Copepod Cultureing

I have been thinking about breeding copepods to supplement my main tank, this would not only add to its population but give me a constant supply of copepods to feed a mandarin which i would like to add sometime in the next few months,

I have seen culturing kits on ebay, but are they really necessary, is it possible to breed them in my sump, it only has 2 compartments a return with the skimmer and the side with reactor + pump and return pump, no space for a refugium, but i could add some live rock rubble,

or would i be better with a smaller tank maybe 5 gallon to breed them in?

Thanks in advance
Stingray

 

It could be done in your sump or dt by using some rock rubble placed in a low flow area.If you have any sponge being used as a bubble trap it will prevent pods from making it to the dt,if the pods are in the return section it may work but check the size of any screen/sponge on your return pump intake.

 

Thanks, no sponge on any return or pump, all i ever see is amphipods in the skimmer sock, never seen a copepod, maybe to small i don't know, so all i need is live rock rubble and this will be a safe haven for copepods to breed in the sump , until the return pump takes them on the journey of course?

 

+1 if you have a sump without something preventing the pods from being sucked and blasted back in your DT by your return, then you already have your culture. personally i would not waste cash, time and energy setting up a pod culture.

you may not see them in your sock but if you meticulously look at the glass of your refu/sump you should see them moving around on the glass.

dont get my started on amphipods! in my old setup i had a small refu/sump under my bed with caluerpa in it, i saw Godzilla sized amphipods squirming about the macro algae, really cool.

...yes i would crawl under my bed with a flashlight at night, its my bed!

 

Reefs2go has a special going on Amazon. '250' copepods for 9.99 shipped. I'm guessing the bag comes with more than 1000 - obviously you can't count em. This poops all over a 250mL bottle of copepods from the LFS for almost $20

I would buy a few bags of that and some phyto, kill the circulation in your system and dump it all in your sump for one night maybe even the display tank. I'm pretty sure you'd never worry again unless you have an army of mandarins or dragonets.

Edit: Visually inspecting what i've received vs the bottle in the fridge at the LFS it's obvious theres a lot more in the r2g bag for less money. I'm waiting my second order this week.

 

Lmao, this made me laugh

 

thanks for replys guys, i may seperate a small section in the sump with rock rubble, see how i get on

 

if its your 50 gallon we are talking about and its been established for a year or more a single mandarin wont take a heavy toll on your pod population.

 

This is incorrect. Also any wrasse will eat pods, any blennies, even clowns!

But all mandarins do all day is go around and pick pods out of the rock. They will deplete a 55gal no problem unless there is a sump resupplying them.

 

agreed, i was assuming the mandarin being the only pod predator present and seeing his signature he seems to already have a sump set up. a 50G dt alone would run out in time, or so i would personally fear.