Breeding Copepods

[Sea Turtle]

Hi everyone,

I just recently started to breed copepods in a seperate tank. (5 gallon about half filled with main tank water.) I bought a jar of Tiger Copepods from my lfs along with a bottle of LIVE Phytoplankton. I also added a small pile of rubble to the corner of the breeding tank for them to hide. My question is, does anyone have any experience with doing this? And if so, what are the results? Will I have mass amounts of pods in a week or two? Am I doing it right, or is there a better way to do it?

The main problem I am having is that I bought a mandarin for my main reef tank (75 gallons with 90 lbs of live rock). Unfortunantly, he is getting really skinny which tells me that he is not eating pods in the tank, or there are no pods im the tank. I did however dump a bottle of the tiger pods into the main tank about two weeks ago, but have not seen any since... I also have been trying to feed him Cyclopeez but he won't eat them!

 

[SkiFletch]

Might wanna get in touch with fish breeders, as they have more experience with growing pods...

 

[Adrinal]

With any animal we should have the food source then the animal.

2 Pumps, shop light, some chaetomorpha(sp) and a bucket that will drain back to your main display will provide all the pods you need. But you need about 3 months before this will really start producing.

Please, learn the food, then get the animal.

 

[Colin_T]

Are you talking about copepods or gammaris because copepods are tiny and feed on phytoplankton, whereas gammaris are scavengers that feed on rotting plant and animal matter. There are also different types of mysis shrimp that are sometimes sold in shops. Mysis will feed on copepods and newly hatched brineshrimp.

If you want to grow gammaris or mysis then have a tank with lots of small rocks or coral rubble on the bottom. The crustaceans will live among the rubble/ rocks and can be fed on newly hatched brineshrimp and plant matter. They also do really well in tanks with lots of macro algae, caulerpa, etc. If you get the tank full of caulerpa then often you don't have to feed them anything and they will live on the micro-organisms living among the plant.

If you want to breed copepods then have them in a tank with a thin layer of shell or coral rubble over the base to stabilise the PH, and feed them on green water. Have an airstone bubbling away in the tank, but not too vigorously as it can damage the organisms. You need to have a number of green water (algae) cultures going so you have a continuous supply of food for the copepods. Some people move the green water into the copepod tank, whereas others will make a tank of green water and add some copepods to it. Then leave the tank until the water has cleared (or gone pale green) before adding more green water.

Mandarinfish do well in tanks that are connected to sumps full of caulerpa, or in tanks with caulerpa. Then they can feed on the organisms that grow amongst it.

 

[seffieuk]

I am just starting the same process - but have not got my mandarin yet as i wanted to ensure i had the food source first. I was told by other people who 'farm' their own copepods that all i needed was a tank, the seeding material, ie the eggs, juvies and some adults, the same water i use for my tank and some air + phytoplankton (the water needs to look like a week cup of tea apparently, without milk lol).

I am a week in and can clearly see the start of my little farm

Seffie x



ps if it doesn't work I haven't lost anything - however you have a fish to lose. How about buying some live copepods in a bottle every couple of weeks, until you have your own farm - have seen them on ebay

 

[CageUK]

Seffie, I'll be keeping an eye on how you get on! I went to my LFS yesterday and bought some live brine shrimp and glass worms (mosquito larae??). Put some shrimp in last night and my scooter went ballistic. I've never seen him eat so much. This has convinced me I need to feed live more often.

You should start a small journal thread I think as I'm sure this would be of interest to a lot of reefers out there.

 

[Sea Turtle]

Well, this is what I have going on so far. The water is green from the Phytoplanton and there are lots of Tiger Copepods swimming all around. Is it important that I add the air to it? Also, how long will it take for them to start reporoducing?

 

[seffieuk]

Well, this is what I have going on so far. The water is green from the Phytoplanton and there are lots of Tiger Copepods swimming all around. Is it important that I add the air to it? Also, how long will it take for them to start reporoducing?

I was told you need the air, was also told it would take about three weeks

seffie x

 

[Colin_T]

Yep air is needed to circulate the water and keep the oxygen levels up. If the lights go out and the container is thick with phyto plankton, the algae can consume all the oxygen and the copepods will suffocate and die. Aeration/ surface turbulence will prevent this happening. The water movement also keeps the algae from settling on the bottom and not being able to get fresh supplies of water and nutrients to grow.
The PH can also swing wildly if there isn't any aeration. Again this is due to the algae using up the oxygen at night (when the tank is dark) and releasing carbon dioxide (CO2). This causes the PH to drop. Then when the lights come on the algae use up the CO2 and release oxygen (O2) and the PH goes up. The fluctuating PH can kill the copepods.

Generally you buy adult copepods (if they are alive) or you buy eggs. The adults will usually be carrying eggs when you buy them and the eggs get laid/ shed every few days. They can take several days to hatch in warm water, but longer in cold water. The young then require a week or two to grow and be able to start breeding, (again this is temperature & species related).

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For CageUK, glass worms are different from mosquito larvae. Glass worms are clear or semi-transparent worms, whereas mozzie larvae are black wriggly things that hang under the water surface.

 

[CageUK]

For CageUK, glass worms are different from mosquito larvae. Glass worms are clear or semi-transparent worms, whereas mozzie larvae are black wriggly things that hang under the water surface.

More misinformation from lfs... why am I surprised?

Cheers Colin, I'll do some research on them!

 

[CageUK]

For CageUK, glass worms are different from mosquito larvae. Glass worms are clear or semi-transparent worms, whereas mozzie larvae are black wriggly things that hang under the water surface.

Hmmm it seems that maybe my lfs wasn't so wrong after all

This link explains

My first batch of baby brines hatched and the fish seem to have a blast chasing them around the tank when feeding. Not sure how much of a meal they would make though they are tiny.

 

[Colin_T]

They look different to the glass worms I have seen. The stuff I have seen are thin and transparent but don't have the eyes or spots in the body. They are pretty cool looking tho, especially the larval stage.
If they are a midge/ mozzie larvae then they will be a good food for your fish

 

[jimbo16573113]

Hi everyone,

I just recently started to breed copepods in a seperate tank. (5 gallon about half filled with main tank water.) I bought a jar of Tiger Copepods from my lfs along with a bottle of LIVE Phytoplankton. I also added a small pile of rubble to the corner of the breeding tank for them to hide. My question is, does anyone have any experience with doing this? And if so, what are the results? Will I have mass amounts of pods in a week or two? Am I doing it right, or is there a better way to do it?

The main problem I am having is that I bought a mandarin for my main reef tank (75 gallons with 90 lbs of live rock). Unfortunantly, he is getting really skinny which tells me that he is not eating pods in the tank, or there are no pods im the tank. I did however dump a bottle of the tiger pods into the main tank about two weeks ago, but have not seen any since... I also have been trying to feed him Cyclopeez but he won't eat them!

 

[jimbo16573113]

hi mate i am breeding copepods i have about 5 containers about a gallon of water in each with an air line moderate bubbles the copepods breed and in the containers there are loads of eggs as well as adults the copepods have a short life span so when they seem to have been used up or died, the next batch of copepods comes along, make sure though you keep them in green water .by the way i do a water change every week with water out of my tank i use a sieve of the right size to change water hope this helps

 

[seffieuk]

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