Apocyclops fed preserved phyto

Great news, Andy!  How dense are your parvo cultures?  What do you think the Parvo naups are eating?  Can you quantify your feeding protocol?

Density: They are, of course, nowhere near the Apocyclops. But they are getting better. Significantly better than my last run. As you know, starvation happens really fast with Parvo (48 hours is what I read), so they are certainly eating the O. marina.
 
Naups: They are either eating O. marina or bacteria. That's pretty much their only two choices.
 
Protocol: I'm treating them like batch cultures. Starting 2 gallon buckets with just a little water. Once per day I add ~27 ounces (it's an old yoghurt container [I think it also says 765g], so that's the reason for the weird volume) of O. marina. Then I add an equal amount of new saltwater. I also add 1 mL of ClorAmX twice per day. Repeat until the bucket is full then pass it all through a sieve and start again.
 
I'm convinced that water quality made me fail last time. Well, that and Apocyclops contamination. But the culture that I kept Apo out of did fine until one day when I added too much O. marina. Then, a quick spiral to a dead culture. So this time I'm keep the O. marina volume low and making sure to offset the grossness of the O. marina culture with new water each time. Seems to be working.
 
I haven't started trying to figure out how much I can take off the top to feed larvae yet. I want to see how dense I can get the culture first and start playing around with O. marina volumes until I get the optimum figured out. Plus, I'm still just thrilled to keep them alive.

--Andy, the bucket man.
"Not to know the mandolin is to argue oneself unknown...." --Clara Lanza, 1886

Interesting update today on Flask #5 (the starvation control).  I checked them.  Still numerous copepods still alive.  I'd say it is a Level 3 flask.  The interesting part is that I actually see a few gravid females today!  The water still looks quite clear.  I don't know what they might be eating -- perhaps there is some low level of volunteer algae growing off the feces and decomposed dead copepods?  Something must be fueling the egg production, it seems to me.
 
These copepods are VERY hardy, obviously.  It's been 19 days now without any food input, and while they are definitely weakened, they are still hanging in there, and even trying to reproduce still.  Amazing!

amazing!  I still wonder how mine crashed over 3 days.  Must have to do with a balance of ammonia/food.  I didn't measure ammonia, but I wish I had….

Kathy what are you feeding them?  You shouldn't get any ammonia from RGcomplete.  The best test kit we've found for ammonia and ClorAm-X is the API one, nice and cheap as well

They are crazy cool copepods. They _do_ fly, too. (Just found one in my parvo culture today. All the way across the room. No shared implements. Grr.)

--Andy, the bucket man.
"Not to know the mandolin is to argue oneself unknown...." --Clara Lanza, 1886

Gresh, it crashed while I was at MACNA, long before I was gifted with RGcomplete.
 
By the way, I am now addicted.  How can I get some more?

Should be out by the end of the month.  That is the deadline they gave me   I hope I can meet it.

So do I.  I like that stuff.

 
Do copepods have the ability to produce offspring as a last ditch, dying effort?

Today is 31 days since flask #5 was started.  There are now only a couple of copepodites and/or adults visible, and a larger number of nauplii visible.  I've decided to start feeding them today, to try to answer Andy's question about how close to the brink they can go, and still be brought back.
 
It is amazing that they are not only still alive, but that there are some nauplii left to carry on after 31 days of total starvation!

They are just completely crazy. How was the movement over the course? Did they seem to lower their metabolism at all (since I know they normally move around quite a lot)?

--Andy, the bucket man.
"Not to know the mandolin is to argue oneself unknown...." --Clara Lanza, 1886

Yes, they definitely were much more subdued than normal as the starvation progressed.