View Full Version : Copepods
GregAW
11-04-2008, 2:15 PM
Anyone raise their own copepods for feeding purposes? If so how did you get started and what do you feed them?
Yup.. it isn't as easy as I thought it would be though. Takes a lot of work. All you need is a small tank, 5-10G, start with a bottle of Tiggerpods (or any live pods you can get your hands on) and put them in the tank. They don't require any filter or lighting, but do require frequent water changes because of that. The food I was feeding mine was Phytofeast. I ended up giving up though because it was just to much of a pain to keep going. Same reason most LFS don't grow/sell live Brine shrimp. Sure, there are a few out there that do, but for the most part it is too time consuming and the return on investment is 0 when all is said and done.. taking into account cost of live items (pods or brine), work to maintain them, and a reasonable price you can charge for them (No one is going to pay $5 for a small cup of brine when you can buy an entire cube pack for the same price that will last you 50x longer).
GregAW
11-04-2008, 5:47 PM
So what would you feed a Dragonet/Mandrain?
Get as big of a refugium as you possible can. I have always liked WoodRight's fuge he made by hand. Check out his profile and threads. I really liked watching his tank build. With a good size "fuge", and better if seperate from the sump, not inline like mine is, that would be your "Pod Factory".
Imagine this.. your 90G, with a 40G sump and a 20G refugium. Here are links to 2 of WoodRights threads. I love that sump/refugium setup. Perfect. I still look at him as "Newbie of the year" even though he hasn't seen it all the way to the end yet. Still the best start from knowing nothing to having a great setup I have seen. He asked tons of good questions and following good advice and with his great handyman skills he was able to make a great reef system.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/blog.php?bt=2520#comment2520
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/blog.php?b=504
GregAW
11-04-2008, 6:23 PM
Thanks for the links. I think I need to do some stand modifications and remove the center partition so I can utilize the areas that are divided.
svaha
11-05-2008, 10:17 PM
I have a green target dragonet and was told that as long as you have a good pod population to start in 75 pounds or more of live rock per fish, they would be fine and so far it seems to be working ,4 months , it has fattened up and grown a bit.I have about 90 lbs of live rock in a 75g.It is one of only 2 fish in the tank and only predator ,the other being a lawnmower blenny.
I still see pods on the glass and stuff when i turn on the lights.