeration with just an occasional gentle shake.

My questions are:

1. Since I see there are the nauplii harvesters/collector and all, I was wondering, are there any reasons why the eggs or nauplii should be separated from the adults? Are the babies separated/collected just for harvesting purposes to be used as live feed (or to start a new culture) or is there a different reason perhaps more related to the management of the culture? From what I've read, the Parvos are not a predatory copepod and feed only by filter feeding so I assumed they won't eat their young like Acartia Tonsa copepods do.

2. If I want just the adults as live feed rather than the babies, can I just collect the adults by emptying the whole culture through 100 micron mesh into a new container and then continue the culture with occasional 100% water change and feeding? If this is alright, I plan to have a number of culture bottles going on a rotation to collect the adults on a regular basis.

3. Is it okay to use live Isochrysis galbana as a sole feed for them?

4. I've read you can only feed live phyto to the Parvos and also heard Isochrysis cannot be stored live in a fridge (unlike Nanno or Tetraselmis) so I've been feeding them only when I harvest my Isochrysis culture. Is this correct? Or can I feed Isochrysis kept in a fridge? If not, is there a good way to store live Isochrysis in a bottle for a week?

Sorry to ask so many questions at once. I'm sure there were like a hundred more questions but this is all I can think of now. It's quite difficult to find much detailed info on culturing Parvocalanus crassirostris.

Hope I can get you some solid answers here.
1. Parvocalanus breed much better when their nauplii are removed. The denser the culture gets, the more likely they are to stop breeding. Removing nauplii, routinely, keeps the density low and reproduction high. 2-3 adults per ml is ideal and should not be increased. Nauplii are harvested for food for larval fish, to keep the animal density low and for the next generation of broodstock. Plus, the passive harvester is much better on the culture, in general, since you aren't stressing them out with a 100% harvest.

2. A 100 micron screen with allow you to separate all the juvenile stages and full adults from the naupliar stages.

3. Yes

4. The best way to "store" your Iso while feeding is to put it near a light source (simple dome, shop light works) and use up the entire culture within a week or so. We also filter the Iso that we feed with a 20 micron screen in case the culture is contaminated.

Keep em' coming!

Chad

 

[Levinson]

Hope I can get you some solid answers here.
1. Parvocalanus breed much better when their nauplii are removed. The denser the culture gets, the more likely they are to stop breeding. Removing nauplii, routinely, keeps the density low and reproduction high. 2-3 adults per ml is ideal and should not be increased. Nauplii are harvested for food for larval fish, to keep the animal density low and for the next generation of broodstock. Plus, the passive harvester is much better on the culture, in general, since you aren't stressing them out with a 100% harvest.

2. A 100 micron screen with allow you to separate all the juvenile stages and full adults from the naupliar stages.

3. Yes

4. The best way to "store" your Iso while feeding is to put it near a light source (simple dome, shop light works) and use up the entire culture within a week or so. We also filter the Iso that we feed with a 20 micron screen in case the culture is contaminated.

Keep em' coming!

Chad

Thank you so much for the information! Much appreciated.