Tigger & Tisbe Pods

[40B Knasty]

I have a tisbe and a rotifier tank, both have done very well. I have to say I disagree with the one bubble a time on the air line is not near as important as it has been made out here. I could not throttle mine and it was a solid stream of bubbles and my pods have done fine. I just have a bucket with an air stone, a small filter pad for them to hide in, and keep the water green with Spirulina.

I do want to get Tiggers going from the discussion in this thread!

Now I have to decide what I want to batch grow (I ordered 6 small containers to rotate a harvest from a different bucket [almost]each day of the week)

The pods you have might be collected in a different area with a different life style. So it might be better for them. Reef Nutrition Tigger pods are different from the rest. As far Algagen Tisbe pods. My bubble count was higher on that tank. I have now cleaned out that tank and switched it over to Tigger pods recently. They are gold! My new Carberryi Anthias loves them and BBS.
My walls in the right tank are still covered with Tigger pods. I have been putting in about 500 in the DT every 2 days to fatten him up and keep him healthy while my Dwarf Flame Angel gets to know him a little more. He is throwing his weight around. My wrasse was the worst when I introduced the Anthias. Hung a mirror on the side of the tank and went out to breakfast. Came back from eating an hour & a half later and the wrasse has gone back to being a model citizen. I love the tricks people post on R2R.
Here is my new Carberryi Anthias Pod and BBS eater. Picture does it no justice

 

[DancingShark]

I have a set up since January. I lost my first batch because I could not get phyto to grow. I saw the spirulina in this thread and I am now able to grow tons of this guys. I am just have a heck of a time pulling them out.
Is there a net I could use to just swipe them out of the tank with. Thanks 40b for your time and info.

 

[40B Knasty]

I have a set up since January. I lost my first batch because I could not get phyto to grow. I saw the spirulina in this thread and I am now able to grow tons of this guys. I am just have a heck of a time pulling them out.
Is there a net I could use to just swipe them out of the tank with. Thanks 40b for your time and info.

I picked one up from Petsmart that came with a foam brush on a handle. I used the foam for the screening part to keep the pods in the tank when I siphon. Here is a picture of how it came. 2nd picture is one small pass of collecting.
I notice when my lights are on during the day. They are not so much on the glass. So I usually harvest after 5hrs after the lights have been off. I turn the light on and the walls are covered.

 

[klp]

Don't tempt me to expand! Our east coast customers would rejoice over the cheaper shipping!

So, I'm willing to bet that the Tisbe sp. culture has Nannochloropsis sp. or some other green algae in it, because AlgaGen does indeed send their Tisbe sp. copepods with microalgae (it says it on the bottle).

The Tigger-Pod culture is looking great. If you have a microscope, you could pull a sample of the mulm and check out the nauplii. They are really cool under a scope. Since the cultures are right next to each other, the chance of one contaminating the other is high, so keep that in mind. Also, don't allow the Tigger-Pod culture to exceed 60 days. At or before 60 days, harvest the entire tank, retaining some of the mulm and a 1/2 gallon of tank water. Refill the tank with new saltwater, add the 1/2 gallon of old culture water and the mulm. The old culture water will have beneficial bacteria and the mulm will have that as well as the nauplii, which you don't want to lose. Toss all the animals back in and you are all set for another 60 days.

Here is a picture of a gravid female (left) and a nauplius (right). Credit: http://burtonlab.weebly.com/research.html

And here is what they look like when they are in the mating configuration. Note the male is on top and has hooked antennae (see image below)
Photo courtesy of http://burtonlab.weebly.com/research.html

Male Tigriopus californicus with hooked antennae:
My image

Just reading for the first time. What do you mean by "mulm"?

 

[40B Knasty]

Here is an update. Running 2 Reef Nutrition Tigger pod tanks now. Tore down the Algagen Tisbe Pod tank.

 

[Brien]

I've read that Mandarins have a hard time eating the Tiger pods because they are too quick with their jerking movements/swimming. Have you seen a Mandarin actually eat Tiger pods?

 

[klp]

Just reading for the first time. What do you mean by "mulm"?

Never mind. Looked it up. Never heard mulm used before.
Mulm: (also called detritus) is the organic debris that builds up in and on the aquarium substrate.
Mulm is usually the unattractive dark brown or black material that settles on the substrate of a tank. It is caused by the waste material ejected by the aquarium animals and left over food and decomposing plants.

 

[40B Knasty]

I've read that Mandarins have a hard time eating the Tiger pods because they are too quick with their jerking movements/swimming. Have you seen a Mandarin actually eat Tiger pods?

Look at the videos and pictures. Your proof is right there. They sit on the glass most of the time. Also I had a whole month where mine did not eat frozens. All I gave him was Tigger pods. A mandarin as you know will wilter away faster than any other fish. Mine ended up being fatter in a month. The LFS had it for a week and their system has pods. Mine didn't. My guy is in heaven when I dump pods in. I understand fully about getting bad information. Glad you asked.

 

[Brien]

Look at the videos and pictures. Your proof is right there. They sit on the glass most of the time. Also I had a whole month where mine did not eat frozens. All I gave him was Tigger pods. A mandarin as you know will wilter away faster than any other fish. Mine ended up being fatter in a month. The LFS had it for a week and their system has pods. Mine didn't. My guy is in heaven when I dump pods in. I understand fully about getting bad information. Glad you asked.

I’ll see them on my glass after I add them (at night with lights off) but then the next morning and thereafter I won’t see them again. Just curious where they’re going or if they’re consumed in that short period of time.

 

[40B Knasty]

I’ll see them on my glass after I add them (at night with lights off) but then the next morning and thereafter I won’t see them again. Just curious where they’re going or if they’re consumed in that short period of time.

That I wouldn't know. Every tank is different. Depends on how many fish eating them, your flow, are they getting sucked up into your skimmer and filter, chopped up in pumps, chopped up impellers, handle your tank parameters, or if you sent them into temp shock. To many variables.

 

[cpschult]

You mentioned brewers yeast being a good alternative, have you tried this yet?

 

[40B Knasty]

You mentioned brewers yeast being a good alternative, have you tried this yet?

No I have not. It was suggested the brewers yeast by the only LFS owner I would trust, but I had my heart set on doing spirulina for the reason of the pods maybe having that taste of that in them. Then maybe the mandarin would recognize that flavor with the Hikari brine w/ spirulina. Since I was feeding live baby brine shrimp and Tigger pods that ate spirulina. It worked

 

[domination2580]

No I have not. It was suggested the brewers yeast by the only LFS owner I would trust, but I had my heart set on doing spirulina for the reason of the pods maybe having that taste of that in them. Then maybe the mandarin would recognize that flavor with the Hikari brine w/ spirulina. Since I was feeding live baby brine shrimp and Tigger pods that ate spirulina. It worked

Ok so is it normal to have like a dark clump on the bottom? Eggs? Spiralina?

 

[domination2580]

No I have not. It was suggested the brewers yeast by the only LFS owner I would trust, but I had my heart set on doing spirulina for the reason of the pods maybe having that taste of that in them. Then maybe the mandarin would recognize that flavor with the Hikari brine w/ spirulina. Since I was feeding live baby brine shrimp and Tigger pods that ate spirulina. It worked

My water isn't completely green but there is a dark patch on the bottom..I don't have a light set up... should I to get the pods more active?

 

[40B Knasty]

My water isn't completely green but there is a dark patch on the bottom..I don't have a light set up... should I to get the pods more active?

The water doesn't have to be completely green. The clumps are detritus most likely. I have them. It's their food. You might want to whip your food more. I leave it in. I actually haven't fed mine in 4 days because the water is so dark green. My left tank is blowing up with Tigger pods while the right isn't looking good with Tigger pods. I think the Tisbe pods ended up in there and are covering the tank.

 

[domination2580]

The water doesn't have to be completely green. The clumps are detritus most likely. I have them. It's their food. You might want to whip your food more. I leave it in. I actually haven't fed mine in 4 days because the water is so dark green. My left tank is blowing up with Tigger pods while the right isn't looking good with Tigger pods. I think the Tisbe pods ended up in there and are covering the tank.

I was gonna say I did a water change yesterday and it formed again....so my plan will be to just leave it in there....do u think a light helps?

 

[40B Knasty]

I was gonna say I did a water change yesterday and it formed again....so my plan will be to just leave it in there....do u think a light helps?

I use one for the chaeto. What it does for the pods. I have no clue. When my pods are alive the most is when it is dark.

 

[Monkeytank]

I may have missed it in the thread, but I guess you are putting chaeto in to reduce organics? Does it seem to make a difference?

 

[40B Knasty]

I may have missed it in the thread, but I guess you are putting chaeto in to reduce organics? Does it seem to make a difference?

I have not done it without. So I do not have answer for that. I had an extra T5 light, chaeto, and timer. The chaeto has been alive for 8 months. So I am guessing that it is doing its thing like a normal refugium would be like on the timed light schedule. You never want to run lights on chaeto 24hrs a day. It can turn asexual and produce a heavy amount of CO².

 

[cpschult]

Saw you mentioned trying powdered brown algae next time. Did you have a source? Just a quick google search showed some pretyyyyyy expensive products. I’m trying tisbe and tigger farming atm. May try apocalypse pods from algae barn too.