Phytoplankton starter culture - Calgary

[Seamazter]

So far they are raised on nanocloropisis. and flake food, i cannot determine yet what they are eating, however its only been a week since i tested this.
stay tuned for more.

[phyto4life]

sounds like if they are spreading then you are ok keep us posted

I have 6x1G of bubbling nanno that I would like to try to feed to a combo of tisbe,tiggerpods,nitokra lacustris plus possibly crushed up pellet/flake food or maybe freeze dried cyclopeeze etc in the future if possible in the same culture and multiple cultures since they don't seem to eat each other

[phyto4life]

I'm starting with 3 x 3G of tisbe for now and I'm debating nitokra lacustris and tiggerpods so far as the second 3x 3G cultures

[abcha0s]

I had posed some questions to a respected authority on copepods. PM me if you want the source. There is some mention of canabalism; although, i'm not really sure it is relevant.

• Your website refers to Nitokra Lacustris – Are there any benefits over the Tisbe for Mandarins?

>>> Tisbe is a better size for Mandarins, Nitokra is quite tiny. Tisbe will grow like crazy in your system as well and be more easily accessible to the fish.

• Would you recommend introducing both species (Tisbe and Nitokra) into our tanks at the same time?

>>> I think Tisbe alone or a combination of Tisbe and Tigriopus might be helpful if you have an adult Mandarin.

• Are either of these species cannibalistic? – In other
words, will they eat each other if another food source is not present?
– Will they prey on the other species? – Will one species dominate in the long run?

>>>> That is a good question. There is some thought that Tigriopus might be. I grow them together regularly without a problem. Tisbe will just do better in the long run because it is more acclimated to tropical conditions, and reproduces faster. It also has a shorter life cycle.

• Is it possible to introduce to many copepods and effectively overload the system? – My research suggests that this is not possible provided they have sufficient food within the system. The more copepods the better?

>>>>> No, the copepods adjust to your systems resources. There is a natural carrying capacity that can't be exceeded if your water is being treated properly. If you suddenly have a lot of algae or bacteria in the system, you might see an increase in the copepod population. This doesn't usually happen in reef tanks. I usually recommend putting in about 1,000 copepods per 50 gallons when you are getting started.

• You mentioned that Isochrysis is sensitive to light and that it is helpful to place the light source 18” from the phytoplankton. I assume this would be somewhat dependant on the wattage of the light source? – The Aqua Medic Plankton reactor uses an 18 watt bulb that extends the full length of the reactor (apq. 2.5 feet / 2.5 liters) – Do you feel that this is too much light? – As the light source is directly attached to the reactor, would a filter be sufficient to reduce the light intensity?

>>>>> I would put some shade cloth between the light and the Isochrysis. Shade cloth can be found at any garden store. I'd start with 50%, maybe grade it down to 20% if growth is not good.

• Any other thoughts?

The most common mistakes I see are overfeeding the copepods and not using the correct screen sizes to collect them. Other than that, they are pretty hardy.