LF: Live Phyto Culture and F2 Fertilizer. Richmond

[Frogger]

Been keeping a mixture of Tisbe copepods and rotifers going for over 3 years. Easiest copepod I have ever kept. If I go away, I bottle them up put them in the fridge, Once home they start up like a charm. Keep them in two large jars with an airstone and the water a light brown colour from the phyto feast. I syphon off the stuff that collects at the bottom every day and feed that to my tank and add fresh salt water.

I tried Tigger pods (Tigriopus) twice and both times had trouble keeping their numbers up and after a month or two they crashed. I ran them at the same time as my other culture and tried to keep them the same way. I found I couldn't keep the population high enough to eat the food and it was likely the food (phyto feast) that went rancid and polluted the water. I also tried them with rotifers but the rotifers outcompeted them and they just eventually died off. I might have had more success using live phytoplankton, some suggest you will have better luck if you have some macro algae in their container, however I am not going to put that level of work into it, if I want tigger pods I will just buy them. I am not the only one who has had problems with Tigger Pods.

[kyl]

Dang that sucks, almost exact opposite as my experiences. I ran my last ~8 month or so run of tiggers on RG complete, found it was easier than doing spirulina as I had done previously. Tisbe's on the other hand never seemed happy with anything, that culture fizzled out after two months.

Only stopped completely as I had to make room for another tank, haven't re-started things yet.

I will say whatever one chooses to do, make it as easy as possible to do a water change on whatever it is. EU has some interesting looking wall mount phyto 'reactors' that they like to use, especially Italy.

[Frogger]

The secret I have found to the Tisbe is having rotifers with them. This is the way that Canada Copepods ships them out. That way the food doesn't go uneaten.

[Whuggles]

Thanks for all the information Do the rotifers not outcompete the tisbe pods eventually, or do you just need to harvest regularly to keep their numbers in check?

[Frogger]

I have been keeping mine since 2017. I bought them from Canada Copepods and the rotifers do not out complete the copepods they seem to keep in a stable equilibrium. I keep the water tinted at all times so there is food for everyone. Copepods don't breed like rotifers and I have found their populations are not high enough on their own to keep their water from polluting. I think the copepods actually eat the phytoplankton and the rotifers as the rotifers are much smaller. You can clearly see the copepods but you need magnifiers to see the rotifers as there are tiny little spots. I have read the copepods are cannibalistic.

[kyl]

Come to think of it, my last round of tiggers had rotifers in there too, completely forgot about that. Yes they both seemed to do well with each-other, I have a bit of a video of them buzzing around as I held the macro lens up against the vessel one evening.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfBfk12Egyg

That's probably why that culture seemed to do really well, rotifers picking up the "food slack" so to speak.

Anyway, sorry OP to derail too much. I think James may still be doing a phyto strain locally.

[Frogger]

I gave James some of my rotifer copepod mix a couple years ago. Not sure if he still has it.