Copepod Culture 220ml

• Mangroves Copepods are shipped in a 220ml bottle at 28 ppt to 32 ppt salinity (1.022 to 1.025) with a little bit of food (this food will not harm your tank residents). 
• Copepods are about 2-3mm in length.

Copepods are the second largest source of protein in the oceans, second only to krill. They are the natural food of many fish in the oceans, especially the early life stages.

Some fish will not eat non-living foods, and require live feeds such as copepods and mysids. Some good examples are: mandarin gobies, any seahorse species, scooter blennies, and early life stages of dottybacks, chromis, tangs, flame angels, etc. Owner's of these type of fish definitely need a consistent and reliable source of copepods for feeding.

Reef tank systems do better when there are a variety of natural organisms to maintain the ecological balance. The reason that "live rock" or "live sand" is such a great item is that it provides a foundation for healthy microorganisms that will allow the larger, more visible fish and invertebrates to thrive.

Over time, the population of the invertebrates from the live rock will naturally decline, as they are grazed by the corals, anemones, fish and shrimp in the tank.

Mangroves copepods are a great way to boost your natural populations of copepods. 

You will receive a good batch of copepods in each container.

If you replenish your system regularly you will give these a good chance of survival.

Copepods have some added benefits. They are "detritivores", meaning they will scavenge leftover fish food, fish poop, and bacteria in the tank. They can help control the water quality by eating the unused food which can eventually lead to bacteria overload in your tank.

Mangroves copepods are detritivores and will stay in your tank, thriving and reproducing without any additional food.

I bought some  Pods. How do I acclimate them?

Not everyone needs to culture copepods. If your live rock just needs a little boost or you have a thriving refugium but have seen less and less of the "little white bugs" that inhabit it, just buy some 'pods and put them into your system to boost the population - no extra culturing is required.

ACCLIMATION PROCEDURES

Mangroves Copepods are shipped in a 220ml bottle at 28 ppt to 32 ppt salinity (1.022 to 1.025) with a little bit of food (this food will not harm your tank residents). Copepods will settle to the bottom during shipping, so if you open the bottle and don't see any, try shaking it up and holding it up to the light or pouring them into a clear jar or tupperware container (NOTE - make sure there is no soap residue on any of your culture containers - this upsets the 'pods).

You can add them directly to the tank after bringing them up to the temperature of the water, or you can get some water from your tank, and combine about 25% of the bottle of the copepods to this water, and check in 15 minutes to see how they are doing. If there is going to be an adverse reaction of the copepods, it will happen rather quickly, so you should know. (Of course, if there is something wrong enough with the water that it's killing harpacticoid copepods, then there's something very amiss with the system. These things live in highly variable environments and can withstand rapid salinity and temperature changes.)

Usually, if that first 25% make it, then just go ahead and add all the copepods to the tank water, and within a few weeks you will see a bloom. A bloom is easily detected at night by shining a flashlight on the side of the tank.