Culturing Tigger Copepods

[PureColorDesigns]

First off i have a 20Gallon Long with 20lbs of LR and 40lbs of LS and i have recently purchased a Mandarin Dragonet which i added to the tank yesterday. He has plenty of places to hide and i have added a bottle of Tigger Copepods. He is eating and loves all of his hiding places in my rock scape. I want to insure he never runs out of food obviously so i want to Culture Tigger Copepods. I am looking for information from anyone that has successfully achieved this. I have a few questions and would like to see if my plan will work. I am a Noob Nano Reefer!

 

My Plan is to have a 5 gallon bucket (lowes bucket) and have an air pump and stone. I will feed them Phyto-feast and i will be adding one bottle of them to see what happens. I will add new water not from my tank with a specific gravity of 1.020 to 1.025

 

1. Should i keep the bucket covered or does it need light?
   
2. Is a bucket ok or is glass a better option so light can get in?
   
3. How long does this cycle of life take from egg to Mandarin Food?
   
4. Should i add any LR or LS from my tank?
   
5. Is this an effective method to have a great quantity of copepods or will they die off because i have too many and crash my culture?
   

 

Please give me any advise you have as i am planning on starting this tonight!

 

Thanks in advance!

[siwelk]

Tigger pods are not very useful...

[banshee]

First off i have a 20Gallon Long with 20lbs of LR and 40lbs of LS and i have recently purchased a Mandarin Dragonet which i added to the tank yesterday. He has plenty of places to hide and i have added a bottle of Tigger Copepods. He is eating and loves all of his hiding places in my rock scape. I want to insure he never runs out of food obviously so i want to Culture Tigger Copepods. I am looking for information from anyone that has successfully achieved this. I have a few questions and would like to see if my plan will work. I am a Noob Nano Reefer!

 

My Plan is to have a 5 gallon bucket (lowes bucket) and have an air pump and stone. I will feed them Phyto-feast and i will be adding one bottle of them to see what happens. I will add new water not from my tank with a specific gravity of 1.020 to 1.025

 

1. Should i keep the bucket covered or does it need light?
   
2. Is a bucket ok or is glass a better option so light can get in?
   
3. How long does this cycle of life take from egg to Mandarin Food?
   
4. Should i add any LR or LS from my tank?
   
5. Is this an effective method to have a great quantity of copepods or will they die off because i have too many and crash my culture?
   

 

Please give me any advise you have as i am planning on starting this tonight!

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Tisbe pods will work better for you. I have a tigger pod culture and here's how I do it based on consulting with an expert in pod culturing (Adelaide Rhodes).

 

Beverage container with a tap/spout filled with SW. No sand or rock. Chunk of macro so they have something to hang on to. No bubbler/aeration. Tigger pods have a gene that automatically turns off their ability to reproduce when their population gets to a certain point so you'll never have enough for longterm mandarine care, hence why tisbe will work better. I use my turkey baster to suck debris and dead pods from the bottom and then add fresh SW and tint the water to a green tea color with phytofeast. The culture sits on my front porch and temperature doesn't seem to affect them at all (within reason).

[PureColorDesigns]

Tigger pods are not very useful...

 

Why aren't Tigger Pods Useful?

 

Tisbe pods will work better for you. I have a tigger pod culture and here's how I do it based on consulting with an expert in pod culturing (Adelaide Rhodes).

 

Beverage container with a tap/spout filled with SW. No sand or rock. Chunk of macro so they have something to hang on to. No bubbler/aeration. Tigger pods have a gene that automatically turns off their ability to reproduce when their population gets to a certain point so you'll never have enough for longterm mandarine care, hence why tisbe will work better. I use my turkey baster to suck debris and dead pods from the bottom and then add fresh SW and tint the water to a green tea color with phytofeast. The culture sits on my front porch and temperature doesn't seem to affect them at all (within reason).

 

Why Tisbe over Tigger? Just wondering!

When you say beverage container with a tap, are you referring to something like this? Glass Tea Jug

So i would need no air pump just the pods, jug, Cheato, and phytofeast! What benefit does the spout have?

[PureColorDesigns]

Tisbe pods will work better for you. I have a tigger pod culture and here's how I do it based on consulting with an expert in pod culturing (Adelaide Rhodes).

 

Beverage container with a tap/spout filled with SW. No sand or rock. Chunk of macro so they have something to hang on to. No bubbler/aeration. Tigger pods have a gene that automatically turns off their ability to reproduce when their population gets to a certain point so you'll never have enough for longterm mandarine care, hence why tisbe will work better. I use my turkey baster to suck debris and dead pods from the bottom and then add fresh SW and tint the water to a green tea color with phytofeast. The culture sits on my front porch and temperature doesn't seem to affect them at all (within reason).

 

Do you have a picture of yours?

[BulkRate]

They're stunning, beautiful fish. Kudos on taking the steps to ensure that it doesn't face immediate starvation.

 

Longer-term, your mandarin will likely benefit from being trained onto frozen/prepared foods. It just seems to be really, really hard so hard to keep a sufficient pod population in smaller tanks to fully meet a mandarin's dietary needs with pods alone. Heck, most of the ones I see at local stores in large reef tanks that SHOULD be able support them on pods alone seem seriously on the skinny side.

 

Also, I think tiger pods won't gather on your glass and rocks (they swim freely), which might make the mandarin's hunting less successful. And if there's some trigger condition that shuts off that particular species' breeding action in your culture, you'll have another more serious problem later on. Culture idea's not a bad one, just maybe in need of some nuance.

 

Maybe take a quick gander at Coral Magazine's Nov/Dec issue? Most of the articles are rehashes of online postings over the last few years (including those of the author and referred people) but it's nice to find it all in one place.

[siwelk]

Why aren't Tigger Pods Useful?

Cold-water species that doesn't breed.

 

People act like they aren't but there are better species suited for culture.

 

Reef Nutrition would have you believe otherwise.

 

Technically they are a tide-pool species but naturally encounter more variations in water temperature.

 

Waste of $ IMO

[CalmSeasQuest]

I agree that Tisbe are far better suited for feeding a Mandarin.

 

I maintain cultures of Tigriopus califoricus (Tigger Pods is a registered Trademark of Reed Mariculture) and Tisbe to support a Mandarin residing in a smaller (~50 gal) system. While the Tigriopus multiple rapidly in culture, they are of little value to my Mandarin as they largely remain in the water column and are large enough to be seen by the other fish. This results in them being consumed before the Mandarin has a chance.

 

Whether Tigriopus will breed at reef temps is debated - to me, it's irrelevant as they are eaten long before they have an opportunity to reproduce. The Tisbe are much smaller and benthic (bottom dwelling) so they reside where the Mandarin can find them and without being noticed by other fish.

 

Both are very simple to culture, bucket, saltwater, very little air (couple bubbles per second) no heater, no light and Phyto - then ignore them. I use a lid to control evaporation and add phyto when the bottom of the bucket becomes visible. I use 7 gallon buckets, and occasionally add more saltwater to dilute ammonia and do a water change every couple months.

 

Cold-water species that doesn't breed.

 

People act like they aren't but there are better species suited for culture.

 

Reef Nutrition would have you believe otherwise.

 

Technically they are a tide-pool species but naturally encounter more variations in water temperature.

 

Waste of $ IMO

[siwelk]

I agree that Tisbe are far better suited for feeding a Mandarin.

 

I maintain cultures of Tigriopus califoricus (Tigger Pods is a registered Trademark of Reed Mariculture) and Tisbe to support a Mandarin residing in a smaller (~50 gal) system. While the Tigriopus multiple rapidly in culture, they are of little value to my Mandarin as they largely remain in the water column and are large enough to be seen by the other fish. This results in them being consumed before the Mandarin has a chance.

 

Whether Tigriopus will breed at reef temps is debated - to me, it's irrelevant as they are eaten long before they have an opportunity to reproduce. The Tisbe are much smaller and benthic (bottom dwelling) so they reside where the Mandarin can find them and without being noticed by other fish.

 

Both are very simple to culture, bucket, saltwater, very little air (couple bubbles per second) no heater, no light and Phyto - then ignore them. I use a lid to control evaporation and add phyto when the bottom of the bucket becomes visible. I use 7 gallon buckets, and occasionally add more saltwater to dilute ammonia and do a water change every couple months.

^ dude seems legit.

[PureColorDesigns]

They're stunning, beautiful fish. Kudos on taking the steps to ensure that it doesn't face immediate starvation.

 

Longer-term, your mandarin will likely benefit from being trained onto frozen/prepared foods. It just seems to be really, really hard so hard to keep a sufficient pod population in smaller tanks to fully meet a mandarin's dietary needs with pods alone. Heck, most of the ones I see at local stores in large reef tanks that SHOULD be able support them on pods alone seem seriously on the skinny side.

 

Also, I think tiger pods won't gather on your glass and rocks (they swim freely), which might make the mandarin's hunting less successful. And if there's some trigger condition that shuts off that particular species' breeding action in your culture, you'll have another more serious problem later on. Culture idea's not a bad one, just maybe in need of some nuance.

 

Maybe take a quick gander at Coral Magazine's Nov/Dec issue? Most of the articles are rehashes of online postings over the last few years (including those of the author and referred people) but it's nice to find it all in one place.

 

 

I agree that Tisbe are far better suited for feeding a Mandarin.

 

I maintain cultures of Tigriopus califoricus (Tigger Pods is a registered Trademark of Reed Mariculture) and Tisbe to support a Mandarin residing in a smaller (~50 gal) system. While the Tigriopus multiple rapidly in culture, they are of little value to my Mandarin as they largely remain in the water column and are large enough to be seen by the other fish. This results in them being consumed before the Mandarin has a chance.

 

Whether Tigriopus will breed at reef temps is debated - to me, it's irrelevant as they are eaten long before they have an opportunity to reproduce. The Tisbe are much smaller and benthic (bottom dwelling) so they reside where the Mandarin can find them and without being noticed by other fish.

 

Both are very simple to culture, bucket, saltwater, very little air (couple bubbles per second) no heater, no light and Phyto - then ignore them. I use a lid to control evaporation and add phyto when the bottom of the bucket becomes visible. I use 7 gallon buckets, and occasionally add more saltwater to dilute ammonia and do a water change every couple months.

Will my mandarin be ok on tigger pods until i can get my LFS to order Tisbe pods? They do not carry Tisbe pods in stock!

[altolamprologus]

I agree that Tisbe are far better suited for feeding a Mandarin.

 

I maintain cultures of Tigriopus califoricus (Tigger Pods is a registered Trademark of Reed Mariculture) and Tisbe to support a Mandarin residing in a smaller (~50 gal) system. While the Tigriopus multiple rapidly in culture, they are of little value to my Mandarin as they largely remain in the water column and are large enough to be seen by the other fish. This results in them being consumed before the Mandarin has a chance.

 

Whether Tigriopus will breed at reef temps is debated - to me, it's irrelevant as they are eaten long before they have an opportunity to reproduce. The Tisbe are much smaller and benthic (bottom dwelling) so they reside where the Mandarin can find them and without being noticed by other fish.

 

Both are very simple to culture, bucket, saltwater, very little air (couple bubbles per second) no heater, no light and Phyto - then ignore them. I use a lid to control evaporation and add phyto when the bottom of the bucket becomes visible. I use 7 gallon buckets, and occasionally add more saltwater to dilute ammonia and do a water change every couple months.

+1 to all this

 

I raise tigger pods, but not for my mandarins, as they are never able to catch them except in confined spaces with no flow. For the mandarins, I culture Tisbe biminiensis in a very similar manner as above, except I feed the tisbes flake food instead of phyto. More info can be found here

 

Will my mandarin be ok on tigger pods until i can get my LFS to order Tisbe pods? They do not carry Tisbe pods in stock!

It will take a couple months for your mandarin to starve to death so you're fine for now. However, it's not going to eat more than a handful of the tigger pods so those are a complete waste of money for this purpose. The average mandarin, if able to catch those pods, will consume an entire bottle in less than a day. I suggest ordering tisbe biminiensis pods from here. I also suggest you get started immediately as it will be at least a month from the start of the culture before you can harvest any, and it will be about 4-6 months before you are able to raise enough and split the cultures enough times to support a mandarin on it. You'll need upwards of 20-30 gallons of culture to support an untrained mandarin.

 

That brings us to training. For long term success, you'll need to train the mandarin to eat frozen food. You should have started this before releasing the fish into the tank, but there's nothing we can do about that now. Find a way to catch the mandarin and put it in a net breeder box (the ones made for guppies). Feed it live brine shrimp and once it's eating that well, mix in frozen brine. Decrease the amount of live brine over a few days until the mandarin is just eating frozen. Then mix in new frozen foods and release the fish into the tank when it is eating 2-3 frozen foods besides brine shrimp. Adding some garlic extract will help in the training process. Females are by far easier to train than males so I hope that's what you have. Training should take 1-14 days for females and 1-4 weeks for males, depending on the amount of effort you put forth and the fish's stubbornness. Good luck

[banshee]

Why aren't Tigger Pods Useful?

 

 

 

Why Tisbe over Tigger? Just wondering!

When you say beverage container with a tap, are you referring to something like this? Glass Tea Jug

So i would need no air pump just the pods, jug, Cheato, and phytofeast! What benefit does the spout have?

 

Just like that. I got a plastic one at Target for $3. The spout makes it easy to get a serving for your tank. I put a dixie cup under the spout and fill it up and then dump them in my tank. My clowns go nuts over tiggers. They don't need an air pump. I've had mine going for a month or so with no aeration. I don't have a full picture of mine but here's a close up. The air stone is just sitting on there for them to climb on. I disconnected the pump after learning they don't need it.

 

[PureColorDesigns]

Just like that. I got a plastic one at Target for $3. The spout makes it easy to get a serving for your tank. I put a dixie cup under the spout and fill it up and then dump them in my tank. My clowns go nuts over tiggers. They don't need an air pump. I've had mine going for a month or so with no aeration. I don't have a full picture of mine but here's a close up. The air stone is just sitting on there for them to climb on. I disconnected the pump after learning they don't need it.

 

 

Do you keep the lid closed and are they reproducing fast? Do you know if it is capable to have multiple species reproducing in one container? So i don't need an air pump at all just jug, water,feast and pods?

[altolamprologus]

I take it my previous post was too long, so I'll give you the short version: It doesn't matter how fast tigger pods reproduce because you're mandarin can't live off them. I highly advise you to start training your mandarin now and get tisbe pods in the mail now so it doesn't starve to death.

[siwelk]

[PureColorDesigns]

I take it my previous post was too long, so I'll give you the short version: It doesn't matter how fast tigger pods reproduce because you're mandarin can't live off them. I highly advise you to start training your mandarin now and get tisbe pods in the mail now so it doesn't starve to death.

Altolamprologus,

 

Your post wasn't to long and i appreciate your information. I already posted in a thread that i have them coming my only issue is that why would i not continue to be sure he can snag a few Tigger pods until i get Tisbes! Something sounds better than nothing to me and im sure my clowns will love the Tigger pods!

[altolamprologus]

Altolamprologus,

 

Your post wasn't to long and i appreciate your information. I already posted in a thread that i have them coming my only issue is that why would i not continue to be sure he can snag a few Tigger pods until i get Tisbes! Something sounds better than nothing to me and im sure my clowns will love the Tigger pods!

I see you have good intentions, but mandarins eat a couple thousand pods a day. A dozen pods is like eating one potato chip, it's not going to make a difference. Add them to the tank if you have them, just know that it's not going to provide any nutrition. If you turn off all your pumps and use a turkey baster to squirt the pods right next to the mandarin, he'll be able to snag extras.

[banshee]

They reproduced quickly at first but now they don't. That's because of the gene that causes them to become sterile when a certain population density is reached. I do keep the lid closed. And you can have multiple species in one container. Some are cannibalistic though so they may never reproduce quickly enough for you. A pure tisbe culture is your best bet with the tigger pod culture as a treat for your clowns.

[CalmSeasQuest]

Although tisbe are much preferred, I have found a way to get mine to eat Tigriopus...

 

With pumps off - Using a feeding tube (i.e. Julians "thing" or turkey baster) place the tip of the feeding tube just upstream of the Mandarin, touching the substrate. Slowly allow a stream of pods to exit the feeding tube directly in front of the Mandarin. Many will escape in the water column, but placing a few thousand pods directly in front makes for a nice meal, especially considering the Tigriopus are many times larger and presumable contain more energy per-pod than tisbe. Mine now recognizes the feeding tube and literally "sucks" them out of the end.

 

It's tedious, and I wouldn't want to to make it a habit - but it does work (at least for mine) and might be a stop-gap measure for you.

 

oops - sorry for the repeat, I see that Altolamprologus had already posted this. Apparently it's true - There are no original thoughts

[duganderson]

Can a Manarin survive off of tisbe pods growing in a container without supplemental feeding in a 34 g cube with no sump?