Phyto & Copepod Culture

[CorkPullerPHL]

Over the last 2 months I have thought long and hard about the best way to feed my 28 Gallon Nano. My tank generally has great (and stable) water conditions. Despite being relatively low nutrient I have 'on an off' Diatom and Hair Algae outbreaks.

I am nearly positive that my hair algae and diatoms are a result of over feeding frozen foods, which are as follows: Alternate feedings of Cyclopeze and a homemade mixture of Table Shrimp, Clams and Scallops. My fish up to this point have loved these foods, and are very healthy.

I believe the algal blooms result from some of the food reaching the bottom and getting trapped in the sand bed. The algae on the glass is usually just above the sand bed, and the hair algae grows right out of the bed at the front of the tank.

I have a mixture of fish in my tank. Some feed aggressively, and some are quite shy.

Here is a list of my setup and inhabitants.

jbj 28 Gallon 150 watt HQI
TurboFlotor Blue HOB Skimmer
TLF Phosban Reactor w/ 2 cups GAC & 1.5TBSP GFO
2 Stock Pumps @ 266 GPH
2 Koralia Nano

Mixed Reef
4" DSB
30lbs LR

Tomato Clown
Royal Gramma
Coral Beauty
Green Mandarin

Temp: 80
Ph: 8.2
Calc: 420-460
Alk: 9.6-10.6
Ammonia, Nitrite & Nitrate: Undectable
Phosphate: Undetecable

For those of you who are still with me, let's get to the point!!!

I am planning to move to a mostly live feeding regimen. However, I am finding that there is shockingly little information on culturing live food beyond Phytoplankton.

I would like to begin a self sustaining Copepod culture completely separated from my Display. I am looking for the easiest way to setup a complete diet for my fish.

Topics to address:

1) What types of food and Supplements are best for culturing relatively high nutrient value Copepods.

2) What Nutrients and Supplements will Copepods consume and transfer to the ultimate predator.

3) Can Copepods and Phyto be cultured together?

4) What conditions are ideal for Copepod and Phyto growth?


Here are some links to get the discussion started:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-02/rs/feature/index.php
Shimek's low nutrient food Idea

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-12/eb/index.php
A Zooplankton resource from Borneman

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-07/nftt/index.php
Dwaynne Sapp's 'Geosapper' Cultivator

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2003/breeder2.htm
Sapp and Marini on cultivating Copepods

[Wetline]

MOFIB.NET (http://www.marinebreeder.org/phpbb/viewforum.php?f=29&sid=7d6dd3f3293eb72e9b3ae0d510a07665)

From my research most free swimming copepod types are not easy to cultivate. Good luck with your attempt but IMO adding a phos-ban reactor or some chemi-pure elite will be a lot less to deal with.

[GreshamH]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13920722#post13920722 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Wetline
MOFIB.NET (http://www.marinebreeder.org/phpbb/viewforum.php?f=29&sid=7d6dd3f3293eb72e9b3ae0d510a07665)

From my research most free swimming copepod types are not easy to cultivate. Good luck with your attempt but IMO adding a phos-ban reactor or some chemi-pure elite will be a lot less to deal with.

True, but the ones that are easy are not only available to the masses, they're very easy to do :) Tigroupus sp. are pretty darn easy to culture.

[wave7]

It is very easy to raise cultures of phyto and pods. I put water (specific gravity = 1.014) in two 5 gallon buckets. They seem to reproduce better at 1.014 than at higher values. I then place some rigid tubing into each bucket and connect them to an air pump so that air bubbles from the bottom to the top of the water. The air is set to produce about one bubble every one or two seconds. Add enough nannochloropsis paste (which can be purchased online - I buy mine from www.brineshrimpdirect.com) so that the water is green enough that you can't see the bottom of the bucket. Then add phyto to one bucket and pods to the other. I have a simple incandescent light from Home Depot that shines into the buckets (one bulb provides light for both) and set it on a timer for 12 hours. No heat. That's it. Just top off the water as it evaporates and add more nannochloropsis when the water starts to become clear again. It works for me and I hardly have to pay attention to it.

[goodtimes2]

Good suggestion wave7. How often and how much do you transfer the phyto to the pods. Is this temperature sensitive in any way , Can I keep it in the garage where the temperatures drop to 40 degrees?

[block head]

i ran a very similar system for a year, the mandarin makes it very hard, culturing pods might work, i think training your mandarin to eat pellets is the way to go. culturing phyto that will end up in your tank can have devistating effects if done wrong. imo this tank is not suited for your stocking list

[Henryreef]

I have cultured 'pods' for months and am setting up a phyto set up right now. To grow the phyto I have gone overkill with the lights and use a 36" t5 current fixture with 4 x 39w bulbs (all 10k ). I can culture 8 2L bottles of phyto at one time. The pods were really quite easy. I used 2L bottles, but I think a 5 gallon tank would work better. You fill the tank/ bottle with phyto and add a starter culture (i used tigger pods by reef nutrition). For using homegrown phyto you just add the copepods and wait. You want to keep the water green, which means when the culture starts to go clear, you add more phyto. Once it reaches the desired density you can harvest all, or some of the culture and feed to your tank. Before I got the big phyto culture going (which has been months) I used Phyto feast by reef nutrition instead of homegrown phyto. It works the same, only phyto feast is more concentrated so you only need to add enough to color the water green. If you add to much it will kill you water parameters.

[therealfatman]

This is s good site to start at for good information for Pod, rotifer and Phytoplankton culturing.

http://www.reed-mariculture.com/copepod/

[Henryreef]

yup tigger pods work great as a starter culture.

[captstinky]

+I can't speak for low temps such as 40 or lower, but our LFS keeps tiger pods in their fridge...so I would infer they'd be ok. I lost my cultures due to high temps in the summer in the my garage. Probably exceeded 90 for extened periods...

I have borrowed a plankton net from a coworker, and go out once in a while and nab some while ones, freeze em in ice cube trays, and add as food. i am hoping that the temps below freezing will kill off any 'bad guys' that could be present. One year down of wild plankton additions, and nothing has appearered that caused damage...

[Henryreef]

Yep, You can keep Tigger pods in suspended animation like that for a long time. They slow down and shut down in the cold. Yeah i be temp.s of 90 and higher would do them in. I have not heard of any 'bad guys' that have come on Tigger pods, as they are lab grown. But if there were any, my guess would be that freezing them would kill them. But i am no expert.

[Henryreef]

here is one of my older cultures, It is very simple 2L with a air pump and light. I have since improved my methods, but this just shows you how easy it is.
http://photos.frags.org/bigger/218/11005_20080905041548.jpg