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

[dave w]

Paul b, very funny picture of the POD delivery truck. I see those trucks on the road all the time and had no idea that pods were so popular!

 

So I think Huly, YHsublime and smallreef are looking at amphipods which makes the job much easier than copepods. Don't worry about copepods unless someone is interested in breeding and raising the babies.

 

I'm not an expert at amphipods either, but whenever I've maintained a refugium they always grew best for men in a fuge that had no fish. I had the best luck putting a 100 gallon fuge ABOVE the display tank. As amphipods swum around or cast off free swimming naups, they were caught by the overflow and swept into the tank where the fish were waiting for them.

 

I think the best source of amphipods is the rock and sand right in your display tank. They should be full of amphipods and the mandarins will continually graze this desirable food.

[Huly]

Paul b, very funny picture of the POD delivery truck. I see those trucks on the road all the time and had no idea that pods were so popular!

 

So I think Huly, YHsublime and smallreef are looking at amphipods which makes the job much easier than copepods. Don't worry about copepods unless someone is interested in breeding and raising the babies.

 

I'm not an expert at amphipods either, but whenever I've maintained a refugium they always grew best for men in a fuge that had no fish. I had the best luck putting a 100 gallon fuge ABOVE the display tank. As amphipods swum around or cast off free swimming naups, they were caught by the overflow and swept into the tank where the fish were waiting for them.

 

I think the best source of amphipods is the rock and sand right in your display tank. They should be full of amphipods and the mandarins will continually graze this desirable food.

 

Thank you!

[YHSublime]

Thanks as well! So the best way to breed amphipods is in a separate system with no fish. And what if somebody wished to move them from one system to another?

[dave w]

Thanks as well! So the best way to breed amphipods is in a separate system with no fish. And what if somebody wished to move them from one system to another?

 

A separate system looks like it is overrun with amphipods because they will be out in the open during daylight. However if your tank has lots of hiding places in the form of permeable rock and dense algae you should still have plenty of amphipods for your mandarins without needing an additional tank. It all depends on how large your tank is, how much rock you have, and whether your tank has aged long enough for the amphipods to be well established. However if you are dedicated enough to set up a second tank for amphipod production, I think a refugium above your display tank is the best approach.

 

As far as moving amphipods from one tank to another, I can't think of an easy way. You could scrape off and net out a lot of algae and detritus and it should be full of amphipods, but clean separation of the gunk and the amphipods needs some hand labor. I wish somebody could invent an amphipod trap but have never heard of one. If you had two connected tanks with the same water parameters, you could switch the mandarins back and forth and I think they would be very well fed. Sorry I can't think of an easy and clean way to harvest amphipods.

[paul b]

Here is a video of what I just added to my tank and I add them a few times a year.

 

You can only see the adults but there are thousands of tiny ones.

 

 

Edited June 26, 2013 by paul b

[gmerek2]

paul will them suckers reproduce or are they just for a healthy snack? I know mandarins will eat amphipods but do most other fish eat them for a snack? when I turn my lights on at night I see dark flee like 1-2mm bugs scurry into the rock crevices are they amphipods or copods? Im drilling a refugium tank this week can't wait. 

[paul b]

I know they are there in my tank from last year as I saw them before I collected this year, my tank is full of them.  The babies must be good mandarin food and I would imagine are part of my pod population.  I keep mandarins and small pipefish so I like to have a lot to eat at all times.

[Huly]

That is awesome Paul

[Crob5965]

I know this is kinda primitive but I usually throw a couple of pot scrubbers or scouring pads (clean ones not from my sink) in my fuge and after a week or 2 I pull one out and shake them off in my DT, you cant tell from the pic but I divided up a 30 gal my fuge holds aprox 8 gal and I never seem to run out of pods.

 

 

the pic is of scouring pads but I personally think pot scrubbers work better but I'm using them in my sons tank right now to get his (my) new tank set up.

 

Craig 

[Crob5965]

http://i1305.photobucket.com/albums/s552/Crobb5965/IMG_3170_zps86476ad7.jpg

[Sharkey18]

Cool idea. I made some pod condos out of gutter guard and rubble rock. All they grow are sponges. No pods. I'll try some pot scrubbers. 

[OcalaReefGirl]

Dave! What great information. I was getting ready to type everything I knew about copepods and you blew me out of the water! What a great resource of information we have in this forum!