I downloaded this guide here. Did a quick glance and remember reading that A Tonsa really need to be handled with care due to their antenna's(sp). I think the trick for me is figuring out how to remove the adults from the naups and not damage them in the process. I hope to read that guide tonight, hopefully it will give me some insight. Thanks for the link Andy.
Need culturing ideas
- Thread starter djkms
- Start date
Ok guys (well Andy anyways, Gale seems to be MIA from this convo now 
) So I got some more tigriopus copepods in today, tisbe and A. Tonsa should be in tomorrow. I am going to run a little experiment. I will culture them in 3 containers, all fed shellfish diet and all have a SG of 1.021.
The first conainer will just be water.
The second container will be water and bioballs to increase surface area.
The third container will be water and have a rigid tube adding air at 1 bubble per second to increase oxygen exchange.
So which one do you think will produce the most pods?
) So I got some more tigriopus copepods in today, tisbe and A. Tonsa should be in tomorrow. I am going to run a little experiment. I will culture them in 3 containers, all fed shellfish diet and all have a SG of 1.021. The first conainer will just be water.
The second container will be water and bioballs to increase surface area.
The third container will be water and have a rigid tube adding air at 1 bubble per second to increase oxygen exchange.
So which one do you think will produce the most pods?
Ooooohhh A. Tonsa is going to be a challenge, these guys are tiny!!! So I need to separate the egg/naups from the adults. So here is my thoughts;
I need to buy a mesh screen (53 micron maybe?). Cut the bottom of a tub out and glue in a mesh screen. Then place that tub in another tub. When the eggs lay they will fall through the screen, separating the adults from the eggs. Then in 10 days (I think, going off of the top of my head) place the pods on the top so when they lay eggs it will fall through the screen repeating the process. Does this sound right, trying to play it out in my head....
Edit:
Ok just read this:
So 100 micron mesh should work then yeah?
Thoughts?
I need to buy a mesh screen (53 micron maybe?). Cut the bottom of a tub out and glue in a mesh screen. Then place that tub in another tub. When the eggs lay they will fall through the screen, separating the adults from the eggs. Then in 10 days (I think, going off of the top of my head) place the pods on the top so when they lay eggs it will fall through the screen repeating the process. Does this sound right, trying to play it out in my head....
Edit:
Ok just read this:
So 100 micron mesh should work then yeah?
Thoughts?
That sounds like a good plan. You'll have to figure out a plan to transfer the hatched nauplii and or adults to the upper chamber so just the eggs will drop through and the hatching nauplii will not be devoured by the growing adults.
Sounds really cool. I'm interested to see results.
Maybe add a valve at the bottom of the chamber to drain the tank and sieve the pods out at the same time so you can transfer them?
Sounds really cool. I'm interested to see results.
Maybe add a valve at the bottom of the chamber to drain the tank and sieve the pods out at the same time so you can transfer them?
Good thinking Gale. This is definitely going to be a process thats going to take some thought. I have been reading some places that copepods have to have live phyto to eat and reproduce in cultures. Yet places like Reed sell IA, pastes and such for culturing purposes... any thoughts on this? I purchased shellfish diet phyto (which I assume is not alive) for my cultures. Will this be a viable feed for tigger, tisbe & A. Tonsa or should I really have live phyto? T. Iso is always coming up but I am reading that Tetra works (which I am still culturing).
Tigriopus can survive on the pastes.
I think A. Tonsa needs live food. I can't remember if Luis was able to keep his copepod machine going by feeding the A. Tonsa some enriched O. Marina or not. If so, I have some O. Marina that will start you off. The O. Marina eats RotiGrow Plus and is extremely easy to culture.
I can also get you a starter of Apocyclops that eat the same enriched O. Marina. Apocyclops are really hearty little guys. I haven't killed mine yet and that's uncommon for me lol.
I think A. Tonsa needs live food. I can't remember if Luis was able to keep his copepod machine going by feeding the A. Tonsa some enriched O. Marina or not. If so, I have some O. Marina that will start you off. The O. Marina eats RotiGrow Plus and is extremely easy to culture.
I can also get you a starter of Apocyclops that eat the same enriched O. Marina. Apocyclops are really hearty little guys. I haven't killed mine yet and that's uncommon for me lol.
Gale we need to get together man. According to Algagen's website (the source of the A. Tonsa's) they recommend to feed it phycopure(sp) which I assume is paste like everyone elses blends so I bought a batch of Tonsa's. Now you are saying live food and so are other sources. Culturing zooplankton is not nearly as easy as the guy who sold me my first batch made it sound. O well I do love the challenge and I am trying to follow all the info on MOFIB but honestly it gets so technical over there I just want to give up.
I am hoping either you or Andy can come over sometime and give me some pointers since you guys have been in the culture game for a while. If you are available this weekend let me know if you can come over or I could go your way. There is just a lot of different things to go over on a internet forum and honestly I am intimidated posting over at MOFIB since I am such a noob.
Edit:
Ok Gale - Jim Welsh posted this on MOFIB:
So I need to get some O. Marina and a bit of food, tips and pointers on how to grow this stuff from you ASAP so this culture doesn't die on me. Give me a ring when you have chance please, PM me if you lost my #
Thanks!
I am hoping either you or Andy can come over sometime and give me some pointers since you guys have been in the culture game for a while. If you are available this weekend let me know if you can come over or I could go your way. There is just a lot of different things to go over on a internet forum and honestly I am intimidated posting over at MOFIB since I am such a noob.
Edit:
Ok Gale - Jim Welsh posted this on MOFIB:
So I need to get some O. Marina and a bit of food, tips and pointers on how to grow this stuff from you ASAP so this culture doesn't die on me. Give me a ring when you have chance please, PM me if you lost my #
Thanks!
Kris,
Phycopure is a live food.
I like the idea of using O. Marina instead so I can use the dead pastes hehe.
Another good thing about O. Marina is that you can use it to raise the Apocyclops also.
O. Marina multiplies way faster than rotifers in my opinion and get extremely dense. One gallon
of O. Marina can feed several gallons of pods.
Phycopure is a live food.
I like the idea of using O. Marina instead so I can use the dead pastes hehe.
Another good thing about O. Marina is that you can use it to raise the Apocyclops also.
O. Marina multiplies way faster than rotifers in my opinion and get extremely dense. One gallon
of O. Marina can feed several gallons of pods.
Yeah just figured that out. Iso and Chaetoceros. Man I should have done more research before buying this bottle of A. Tonsa's. Now I am scrambling and calling every LFS to see if they have phycopure, no luck yet. Are you available in about a hour so I can get some O Marina from you? I could swing by after work. If so can you PM me your addy again.. thanks Gale.
probably not much help to you now but aquacon has phycopure for $20-16oz bottles ...disclaimer: no idea if thats a good deal but its on sale ...lol
http://www.aquacon.com/saltwater_specials.html
http://www.aquacon.com/saltwater_specials.html