Culture Journal, Species: Tigriopus californicus

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EasterEggs
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Culture Journal, Species: Tigriopus californicus - Saturday, April 14, 2012 9:05 AM
Culturing Journal DataSheet


General
Species:  Tigriopus californicus; "Tigger Pods"
Species description:  250-1700 microns red copepods that swim in jerking motion. 
Culture source (link if possible):  Reed Mariculture www.reedmariculture.com
Culture Establishment Date:  April 10, 2012.  Re-established November 3, 2013 (photo at April 2, 2014).
Continuation Date:  October 9, 2014.

Culturing Vessel Details
Salinity:  Varies between 1.025 and 1.030.
Temperature:    Ambient fish room temperature 76-80F.
pH:  Not tested

Vessel description:  Mostly 15x15x10" clear plastic Sterilite storage containers.  Start with only an inch of saltwater in them.  Volume will increase as density increases.
Lighting description:  Ambient room light from overhead fluorescent.
Lighting cycle:  14 hours light, 10 hours dark.
Aeration description:  None

Methodologies
Split methodology:  None.
Culture medium description:  ASW, not sterilized.  RotiGrow Plus fed when culture becomes colorless, and ClorAm-X solution used at same volume - about 1 mL per gallon of culture.
Cell count:  Started with 2000-4000 critters in the 6 oz bottle.

Reference links:   http://reefnutrition.com/tigger_pods.html

Additional Information

Notes:  Biiiig difference when I switched from a clear tupperware container to the painted aquarium.
<message edited by EasterEggs on Wednesday, February 4, 2015 9:29 AM>

EasterEggs
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Re:Culture Journal, Species: Tigriopus californicus - Saturday, April 14, 2012 9:33 AM

 


EasterEggs
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Re:Culture Journal, Species: Tigriopus californicus - Saturday, April 14, 2012 7:52 PM
Please post suggestions if you see me doing something wrong. 

GreshamH
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Re:Culture Journal, Species: Tigriopus californicus - Monday, April 16, 2012 7:24 PM
2 - 4K per bottle

EasterEggs
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Re:Culture Journal, Species: Tigriopus californicus - Tuesday, April 17, 2012 9:16 AM
Thanks Gresham, I updated the numbers.
 
Well, I could be mistaken, but I think the numbers are increasing.  I'm up to about 750 mL of saltwater in the culture - that bowl is almost full now.  I'm going to siphon the bottom today because I put too much RGcomplete in there a few days ago, and I don't think dead phyto should be in there that long.  I'm going to split the culture into two today too.
 
How prolific should these copepods become?  Should I be doing harvests to keep the population young like we do with rotifers?  I haven't removed any of the population yet.

waldend
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Re:Culture Journal, Species: Tigriopus californicus - Tuesday, April 17, 2012 10:34 AM
I didn't maintain my culture of these very scientifically. I simply put some in a 1G jar with lid ( small hole to allow some air) on a window sill. I might occasionally add a few drops of Roti-Grow plus and maybe a couple flakes of formula one here or there. I did the same with another batch not in the window sill and the population was much higher in the jar exposed to sunlight. The natural phyto I believe was the key. When the population was small the jar turned slightly green ( I never added live phyo, hence the "wild" description). Sorry I don't have exact densities but the difference between the two was night and day. I had planned to do an outdoor culture like Tals but never did prior to closing down. One thing I forgot - I did add S rotifers to the same jar. I would have to research but I did it after reading a thread from KathyL where she stated she co-cultured.

KathyL
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Re:Culture Journal, Species: Tigriopus californicus - Tuesday, April 17, 2012 11:44 AM
yes, if you don't mind having rotifers in there, they do quite well together.  If I recall correctly, I maintained a one bucket culture with a sponge filter and daily additions of RG for months with seldom a removal or water change.

EasterEggs
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Re:Culture Journal, Species: Tigriopus californicus - Tuesday, April 17, 2012 7:25 PM
Yeah, these guys really seem bulletproof, eh?  I don't want to put rotifers in with them, I would like to maintain separate cultures. 
 
Thanks for the tips on the natural sunlight Dan, I will try that out.  Is it direct light shining right on the container or just indirect, close to a window?

Fishtal
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Re:Culture Journal, Species: Tigriopus californicus - Tuesday, April 17, 2012 7:39 PM
I do mine outside with great results. See my journal.
http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

waldend
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Re:Culture Journal, Species: Tigriopus californicus - Tuesday, April 17, 2012 8:21 PM
I had mine sitting right on the window sill almost touching the glass. It was winter though so temperature wasn't an issue. Depending on the room temp I might try to place it further away from the window to avoid the heat but close enough to get direct light.

EasterEggs
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Re:Culture Journal, Species: Tigriopus californicus - Wednesday, April 18, 2012 8:35 AM
Ok, thanks Tal and Dan!

EasterEggs
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Re:Culture Journal, Species: Tigriopus californicus - Friday, May 11, 2012 8:54 AM
While I was gone to Kauai the Copepods almost died out.  My instructions weren't clear enough about adding water volume (to keep water quality up).  I was left just with a small population of small Tiggers.  Now I've been home for a week the little oens have definitely grown (I hear the reproduction cycle is 3 weeks?), but they are no longer red.  I've heard this happens when you culture them yourself.  How do I get them red again?  TDO maybe?

KathyL
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Re:Culture Journal, Species: Tigriopus californicus - Friday, May 11, 2012 12:40 PM
just keep feeding them.

GreshamH
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Re:Culture Journal, Species: Tigriopus californicus - Friday, May 11, 2012 2:33 PM
In the wild, IME populations tend to increase with higher salinity... IMO its a fight for the continuance of the species.
 
Quality phytoplankton is what makes them red in the wild, and here at Reed. 

Fishtal
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Re:Culture Journal, Species: Tigriopus californicus - Friday, May 11, 2012 4:56 PM
http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

waldend
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Re:Culture Journal, Species: Tigriopus californicus - Friday, May 11, 2012 7:46 PM
Mine would come and go with the red.

EasterEggs
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Re:Culture Journal, Species: Tigriopus californicus - Sunday, May 13, 2012 9:04 AM
Hmm, ok I will just carry like I am then.  I'm using 1.025 salinity, although I should test and see what it is evaporating to.  Probably higher, I know they like higher salinity, so I haven't been too worried about evaporation.  I just moved them into a 2 gallon shallow clear Rubbermaid container yesterday, less than an inch of water so far though.

GreshamH
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Re:Culture Journal, Species: Tigriopus californicus - Sunday, May 13, 2012 2:21 PM
Quote Originally Posted by EasterEggs


Hmm, ok I will just carry like I am then.  I'm using 1.025 salinity, although I should test and see what it is evaporating to.  Probably higher, I know they like higher salinity, so I haven't been too worried about evaporation.  I just moved them into a 2 gallon shallow clear Rubbermaid container yesterday, less than an inch of water so far though.

1.025 is specific gravity, not salinity fwiw.  Salinity is measured in PPT.. IE. 35 ppt (1.026 Specific Gravity).

We keep out Tigrioupus at 35 ppt and ship at 35 ppt as well.
 
We've found clear is not a good solution.

EasterEggs
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Re:Culture Journal, Species: Tigriopus californicus - Sunday, May 27, 2012 7:55 AM
Yeah, I was being lazy about the salinity vs specific gravity...too many letters.  I suppose I should have said SG. 
 
I forgot you said to not use a clear container, and I haven't transferred them to a better option.  I need to find something else.
 
They population isn't increasing with much vigor.  Anyone know what kind of density I should expect?  Maybe they just want more space.  They are about half as dense as the very first photo I posted of them.

EasterEggs
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Re:Culture Journal, Species: Tigriopus californicus - Sunday, June 17, 2012 8:30 PM
I looked in the container today and I notice that the copepods are a bit denser than they have been.  I figured I should clean the surface (I just lay a dry piece of paper towel on the surface and the gunk sticks to it).  I also tested the specific gravity...1.070!!  It was almost off the chart in my refractometer!  So apparently they are very salt tolerant!  I added some water to lower SG a bit, and will bring it back to somewhat normal numbers.  Haha!  After reading Hoff's book (again) I think I will try moving half the culture into a 5 gallon tank with black sides and a white bottom.
Don't let fear and common sense stop you! =]

EasterEggs
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Re:Culture Journal, Species: Tigriopus californicus - Tuesday, July 10, 2012 3:30 PM
Wow, what a big difference moving the Tigger Pods to a glass aquarium painted black on 3 sides, white on the bottom.  I also recently added a small LED above the tank for a bit more lighting.  I can see hundreds of tiny copepodites, and lots of adults now.
Don't let fear and common sense stop you! =]

EasterEggs
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Re:Culture Journal, Species: Tigriopus californicus - Wednesday, April 2, 2014 10:45 AM
The above Tigger Pod culture crashed while I was at MACNA Dallas.  I was discouraged that the culture never really flourished and had so many projects on the go that I didn't establish a new culture.   Annoyingly, I don't have any photos after the continuation date for this culture to get credit for continuation.
 
I finally established a new culture on Nov 3, 2013 from another bottle of Reed Mariculture Tigger Pods.  I gave the culture little notice for a couple months, and it gave me little production.  It dragged along just like my last attempt.  So I started to really take note of my treatments and the correlating reactions of the copepods. I sifted through every bit of information I could find on these copepods on every website and forums I could.  I'm learning a few things. 
 
I split the culture into 5 containers and treat each container differently.  My findings are interesting, and not yet fully established enough to come to solid conclusions, but I have indeed noticed things.  The shape of the container matters.  The color of the container matters.  The amount of feed and time between feedings matters.  The split methodology matters.
 
The container is better off to be shallow and wide.  They like surface area.  They prefer black sides compared to blue or clear.  They prefer larger feedings less often rather than light feedings more often.  They like to be split and put into new water.
<message edited by EasterEggs on Wednesday, April 2, 2014 11:00 AM>
Don't let fear and common sense stop you! =]

EasterEggs
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Re:Culture Journal, Species: Tigriopus californicus - Wednesday, April 2, 2014 12:23 PM
EDIT:  This is my "new" establishment photo.
 

<message edited by EasterEggs on Wednesday, February 4, 2015 9:17 AM>
Don't let fear and common sense stop you! =]

shannpeach
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Re:Culture Journal, Species: Tigriopus californicus - Thursday, May 1, 2014 11:22 PM
Mindy--are you still culturing them without aeration?

EasterEggs
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Re:Culture Journal, Species: Tigriopus californicus - Saturday, May 3, 2014 12:11 AM
Quote Originally Posted by shannpeach


Mindy--are you still culturing them without aeration?

 
Yes.
Don't let fear and common sense stop you! =]

EasterEggs
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Re:Culture Journal, Species: Tigriopus californicus - Wednesday, February 4, 2015 9:16 AM
Here's my culture continuation picture (I haven't done that yet!).  The photo is from Oct 9, 2014. So there is 190 days or 6 months and 7 days between this photo and the above "new" establishment photo.
 
My cultures have been in continuous culture since November 3, 2013.  So today is 458 days, or 1 year 3 months and 1 day.    However, I do not have these guys mastered... they wax and wane. 
 

 
Don't let fear and common sense stop you! =]

EasterEggs
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Re:Culture Journal, Species: Tigriopus californicus - Thursday, February 5, 2015 11:09 PM
Here's a crappy cell phone pic from Feb 1st.  You can see two Tigriopus carrying eggs.
 

Don't let fear and common sense stop you! =]

Fishtal
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Re:Culture Journal, Species: Tigriopus californicus - Thursday, February 5, 2015 11:12 PM
I see pea soup...
http://www.fishtalpropagations.com/#!home/mainPage
"Making captive breeding easier."

EasterEggs
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Re:Culture Journal, Species: Tigriopus californicus - Thursday, February 5, 2015 11:22 PM
Quote Originally Posted by Fishtal
I see pea soup...

 
Haha, the water is actually almost clear.  That's copepod poop on the bottom with a flashlight shining through.  Haha!  The easiest one to see is at the top of the photo in the middle.    I will try to remember to take my camera to the shop tomorrow.
Don't let fear and common sense stop you! =]

Arc Katana
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Re:Culture Journal, Species: Tigriopus californicus - Thursday, February 5, 2015 11:27 PM
Interesting stuff EE.  I just noticed mine culture is kaput - water is a hazy bloom of white (some sort of bacterial bloom).  Nothing moving of the pod variety.  (then again I was using a 5G blue bucket)
 
Thanks for sharing!