Culture Journal, Species: Parvocalanus crassirostris

General
Species:  Parvocalanus crassirostris
Species description:  From Alagen bottle: "Parvocalanus crassirostris is a very small, tropical, pelagic, calanoid copepod with an excellent nutritional profile. The nauplii are very small and ideal for larval fish aquaculture and filter feeding invertebrates. Maintain cultures with PhycoPure Copepod Blend."

Culture source (link if possible):  http://www.algagen.com/prod/?p=125
If algae, CCMP # (Optional): 
http://ccmp.bigelow.edu/
Culture Establishment Date:  11/17/2011
Continuation Date: 

Culturing Vessel Details
Salinity:  1.025 s.g.
Temperature:   ambient (about 74-79 degrees F)
pH:  untested

Vessel description:  black 2 gallon HDPE bucket (half filled)
Lighting description:  ambient
Lighting cycle:  room lights go on at noon, off at 9:30pm
Aeration description:  just like I do for rotifers - a gentle bubble, not a boil

Methodologies
Split methodology:  Plan to harvest 1/3 of culture adults weekly to keep numbers "reasonable".

Culture medium description: 
Alagen's PhycoPure Copepod blend live micro-algae (no preservatives). Contains T-isochrysis galbana and Chaetoceros gracillis.
 
Feed as directed: 10-30 mL per gallon of copepod culture per day. DRIP FEED.

Cell count:  unknown

Reference links:  

Additional Information
(No Pictures or Videos in the Section Please)
Notes: 



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Culture bucket

I used parvocalanus instead of rotifers as a 1st food for Darwin Occellaris on my most recent hatch. I thought I'd lose them all to starvation (my 3 yr old rotifer culture crashed while I was out of town and these hatched the night I got home). Larvae are doing surprisingly well. I added Otohime A on day 4 so we may just make it. The larvae are 7 DPH now. It will be interesting to see if striping is affected. Normally about 95% of my Darwin ocellaris end up full-barred.

You have been able to maintain the Parvo culture on PhycoPure alone?  Harvesting 30% per week you are able to keep the numbers consistent?  No crashes yet?  From what I have seen of others testing out this copepod they don't seem to be all the hardy.  Hmm...

Well I used 2 bottles of phycopure, then got tired of shelling out the big bucks, so I poured some PhycoPure into a bag with sterilized saltwater and started growing my own. Under the scope it looks the same as the Phycopure I purchased so it must be doing ok.
 
Regarding the parvo density, I don't know. It seems like I get a few thousand of various stages (25 micron sieve) per day which is enough to sustain my little group of larva (about 20). Not stellar survival rates at all.

How did these fish turn out?
 

check out Kathy's Clowns, llc website:
http://kathysclowns.com
Captive bred clownfish and more
(Wholesale to the trade.)

Aren't you culturing Isochrysis, Kathy?

I am, and I'm loving it. My apocyclops is doing great, and now I've started a parvocalanus culture from what remained from what I bought, which was very little. Very few, but now there are more, and I have hope.  Live Isochrysis seems like it is going to be an essential part of my larval rearing strategy.

check out Kathy's Clowns, llc website:
http://kathysclowns.com
Captive bred clownfish and more
(Wholesale to the trade.)

kbb0118, how is the phycopure growing, still going strong? Curious to see if it's holding up or becoming dominate in one species of algae yet? and the parvo still doing ok? Just wanting to see an update on this!