Copepod Newbie Questions....

[scootshoot]

Per Reefcleaners site, have ordered a bag of copepods and chaeto algae. I plan on using a spare 24 gallon biocube to hopefully breed these guys in mass amounts so that I can eventually have more than enough food for my soon to be Mandarin Goby that I been eyeing for my main tank.

Thus far from numerous google searches and youtube videos, looks like I have to feed these guys phytoplankton? Is zooplankton the same thing? Reason I ask is I have a bottle of seachem brand zooplankton sitting around. What other foods can I feed these guys to keep the culture healthy and breeding?

Also have a juvy cbs inside the 24 biocuble and 2 hermit crabs. I don't think they'll be fast enough to catch copepods? or even on their menu for dinner so will it be okay to keep them in there?

Thanks! My shipment from reefcleaners is due to arrive tomorrow.

[Johnnycat]

Well, just on semantics alone...
phyto- means plant based
zoo- means animal based

So, no - they are not the same. As far as feeding zooplankton to pods - I don't think so. But even if you could - one bottle is not going to last a long time in breeding pods. A successful pod farm takes some effort but is possible. There are several threads and websites about it. Good luck in your endeavor!

[AlgaeBarn]

Well, just on semantics alone...
phyto- means plant based
zoo- means animal based

So, no - they are not the same. As far as feeding zooplankton to pods - I don't think so. But even if you could - one bottle is not going to last a long time in breeding pods. A successful pod farm takes some effort but is possible. There are several threads and websites about it. Good luck in your endeavor!

Johnnycat, you are totally right. Copepods such as tisbe do not consume zooplankton. There are some cases of cannibalism in copepods, but its under very certain conditions.


Phytoplankton is very useful for feeding copepods. We prefer the live stuff as it entices the copepods to eat it more readily. The dead kind will start to drop water parameters(huge spikes in ammonia) very quickly!!

[JaihWill]

Johnnycat, you are totally right. Copepods such as tisbe do not consume zooplankton. There are some cases of cannibalism in copepods, but its under very certain conditions.





Phytoplankton is very useful for feeding copepods. We prefer the live stuff as it entices the copepods to eat it more readily. The dead kind will start to drop water parameters(huge spikes in ammonia) very quickly!!


How do you recommend creating & maintaining a culture at home?

[CStrickland]

Hey algaebarn!
You guys have a great reputation, welcome to the forum :)
There's a tooon of conflicting info about pods on the web, lots of opinions about their diet, behavior, and breeding. I look forward to your contributions.

[A.Astore]

Hey algaebarn!
You guys have a great reputation, welcome to the forum :)
There's a tooon of conflicting info about pods on the web, lots of opinions about their diet, behavior, and breeding. I look forward to your contributions.

I just ordered from them and am extremely happy with what is going on in my tank! It will be nice to have them interacting on here so we can find even more reasons to keep them thriving in the tank.

Pods are fascinating little beings that have singlehandedly (okay, it was a group effort but all them) cleaned my tank glass and overflow to the point I haven't cleaned it myself since I put them in. Algaebarn offers up a package where you can get the pods and phyto at the same time and that was the route we took. Phyto is very different than the zoo as explained above so you will need to ensure you have what they will consume available. Maintaining them in a separate holding system will require focused attention but I believe they do consume the chaeto. Should be interesting to see what others have to say about needed supplement in a closed type system with chaeto available to them.