Copepod Breeding - trying a DIY Set up Need help thoughts etc

[Huly]

After speaking to Todd Gardner on Sunday, we have started lots of research on copepod breeding so here is what I am thinking. So please throw out thoughts etc: (remember we have a Red Sea Max without a seperate sump refugium). Todd stated that Cyclo-Peeze is a great source of food for fish and inverts. Is that good for Mandarins? We have that as we thought Coral liked it. He also told me to read an article by Erik Stenn in Coral Magazine on Copepod breeding (still searching for that).

 

I have this already as it was our old QT system and we were thinking about going Nano and now debating Copepod sys.

 

Fluval Spec 5.6

http://www.petsmart....ductId=12289103

 

Fluval Spec V is an aquarium system that provide a unique panoramic view, while adding both style and design to any room. This sleek aquarium features a bright 37 LED lighting system with 7500K daylight LEDs and a deep blue night light setting, 3 position on/off switch and low voltage power supply. It contains a powerful, low maintenance internal filter with 3 stage filtration that provides clean and clear water for a healthy environment for your fish. Includes a 5.6 gallon aquarium with cover, LED lighting system, foam filter block with handle, activated carbon insert, biomax insert, circulation pump with output nozzle, safe low voltage transformer, 30 ml Nutrafin Aqua Plus Water Conditioner, 30 ml Nutrafin Cycle Biological Aquarium supplement. 2 year manufacturer provided warranty.

 

Question on Fluval:

Is the filter too strong on this? Should we use it to help keep the water clean or should we just use an airstone or something else? Seems like most use a simple air stone.

 

https://reefworks.co...ankton-mix-kit/

http://joshday.com/mandaringoby.htm

http://www.oceanpods...aq.html#culture

http://www.advanceda.../2003/2/breeder

 

Now from Sunday Todd likes Algagen Reef pods. We are thinking Reefpods Tisbe would be the best to feed a Mandarin. Thoughts?

 

http://www.aquacon.com/Algagen.html

 

Now to grow Phytoplankton to feed copepods: This looks simple enough

 

Supplies- (I have a lot of) 1 gallon containers, air stone, culture and natural sunlight

http://www.advanceda.../2002/8/breeder

http://www.melevsree...toplankton.html

 

Todd also suggested we read the Plankton Culture Manual by Frank Hoff (going to search my Kindle tonight to see if it is available)

 

 

Now for more questions:

 

Water changes- How do you do a water change without removing your copepods? I see everything from you need to do this every two week to once a month or your nitrates will kill your stock.

 

How do you culture copepods to feed your DT? Are they too small for a small net? Turkey Baster? How do you know when you have enough (Pez and I have hard time telling if our DT has enough or if it needs more, very hard to see them)

 

Some do a mix of a rotifer and copepod tank. Is there a reason to do that? Will my fish and corals like rotifers?

 

Would adding a dose of phyotoplankton to the DT benefit Dorrie (our Hippo Tang), Homer (our Lawnmower Blenny), Our Flame Angel, Strawberry Crab etc?

 

And the reason we are doing this? Pez favorite fish is the Mandarin and we just found our boy a girlfriend last Saturday

 

Edited April 18, 2013 by Huly

[Huly]

Found the Eric Stenn Article Page 86& 87 is the start.

 

http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/reef_to_rainforest.aspx?eid=af62debd-074f-4280-9d4c-9e5f180f1a32

[monkiboy]

i really like the "copepod condo" DIY. it's a bit more practical, easier, and has worked well when i used it in a previous system and in my sister's new reef setup.

 

http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f76/diy-pod-condos-92373.html

[smallreef]

And yes tisbe are a good one for mandarins....

[Smorf]

Water changes- How do you do a water change without removing your copepods? I see everything from you need to do this every two week to once a month or your nitrates will kill your stock.

 

How do you culture copepods to feed your DT? Are they too small for a small net? Turkey Baster? How do you know when you have enough (Pez and I have hard time telling if our DT has enough or if it needs more, very hard to see them)

 

 

Remember how often Todd mentioned his different sieves? I think a net will be out of the question, maybe something more like a coffee filter or a T-shirt (just guessing). For a water change, I envision maybe siphoning water into a bucket with a funnel and coffee filter sitting on top. Then dump the pods back into the culture tank or into the DT as food.

[Huly]

Remember how often Todd mentioned his different sieves? I think a net will be out of the question, maybe something more like a coffee filter or a T-shirt (just guessing). For a water change, I envision maybe siphoning water into a bucket with a funnel and coffee filter sitting on top. Then dump the pods back into the culture tank or into the DT as food.

 

That is right forgot about that! Good call on coffee filter. I also wonder if cheese cloth would be good?

[monkiboy]

they sell the sieves on ebay and sieve sleeves/stackables on ebay for various types of culturing if you want to separate adult from smaller guys. they aren't priced too bad and make quick work for getting what you need from your culture.

[Sharkey18]

Have you made any decisions on this? I am culturing tons of pods at the moment in my 20g tanks.

[Huly]

Have you made any decisions on this? I am culturing tons of pods at the moment in my 20g tanks.

 

Not yet, we have not started it. How are you doing yours?

[zygote2k]

2 people on this forum know more about this stuff than anyone else-

 

Dave W. and Almon Packard. PaulB too.

[sachabballi reef]

that's 3

[YHSublime]

i really like the "copepod condo" DIY. it's a bit more practical, easier, and has worked well when i used it in a previous system and in my sister's new reef setup.

 

http://www.thereefta...ndos-92373.html

 

Went to Home Depot today to find the gutter guard materials, didn't have what I was looking for.

[monkiboy]

Went to Home Depot today to find the gutter guard materials, didn't have what I was looking for.

weird, it can be tough to find though, sometimes. i have plenty if you want some to make one. a 20foot roll is less than $2. i think i can spare some

[YHSublime]

weird, it can be tough to find though, sometimes. i have plenty if you want some to make one. a 20foot roll is less than $2. i think i can spare some

 

If I don't find some before the next time isee you, i'll remember to ask. Thanks!

 

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[Origami]

2 people on this forum know more about this stuff than anyone else-

 

David W and Almon Packard. PaulB too.

 

Dave W definitely ought to weigh in here. Send him a PM if he doesn't. I'm sure he'd be happy to offer his thoughts on the practical aspects of this topic.

[sachabballi reef]

 

Went to Home Depot today to find the gutter guard materials, didn't have what I was looking for.

I had the same issue last week.. never did find it

 

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[Sharkey18]

I have a million copepods. They are breeding like, umm, copepods, in my refugiums. My questions is how do I harvest them?

 

As long as I let the algae grow on the glass a bit I can see hundreds of them.... harpacticoids I believe. As long as they are growing in my fugues I don't see a need to set up a separate culture systems, but now what?

 

Also, if anyone wants any, jsust let me know!

[monkiboy]

I have a million copepods. They are breeding like, umm, copepods, in my refugiums. My questions is how do I harvest them?

so with the condo, you'd have it in your fuge and after a bit it would be populated with tons of them. then you can put the structure hidden in your DT for feeding or shake the "condo" in your display tank as you please.

[YHSublime]

I have a million copepods. They are breeding like, umm, copepods, in my refugiums. My questions is how do I harvest them?

 

As long as I let the algae grow on the glass a bit I can see hundreds of them.... harpacticoids I believe. As long as they are growing in my fugues I don't see a need to set up a separate culture systems, but now what?

 

Also, if anyone wants any, jsust let me know!

 

I would love to drop my condo on there once I make it!

 

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[dave w]

I'm no expert but I have studied and grown different copepods for a long time. First, I'm sure you know the difference between a copepod and an amphipod, to many people they're interchangeable but they are different animals. Mandarins will do much better with amphipods because there is much more meal for the bite, so to speak. I've seen fully grown amphipods up to an inch long, but a more appropriate size for mandarins might be 1/8" to 1/4" or so. As I recall, the common grammarus amphipods spawn up to about 60 naups every 2 or 3 months. Amphipods love mats of that purple cyanobacteria which he hate to get in our tanks, and amphipods come out at night to graze to avoid fish predators. But you can see them during the day too. They will thrive on flake food, green hair algae and the detritus that accumulates in our tanks.

 

Again, I'm assuming that you want amphipods and not copepods for mature mandarins, unless you are trying to breed baby mandarins. In which case harpacticoid copepods are what you will be looking for. There are many types of harps but the characteristic they typically share is that they cling to surfaces during the day to feed on benthic bacteria and pluck pelagic plankton and phyto from the water column, then at night they swim up into the open water to feed on anything of the correct size. They typically have two feeding mechanisms, they sweep small particles into their mouths, and when they sense a large zooplankter coming their way they go completely still, then ambush by jumping onto the prey when it comes into range. This is called raptorial ambush feeding. Rotifers are good candidates to feed the adult harps in this way.

 

You probably have very few calanoid (free swimming) pods because they have very long antennae which are ground up by water pumps. Calanoids don't live very well in an aquarium. But you probably have many types of harps. There are hundreds of types of each, but typically the adults only get to 1 or 1.5 mm in length. There are many smaller and many larger also.

 

If you want to harvest harps, just siphon the water out of your tank at night when they tend to be free swimming.

 

Sorry to give so many execptions here, but after hundreds of generations in captivity, our aquarium environments change the behavior of copepods. If you have a high water turnover then most free swimming pods have probably been eliminated and you've naturally selected for harps that tend to be benthic (clinging) all the time. If this is the case then you'll have a hard time harvesting them unless you keep a substrate like a screen and wash them off into a container.

 

Again, I'm not sure which is your target animal. There are dozens of common copepods and several amphipods that exist in our systems. If I can help any more, please let me know what size crustacean you are looking for and what fish you are trying to feed it to. We have dozens of calanoid copepod species right here in the potomac and chesapeake which you may harvest from the beach if you need large numbers to feed your baby fish.

[dave w]

no response. looks like i sure know how to kill a conversation!

Edited April 30, 2013 by dave w

[YHSublime]

no response. looks like i sure know how to kill a conversation!

 

I'm interested, I'll pm you tonight, looking for a small 2.5 to 3" mandarin, what pods, how to breed.

 

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[smallreef]

no response. looks like i sure know how to kill a conversation!

Information overload Dave!

We're all looking all this info up now to figure out what we should want and do,lol

[Huly]

Great info Dave! I am just rejoining this conversation as I am getting my two chis ready to race on Saturday LOL

 

Are target animal is a 1-2" Male Mandarin and looking to get him another GF

[paul b]

Here is a 5 gallon bucket of amphipods I collect and throw in my tank a few times a year.

 

Copepods are a lot smaller but you can have them shipped,