Phytoplankton starter culture - Calgary

[Seamazter]

So far they are raised on nanocloropisis. and flake food, i cannot determine yet what they are eating, however its only been a week since i tested this.
stay tuned for more.

[phyto4life]

sounds like if they are spreading then you are ok keep us posted

I have 6x1G of bubbling nanno that I would like to try to feed to a combo of tisbe,tiggerpods,nitokra lacustris plus possibly crushed up pellet/flake food or maybe freeze dried cyclopeeze etc in the future if possible in the same culture and multiple cultures since they don't seem to eat each other

[phyto4life]

I'm starting with 3 x 3G of tisbe for now and I'm debating nitokra lacustris and tiggerpods so far as the second 3x 3G cultures

[abcha0s]

I had posed some questions to a respected authority on copepods. PM me if you want the source. There is some mention of canabalism; although, i'm not really sure it is relevant.

• Your website refers to Nitokra Lacustris – Are there any benefits over the Tisbe for Mandarins?

>>> Tisbe is a better size for Mandarins, Nitokra is quite tiny. Tisbe will grow like crazy in your system as well and be more easily accessible to the fish.

• Would you recommend introducing both species (Tisbe and Nitokra) into our tanks at the same time?

>>> I think Tisbe alone or a combination of Tisbe and Tigriopus might be helpful if you have an adult Mandarin.

• Are either of these species cannibalistic? – In other
words, will they eat each other if another food source is not present?
– Will they prey on the other species? – Will one species dominate in the long run?

>>>> That is a good question. There is some thought that Tigriopus might be. I grow them together regularly without a problem. Tisbe will just do better in the long run because it is more acclimated to tropical conditions, and reproduces faster. It also has a shorter life cycle.

• Is it possible to introduce to many copepods and effectively overload the system? – My research suggests that this is not possible provided they have sufficient food within the system. The more copepods the better?

>>>>> No, the copepods adjust to your systems resources. There is a natural carrying capacity that can't be exceeded if your water is being treated properly. If you suddenly have a lot of algae or bacteria in the system, you might see an increase in the copepod population. This doesn't usually happen in reef tanks. I usually recommend putting in about 1,000 copepods per 50 gallons when you are getting started.

• You mentioned that Isochrysis is sensitive to light and that it is helpful to place the light source 18” from the phytoplankton. I assume this would be somewhat dependant on the wattage of the light source? – The Aqua Medic Plankton reactor uses an 18 watt bulb that extends the full length of the reactor (apq. 2.5 feet / 2.5 liters) – Do you feel that this is too much light? – As the light source is directly attached to the reactor, would a filter be sufficient to reduce the light intensity?

>>>>> I would put some shade cloth between the light and the Isochrysis. Shade cloth can be found at any garden store. I'd start with 50%, maybe grade it down to 20% if growth is not good.

• Any other thoughts?

The most common mistakes I see are overfeeding the copepods and not using the correct screen sizes to collect them. Other than that, they are pretty hardy.

[abcha0s]

Originally Posted by Seamazter

I do have some 1st hand knowlage to add on the tigerpods.
I did buy a bottle after seeing this thread start, just to see what i learned to be the truth.
I added about 90% to a small 2.5 gallon tank, added a slow bubble airsource, and a small amount of live phytoplankton and some crushed flake(formula 2).
The 10% in the bottle are sitting here on my desk on a small usb chiller (meant for chilling drinks on the computer).
The 2.5 gallon in the last week has doubled in growth at normal room tempurtare 78 F.
The small bottle here on the usb chiller has not had any change at all, they are still swimming and active, just a little less active as the room temputare tank.

From my observations this last week, i have noticed the warmer temputure tank has indeed blossemed, the lower temp, in the origninal bottle has also done well however if they are indeed cold water, my money woulda been on the cooler bottle doubling the density.

Im certain with my own review of the tigerpod brand, that they are more prolific in the larger container at normal room temp.

As a result i must agree that they will reproduce in the warmer tank waters that we like to keep our reefs at, those of you running at 80 F may not experience the same growth that i have just seen, however in a reef tank with the turbulance of the pumps and other factors, i would suggest adding to a true refugium with low flow and plenty of places for refuge such as some type of macro algae.

The question remains whether Tigriopus Califoricus are of any benifit in a reef tank. Your experiment does provide some good information, but it is limited to validating the success of the species in a low flow closed environment.

For my experiment, I dumped 2 bottles (4000+ specimens) directly into the sump. Within 2-3 days, they were all gone.

I would like to know where others have had success in using the Tigger-Pods as part of their food web. What fish have you seen eat them in a reef tank?

I know they are great for Sea Horses (low flow) and in FOWLR (low flow) tanks, but are they of any benifit in a reef tank (high flow).

Even if the population of your external culture doubled every week, my feeling is that once added to your tank they will quiickly perish regardless of the numbers introduced. If they die before they are eaten, then all you are really doing is adding nutrients to your water.

[phyto4life]

my last large copepod popuation tank I had was a skimmerless/refugeless tank with mass dosing of phytoplanton in which was slowly dosed 2 x a day and the daily amount of phyto was slowly increased over time as the consumer's increased

[abcha0s]

The very best collection of copepod culturing articles that I have ever come across.

http://www.zeovit.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7346

Brad

[Seamazter]

Great link.

[Rotifer]

There is a very good discussion about culturing Tigger-Pods at
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2030920