How To Culture Live Copepods At Home DIY Setup | Blue Reef Tank

This video has been longawaited and I am so excited to finally share how I culture copepods at home. I'll show you how I start a new copepod culture from scratch using a starter culture that I bought from my local fish store.

Setup:
All you need is a container (I'm using an IKEA jar) and an air pump to get your home culture up and running.
Over the first few days, I slowly increase the volume of the culture solution by adding new saltwater and dosing phyto to achieve a light green colour. Once you have a full container of the culture solution, you simply need to add phyto as needed. Phytoplankton is the food source for the copepods, however, be mindful not to dose too much at once. Instead, add a little bit each time the water turns clear.

Harvest:
Over the next few days (57 days), the copepod population will grow. You'll know it's time to harvest when you see lots of pods swimming around and crawling on the sides of the container.

In the video, I show how I create a DIY harvesting tool using a PBC tub, coupler and mesh. With this tool, I harvest about 3 cups (750ml) each time and distribute the copepods to all my tanks.
Harvesting regularly keeps your pod population healthy and you can remove the excess waste at the same time.

Refill:
After harvesting, all you need to do is top up the container with new saltwater until it is full. Once your copepod population is high and growing well, you can harvest every 23 days and repeat the same harvesting + refill process.

Split culture:
It's best to have two or more cultures running, in case one of them crashes. This will ensure a constant supply of pods to your fish. If you want to split your existing culture, simply pour half of the culture solution into a new container and gradually top up the old and new cultures with new saltwater (best to do it over a few days) until both containers are full.

I hope the information in this video is helpful. It is always great to culture your own copepods as it is more sustainable in the long run (Cheap with neverending supply). Your fish will love the pods, especially mandarins and dragonets.

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Stay positive and Happy reefing guys!

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[ Timestamps ]
0:00​​​​​​ Intro
0:43 Setting Up Copepod Culture
3:20​​​​​​ Copepod CloseUps
4:01​​​​​ DIY Harvesting Tool
6:45​ Harvesting Copepods
8:51​ Refilling Copepod Culture

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