Copepods for Manderin Dragonet

hybridgenius · #1 12/10/2007, 08:52 PM

I was wondering where you guys purchase your copepods? I plan on setting up a culture with these rocks I piled up so the manderin cant get into to it, but I will inject copepods. Do you know where they sell BIG ONEs also?

BangkokMatt · #2 12/10/2007, 10:33 PM

To sustain a pod population for a mandarin you will need a refugium. What you are suggesting will only work in the short term.

hybridgenius · #3 12/11/2007, 02:19 AM

Theres been plenty of people who set up pod cultures in the DT with just big rocks creating a cave where a manderin is to big to fit in the hole. The copepods get enough room to breed and fed phytofeast. I've seen it done and work for years. So where do you purchase BIG copepods?

NYIntensity · #4 12/11/2007, 08:45 AM

"So where do you purchase BIG copepods?"

The same place you buy small ones and wait for them to grow...as far as I've seen you can't find a retailer that will harvest based on size, simply quantity.

hybridgenius · #5 12/11/2007, 01:40 PM

Ok thanks.

"Umm, fish?" · #6 12/11/2007, 03:44 PM

And yet none of you are going to help him out? BTW, copepods are smaller or larger based upon species. The larger ones you're are looking for are likely T. californicus and are easy to culture.

I've ordered them from Essential Live Feeds and also from Reed Mariculture. They are both great places as far as I'm concerned.

Now I keep a couple of countertop cultures going with various Phyto pastes and they seem to grow fine. You just need to give them a couple of months to really get the culture going at first, but they're easy once you get them going.

Good luck!

hybridgenius · #7 12/11/2007, 07:05 PM

Thats what I was hoping to hear before I proceeded. THANK YOU!

"Umm, fish?" · #8 12/11/2007, 07:30 PM

You're welcome.

Rickyrooz1 · #9 12/12/2007, 08:58 AM

hybridgenius, I don't think there is such a thing as "big copepods". I believe your referring to amphipods. Copepods are very small and stay very small.

"Umm, fish?" · #10 12/12/2007, 11:09 AM

It varies according to species.

Nitokra lacustris: Adult length ~237 microns

Tigriopus sp.: Adult length ~2 mm

http://www.essentiallivefeeds.com/

hybridgenius · #11 12/12/2007, 01:23 PM

No there IS big copepods and in that i mean the species in which Umm,fish was mentioning. I know what amphipods are, but i had heard that they sell copepods the size of 2mm too thats why i asked for reference. Seems like you guys could use the same place to get bigger ones since you didnt know about it LOL.

timrandlerv10 · #12 12/12/2007, 04:59 PM

(hijack alert)
Umm, fish:
How long does it take for your pods to go through a life cycle? I know my nanno can get cut by 50% or more and replenish itself in a week. Same with rotifers. I'm hoping to have a pair of small pod populations pretty soon, and I was wondering how many I might be able to expect to pull each week?

thanks,

tim

"Umm, fish?" · #13 12/12/2007, 06:51 PM

Honestly, I don't know. I put a 53 micron sieve into a small tupperware container and siphon 'til the water level gets to the top of the sieve a couple of times a week, but I never really notice that it dents the population much. Then I replace that water for a water change.

I have (sorry, had) a second population that was nearing time when I could start harvesting, but I found a drowned mouse in the culture this morning. Talk about a contaminated culture.

So, now I've started a new second culture. My goal is to eventually have seven and harvest each once a week, but I'm waiting for a remodel to get a fishroom and more space.

By the way, I like to put bioballs in the copepod culture to serve as more surface area for the beasties. That seems to work well. And as long as I'm giving culture notes, in the beginning I started with a small amount of water in a larger container and just added a little more water every couple of days in lieu of water changes.

snorvich · #14 12/12/2007, 10:00 PM

Filter pads work well for copepods as well. Simply hang them in a line and the copepods will gather.

hybridgenius · #15 12/12/2007, 11:21 PM

Thanks alot snorvich. Ill keep that in mind. Now you mean regular long filter pads or some special kind?

"Umm, fish?" · #16 12/12/2007, 11:37 PM

It's all just about giving them more surface area to collect debris and on which to live.

Rickyrooz1 · #17 12/13/2007, 08:44 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by hybridgenius
No there IS big copepods and in that i mean the species in which Umm,fish was mentioning. I know what amphipods are, but i had heard that they sell copepods the size of 2mm too thats why i asked for reference. Seems like you guys could use the same place to get bigger ones since you didnt know about it LOL.

I have enough pods between my 30 gallon fuge, 80+ pounds of live sand, and 180+ pounds of live rock that I keep my Spotted Mandarin and Female Bluestar Leopard wrasse plump.

waterfaller1 · #18 12/13/2007, 09:16 AM

Look for "Tiggerpods" they are available online, they are big. There is also Oceanpods..hers are small, and supposedly don't get damaged by the pump like tiggerpods do.

snorvich · #19 12/13/2007, 09:28 AM

Regular ones. They like to congregate in chaeto so this is just giving them another refuge. I would go with smallish ones or cut the long ones.

falconut · #20 12/13/2007, 12:55 PM

If you're still looking for a place to order live foods for your Mandarin, you can try here:

http://www.aquaculturestore.com/swinverts.html

Great guy and excellant prices and service. I ordered 100 mysis over 2 years ago to stock my refuge and I now have 1,000s along with the copepods and amphipods that grew out of the LR.

SPARTAN VI · #21 12/13/2007, 02:24 PM

Here's another: http://www.ipsf.com

Anyone know where you can get a small in tank refugium? I've seen a couple that were "small" but they were 7.5"x4"x7.5" and that's just too large for a nano. I'd like something a little smaller to culture copepods.. I'd prefer not to do the trick with the rocks.