Setting up copepod tank

Hello All,

Having spent a good amount on purchasing copepods for our Mandarin goby we are now setting up a tank to breed our own. We had an old 5 gallon tank we're using. This is the article that gave us the idea.

http://www.brineshrimpdirect.com/c90/Raising-Live-Rotifers-Copepods-c199.html

In this article they indicate not to modify but we were wondering if adding some live rock to the system would help keep ammonia levels down? Would it hurt?

Guess we are hooked on the hobby here!

 

I have thought about doing the same. I really want to grow live food for my fish.

 

Will let you know how it goes. If we do well maybe others can benefit and if we flounder maybe folks can learn from our mistakes.

 

well, that's a generous thought good luck - it sounds like a great plan

 

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2003/2/breeder
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_5/volume_5_2/copepods.htm
Very good articles.Also member Gresham is an expert on live foods so you could PM him if you have any questions.

 

Thank you for the resources!

 

So far it seems the culture is going along well. One thing that has quickly become apparent however, is that it would be cost effective to also culture our own phytoplankton. It is surprising how rapidly the copepods seem to consume it.

Looking at this article http://www.melevsreef.com/node/1614

Has anyone tried this?

As is so often the case it is more complicated than expected but hopefully worth it!

 

I did it years ago and you are right it takes practice and crashes can occur.

 

So far not much happening. Did a water change in the culture tank a few days ago because it was getting pretty funky in there (had been adding water every few days prior).
I don't know how to tell if there has been a "crash" - I still see some pods swimming around in there but not many.
Any suggestions?

 

Though it is impossible to count, we definitely have a growing population of pods. We were able to harvest (using a seive) a bunch for our display tank finally. So far so good.