Copepods in new tank

[Jamie S]

Once my tank is done cycling can I add copepods and phytoplankton in the tank? I’d like to get a good population going before I start adding fish. I’m interested also in breeding copepods, has anybody had success doing this? I’d like to learn.

 

[Wonric]

Do it now

 

[Mark_C]

Pods will eventually show up on their own, but that usually happens in a semi-established system. They are detritus eaters, so its usually beneficial to have fish in the tank before introducing the pods with the exception of wrasse or dragonettes, both of which are pod hunters. Wrasse will eat whatever type of food and will occasionally hunt pods, but dragonettes, especially the mandarins, will completely strip a large tank of pods in a day, they are voracious pod hunters. I wouldn't add a mandarin for a few months at least, giving the pod population time to grow. If you add a mandarin to a tank that's under 100g, be prepared to start supplying pods monthly.

Raising pods isn't hard, but it is time consuming and can easily go wrong if neglected. In you tank pods will eat whatever they find, but in grow outs they are pretty much fed phyto exclusively. So, you're not only raising pods, you're raising phyto. Neither requires any crazy equipment aside from basic materials and starters, but both take up space and are time consuming.
A great place for phyto cultures and info is Florida Aqua Farms – Aquaculture Products : Aquatic Animals : Live Foods: Aquatic Supplies

If you just want to stick with ordering an occasional bottle of pods and having them reproduce without having to bother with phyto, you can just use a 5g bucket. Fill it to the 2g mark with water matching the RODI of the pods (it should be printed on the bottle), pour the pods in, stick it in a darkish place around 70-80F, and drop a bit of coral food or finely ground up (in you fingers) flake food. In about 2 weks the population should be about doubled. I do this myself as I keep a mandarin.
I'll pour pods into the 2g bucket, hide it away, and feed it every 3-4 days (crumbled flake, or phyto if I have any on hand). After about a week or so, I start pulling a cup of water from it every couple of days and pour it into the main display. Its been working well for me that way for a number of months now and my mandarin seems fat and happy.

 

[Jamie S]

Pods will eventually show up on their own, but that usually happens in a semi-established system. They are detritus eaters, so its usually beneficial to have fish in the tank before introducing the pods with the exception of wrasse or dragonettes, both of which are pod hunters. Wrasse will eat whatever type of food and will occasionally hunt pods, but dragonettes, especially the mandarins, will completely strip a large tank of pods in a day, they are voracious pod hunters. I wouldn't add a mandarin for a few months at least, giving the pod population time to grow. If you add a mandarin to a tank that's under 100g, be prepared to start supplying pods monthly.

Raising pods isn't hard, but it is time consuming and can easily go wrong if neglected. In you tank pods will eat whatever they find, but in grow outs they are pretty much fed phyto exclusively. So, you're not only raising pods, you're raising phyto. Neither requires any crazy equipment aside from basic materials and starters, but both take up space and are time consuming.
A great place for phyto cultures and info is Florida Aqua Farms – Aquaculture Products : Aquatic Animals : Live Foods: Aquatic Supplies

If you just want to stick with ordering an occasional bottle of pods and having them reproduce without having to bother with phyto, you can just use a 5g bucket. Fill it to the 2g mark with water matching the RODI of the pods (it should be printed on the bottle), pour the pods in, stick it in a darkish place around 70-80F, and drop a bit of coral food or finely ground up (in you fingers) flake food. In about 2 weks the population should be about doubled. I do this myself as I keep a mandarin.
I'll pour pods into the 2g bucket, hide it away, and feed it every 3-4 days (crumbled flake, or phyto if I have any on hand). After about a week or so, I start pulling a cup of water from it every couple of days and pour it into the main display. Its been working well for me that way for a number of months now and my mandarin seems fat and happy.

Thanks Mark. I do remember seeing your hang on back refugium on your tank. I have a 30 gallon sump and plan on putting some chaeto in the refugium compartment for the pods at some point but I don’t think I can until the tank has enough nutrients to sustain it. I’m not planning on adding a mandarin right away but I do plan in the future. Soon I’m going to move the 3 chromis and fire fish to the 125 from the biocube and then once there is a decent pod population I’ll move the six line over as well. I may give the five gallon bucket method you mentioned a try to start growing a decent population.

 

[Jamie S]

Do it now

As soon as my nitrites and nitrates go down I’m going to start adding them.

 

[diana a]

@Mark_C how often do you change the saltwater in the copepods bucket? Do you add an air pump?

 

[ericrodriguez]

Pods will eventually show up on their own, but that usually happens in a semi-established system. They are detritus eaters, so its usually beneficial to have fish in the tank before introducing the pods with the exception of wrasse or dragonettes, both of which are pod hunters. Wrasse will eat whatever type of food and will occasionally hunt pods, but dragonettes, especially the mandarins, will completely strip a large tank of pods in a day, they are voracious pod hunters. I wouldn't add a mandarin for a few months at least, giving the pod population time to grow. If you add a mandarin to a tank that's under 100g, be prepared to start supplying pods monthly.

Raising pods isn't hard, but it is time consuming and can easily go wrong if neglected. In you tank pods will eat whatever they find, but in grow outs they are pretty much fed phyto exclusively. So, you're not only raising pods, you're raising phyto. Neither requires any crazy equipment aside from basic materials and starters, but both take up space and are time consuming.
A great place for phyto cultures and info is Florida Aqua Farms – Aquaculture Products : Aquatic Animals : Live Foods: Aquatic Supplies

If you just want to stick with ordering an occasional bottle of pods and having them reproduce without having to bother with phyto, you can just use a 5g bucket. Fill it to the 2g mark with water matching the RODI of the pods (it should be printed on the bottle), pour the pods in, stick it in a darkish place around 70-80F, and drop a bit of coral food or finely ground up (in you fingers) flake food. In about 2 weks the population should be about doubled. I do this myself as I keep a mandarin.
I'll pour pods into the 2g bucket, hide it away, and feed it every 3-4 days (crumbled flake, or phyto if I have any on hand). After about a week or so, I start pulling a cup of water from it every couple of days and pour it into the main display. Its been working well for me that way for a number of months now and my mandarin seems fat and happy.

Looking forward to this!!!
Thanks mark

 

[Truckin]

I've also got a Mandarin that I've had since May. Right now he's in a QT tank so I know he's getting fed. I've got two clear quart bottles that I keep Copepods in. I take out about 1/5th of each bottle every day and dump in the QT tank. I fill up the bottles with new salt water. I feed a couple of drops of Phyto Feast each day. I've also got some brine shrimp that I feed Spirulina Powder. The key is not to overfeed. Every once in a while I'll empty one of the bottles and replace with a new one to keep everything clean. Everything is aerated. Good Luck!

 

[Jamie S]

I've also got a Mandarin that I've had since May. Right now he's in a QT tank so I know he's getting fed. I've got two clear quart bottles that I keep Copepods in. I take out about 1/5th of each bottle every day and dump in the QT tank. I fill up the bottles with new salt water. I feed a couple of drops of Phyto Feast each day. I've also got some brine shrimp that I feed Spirulina Powder. The key is not to overfeed. Every once in a while I'll empty one of the bottles and replace with a new one to keep everything clean. Everything is aerated. Good Luck!

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Wow thanks for the info. It doesn’t seem that hard as long as you have the time to stay on top of it.