HELP!!! Breeding Copepods from Mail Order Sample

[mocha4sale]

HI,
I am trying to breed copepods and rotifers. How do I know if they are working. I was given live samples, but they look dead to me. I am not noticing the copepods sticking to the bottles like they do on my tank. How do I know if they are living?

How long do I breed them before I add them to my tank? How often do I add them to my tank?

Should I just poor the copepods into my tank, or keep them in a 2Litre container and let a pump circulate it. I am giving plankton feed twice a day. I am using my marine light off of my aquarium.

Does anyone breed copepods?

[kmk2307]

Hey mocha4sale,

You might want to check this link out:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issu...3/breeder2.htm

Good luck,
Kevin

[GDW]

Greetings All !

One of my favorite links for copepod culture is:
http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/003/W3732E...0.htm#Contents . Copepod info is listed in th "zooplankton" section.

kmk2307's link is excellent.

One of Dr. Shimek's copepod articles is online at: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-10/rs/index.htm . It contains some good life history and photo ID links.

A microscope is a handy device for regularly checking culture viability. Phytoplankton consumption is also a good general indicator.

How long before adding? It depends on what you're trying to do. If you're just feeding, harvesting is typically a function of culture density.

If you're trying to establish a self-perpetuating population in the tank, I'd suggest adding samples from the culture that include specimens ranging from nauplii to adults (OK campers, take out you plankton nets and sieves ... ).You're also going to need to feed the emergent population in the main tank. Phytoplankton is wonderful stuff ... . The presence of vertebrates who are zooplankton predators in the main tank will prove to be very problematic.

[mocha4sale]

Thanks for the advice! I checked them through a microscope, and I still can't see anything. Is there anyway to see if they are alive or not, by the naked eye?

[GDW]

Greetings mocha4sale !

I discovered a couple of your earlier posts in the "Reef Discussion" forum ... glad you found another source. I hope this is helpful.

Is it just me, or do search engines sometimes direct you to the strangest of places? Anyway ...

but it took a week to get to me, is there any way I can use it to feed my fish?

Zooplankton generally ships pretty well, but they don't tolerate extended trips and temperature fluctuations well at all. Given the time interval, the cultures could have crashed during transit. Sorry ... . On the 13th, the recently deceased would still be a good food source, provided that they are rinsed to prevent contamination from the shipping fluids. At this point, I would feed any to my system ... JMO.

This morning I noticed that the rotifier had a slight green tinge

Expanding rotifer culture color can appear grey, to brown, to red. I've never seen them appear green. I would guess that some of the phytoplankton used to originally culture them did survive shipment, and their growth is what you saw.

I checked them through a microscope, and I still can't see anything. Is there anyway to see if they are alive or not, by the naked eye?

The rotifers should definitely be visible (upon up-close inspection) to the naked eye. But with low population density, they might be hard to find. The copepods are EXTREMELY difficult to see with the naked eye. Tiny specks exhibiting random, jerky motion might be the best you can do (hence microscopic examination).

Sorry you had such a bad experience with this stuff ... once you get the hang of it (... and a good stock culture source ... and overnight delivery ...) I think you'll find that culturing is pretty straightforward.

Attached is a pic of one of my Gracilaria (the red stuff is a macroalgae called Gracilaria) "menagerie" culture tanks. The itsy-pitsy white specks in dark lower right region are mysid shrimp. The "big" crustacean guys are amphipods. The copepods are not visible.

HTH,
GDW

[GDW]

Oops !

One day I'll learn to read what I write.

At this point, I would feed any to my system ... JMO.

NO, NO, NO ... I would NOT feed any to my system.

Sorry about that ...

[mocha4sale]

Thanks for the responce. I have had suuuuch a hard time finding the right spot to post. I appreciate your help.

What do I do with it. Have I wasted all my money??? Can it come back? I see tiny specs floating around, but because I am blowing air into it, I can't tell if it is alive. I bought a microscope, but it wasn't very good quality. I am not quite sure where to get a good microscope.

[GDW]

Greetings All !

mocha4sale,

I wouldn't give up on the culture just yet. The fact that you noticed some color change in the culture is a good sign. Whether or not it's the copepods, well ... . Definitely check with your supplier and see what they say. BTW, who did you get your culture from?

One of my favorite culture sources is:
http://www.lfscultures.com/cultures.html .
Overnight shipping is usually included in their prices.

Zooplankton as a group are surprisingly resilient. I would run the culture for a couple of weeks just to see what's there. I might continue small feedings of the phytoplankton, and change out a 1/4 of the culture every few days to prevent fouling.

A preliminary examination of the culture might be in order. Stop the aeration for a few hours and let the specs settle to the bottom. Using some airline (a buret would be better) siphon out some of the particulate matter from the bottom of your bottle into a smaller, more open container. Use an eyedropper to nab some of the specs and put them onto a slide, and use the microscope to see what you have.

For what you have described so far, you do not need anything but a basic form of compound microscope. Anything that will give you clear 100X + magnification should be more than adequate to determine if things are alive (Although good species ID might be hard at less than 250X).

A good general microscopy link is:
http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/...2/gclinks.html .

Another is:
http://www.denniskunkel.com/PublicHtml/Edu-Links.html .
(If you've never heard of Dr. Dennis Kunkel, definitely check out some of the links from this page. The man does amazing photomicroscopy.)

One of my favorite microscope sources is:
http://www.microscope-store.com/inde...789513dbc60592 .

Another is:
http://microscopeworld.com/micro1.htm .

Hope that Helps!
GDW

[mocha4sale]

Thanks,
I bought the zooplankton from somewhere in Florida. I am not at my home computer, so I don't know right now. The problem is that I am from Canada, and overnight delivery is impossible. He said that he would send me some cysts, but that reshipping would be a waste of time, since it would still take a week to get here. He said that it costs his money was wasted to so the cysts is all he has to offer. I am upset because when I emailed and asked for help, he NEVER responds. It is only when I get upset that I get an email right away. As soon as I said that it was okay not to send the cysts, he never responded. I was very upset with his service. Thank you for the microscope sites, I will get one for my husband for his birthday. Just after Christmas! I appreciate all your help.

[mocha4sale]

Oh, Ya. I just found the email from him. I bought them from www.Aquaculturestore.com
SACHS SYSTEMS AQUACULTURE
again, it would have to be shipped through the border and that would hold it a few days. So I sent it to my mothers and picked it up there (in the States).

[sjvl51]

Mocha4sale, here is a Canadian source for pods http://www.reefcrew.com/. I found them very knowledgable and willing to answer all my questions. Here is a link to a forum where they have started answering questions http://www.aquariumpros.ca/forums/fo...?s=&forumid=80

I hope this helps

Vickie

[mocha4sale]

Thanks so much! Incredibly helpful, plus they responded immediatly even though it is the holidays! Will order from them on January 5th when they return!
Jocelyn

[mocha4sale]

I can't remember if somebody recommended adding a sponge to the main tank. I just put a large sponge in and I noticed that the rocks around it have traces of copepods. I put the sponge in the area that has the largest amount of copepods. My hope is that they can breed happily here- but that the mandarins can only get the copepods when they leave the sponge. Therefore allowing a safe and constant supply?

[sjvl51]

I've never heard of a sponge being used but I would give it a try.

A pod pile is the usual method of growing pods in your display tank. I put a pile of sea shells (I bought a couple of small baskets of shells in the hobby store for less than $5.) in the back (behind my lr) as my pod pile in the display tank. Some shells were flat (clam?) and others were the ones the hermits use. The hermits know where to get their new homes and the pods seem to like growing there. I also have a pod pile of shells in my refuge. When I take a magnifying glass, I can see a haze of criters swimming around that pod pile. The lighting isn't as good behind the lr so I haven't been able to see the pods.

Vickie

[Louis Z]

So, what is the outcome? An update please. Did this canadian company come thru? As for your previous problem - yes some copepods are fragile while others seem to survive bad conditions. 7 days in a bag with possible dieoff of other organisms may have lead to poor water quality and low O2. I do not believe the death to be due to nutrition since most copepods do store nutrients. Most copepods have jerky movement whether on the glass, at the surface or in the water column. So if you see just suspended stuff with no movement then most likely all were dead. A side note is that some copepods produce resting eggs so the adults may perish but the eggs hatch later. A magnifying glass and a small flashlight will usually allow you to observe them. Of course this is done with lights out. I would say to shine the light from the top or the side as you view from the front. Some copepods are attracted to a light source and some others flee from it.

[mocha4sale]

Unfortunatly I had a complete wipeout. I am going to wait awhile before I come back. In the meantime my pod pile is growing very well. since I have nothing eating it, I am not currently going to start growing more. However in a few months I may try again.

I have noticed weird bugs scurrying around my rock. They are greyish and look like tiny shrimp. They are EXTREMELY fast. If I blink I miss them. What are these? I only noticed them after all my fish were gone!

[Louis Z]

Those sound like amphipods if you can see them well with the naked eye. There is always the possibility of mysid shrimp yet these usually swim in the water column. Sad to hear of the wipeout but good that you will wait before new introductions. The wait will allow the food source to multiply.

[FlowerPot]

Does anyone know of a good source to get copepods, amphipods online in the US/California
Thank You

[lajohnston]

Check out Octopets.com. I just received a shipment from him yesterday and was very please.

Laurie

[MDboyz]

lajohnston..

How much Octopets.com charged u for shipping?

Johnny

[pbs911]

I just ordered from Octopets.com. The total was $40, including shipping.