Culture Journal, Species: Tigriopus californicus

General
Species:  Tigriopus californicus
Species description:  Large red harpacticoid copepod 
Culture source (link if possible):  http://reefnutrition.com/tigger_pods.php
If algae, CCMP # (Optional): 
http://ccmp.bigelow.edu/
Culture Establishment Date:  September 15, 2012 (estimated date)
Continuation Date:  3/16/2014 

Culturing Vessel Details
Salinity:  ~1.025-1.055 Typically ~1.030-1.035
Temperature:   68-78ºF (located in basement right next to a furnace)  
pH:  Not measured

Vessel description: 5g bucket          
Lighting description:  2x 120w equivalent compact fluorescent bulbs in clamp-on shop light fixtures, ~2ft above cultures  
Lighting cycle:  ~10 hrs
Aeration description:  None.  I found a higher density with less aeration and the highest with no aeration. 

Methodologies
Split methodology:  Split every other week or as needed depending on densities.  Sieve out copepods and replace water with synthetic sea water using Seachem Reef Salt.

Culture medium description: 
I started this culture feeding PhytoFeast Live once a week, keeping the water a green tint.  I then decided to try Reed Mariculture Shellfish Diet since I had some to experiment with and found significantly lower densities over a period of about 4 months.  I will be switching back to PhytoFeast Live exclusively the next time I go to a LFS.
 
I have now switched to feeding Rotigrow+ because it keeps much longer (frozen) and much more bang for the buck.  It also gives me super high yields at least compared to phytofeast live or shellfish diet. I feed almost every day but sometimes every other day depending on how clear the water is.

Cell count:
**Estimates**
PhytoFeast Live: 100-350/liter
Shellfish Diet: ~100/liter, never more
Rotigrow+ (co-cultured with rotifers): ~200-450/liter (maybe more)        

Reference links:  

Additional Information
(No Pictures or Videos in the Section Please)
Notes: 
I now have 7 cultures co-culture my Tigriopus with rotifers in all but one culture.  I have noticed higher yields when cultured with rotifers.  The one other bucket has been self sustaining itself for over a year and a half with Nanno. which was from the phytofeast live. This one culture always has very low densities and I have not harvested from it or split it in over a year, only top off.  It is an experiment more than anything.

 

HD Video of some of my Tigriopus californicus:
http://www.youtube.com/wa.h?v=Xapp2OTrr6s&hd=1

So a couple of weeks ago I finally converted back to feeding phytofeast live.  It certainly increases numbers but in doing so, the population quickly grows too large and then dies back.  On top of this, I have inadvertently, but happily, introduced rotifers by stirring the cultures with the same stirrer I used in the rotifer cultures on the same day.  This has also caused a huge burst in population size but again it dies back quickly too.  I will begin splitting and collecting from the cultures much more often.

Video of harvest from four buckets (added two).
http://www.youtube.com/wa...owner&noredirect=1

Can you post some pictures of your culture vessels?  I would like to culture these but haven't been successful yet.
 
Also, what do you use to take your photographs of the copepods?

I can take a pic later but they are a bit messy.  Honestly though they are nothing more than a 5g bucket.  Literally.  No air stone, no heater, nothing.  A 5g bucket filled with SW, a starter culture of Tigriopus and phytofeast live.

How often do you stir/change the water?  Maybe I was trying too hard lol

I split it at least 3 times a month or more if  see the concentrations of pods are extremely high and I only stir when I add more phyto since it won't mix around itself with no water movement.

Thanks for the info!  I'm going to try it this method.  Do you think that nanno and tetraselmis would be able to feed the properly?  (my Iso crashed and I can't get a new start to work).

I only have experience feeding them with phytofeast live and am not sure how effective those would be.  Can't hurt to try.  There may be others with experience feeding nanno and tetraselmis to their tigriopus though.  I'd search around for more info on that.

What do you use to video your pods?  Awesome vids!

Thank you! iPhone 5

 
Man my 4S want video like that lol. 

Time for an update.  I now have 7, 5g Tirgriopus cultures.  I switched to feeding Rotigrow+ because it keeps much longer (frozen) and much more bang for the buck.  It also gives me super high yields at least compared to phytofeast live or shellfish diet.  I split every other week but it also depends on how well the culture is doing.  If it is sparse, I may not split it.  I also have 2, 120W equivalent compact fluorescent bulbs in those $8 clamp-on shop light fixtures from Home Depot.  I also now co-culture my Tigriopus with Rotifers.  I have noticed that I get better yields when doing this.  It also allows me to have emergency back ups of my rotifer cultures.
 
Here is a pic from today.  This is close to the maximum density I have ever had.

 
Close up.  (Bad quality, I know.  iPhone pic)

 

All of my work is done with the help of member altolamprologus (Heather Mutschler).  She shares all credit evenly with me for our accomplishments.

How are you controlling ammonia now that you're using dead feeds? I've heard tigriopus can't tolerate chloramx

We do not test for ammonia and the copepods do not care. We also do not add anything to remove ammonia. They are naturally found in tide pools and are tolerant of pretty much anything. The only reason we see a dip in productivity from our cultures is if we do not feed enough or if we do not split after about 2 months.

2 months is longer than usual and that has only happened once or twice when we got really busy and didn't think about it. We currently have 7 cultures and in January we started a new culture with a new bottle of copepods and have since inoculated the other cultures with a new bloodline. The cultures remain very strong.

All of my work is done with the help of member altolamprologus (Heather Mutschler).  She shares all credit evenly with me for our accomplishments.

Still keeping rotifers in culture with them as well? Thanks for the info!

Yes we are. Once they get in they don't come out but we don't want to get them out. You're welcome.

All of my work is done with the help of member altolamprologus (Heather Mutschler).  She shares all credit evenly with me for our accomplishments.

 
Excellent thread, this is one I've never worked with, no real reason other then none available when I could add it.
 
Do they prefer the dark pail interior to a glass container?  I like the pairing with rotifers. They tend to have wings anyhow. 

Jake
We are all in this together

Thank you. I have never tried to culture them in a clear container but I'm pretty sure they don't really care either way. These copepods are super easy to maintain and are unbelievably forgiving. I think that's partly because they are tide pool organisms and are able to handle a wide range of conditions. co-culturing the Tigriopus with the rotifers is kind of a double edged sword in that the rotifers eat any food added to the culture very quickly which means you have to feed more, but we have found that we get better yields of tigriopus when the rotifers are present.

Also, yes, rotifers have wings and anyone who disagrees has clearly never worked with them before.

All of my work is done with the help of member altolamprologus (Heather Mutschler).  She shares all credit evenly with me for our accomplishments.

Gresham has confirmed that they do not like to be cultured in clear containers.

Well then when I eventually try them it wont be in a clear container. That makes sense considering the natural habitat, no side lighting in tidal pools, so side lighting in a grow out container could really throw them off. I have read good things about them but have never tried them. The combo with rotifers is a 2 fer.

Jake
We are all in this together

Yeah the 5g bucket method we use works great and it's so simple.  People often ask me if I have a pic of the setup and I just tell them- it's a bunch of 5g buckets sitting on the concrete floor if my basement with a home depot work light CF bulb above them and that's it.
 
Also if you are going to use rotifers as a first feed for anything, you'll want to have a separate culture of just rotifers as Tigriopus pods can harm small larvae.
 
Jake- once the temps here in MI (I see you live here too) get warmer we will be able to ship starter cultures if you are interested.

All of my work is done with the help of member altolamprologus (Heather Mutschler).  She shares all credit evenly with me for our accomplishments.

Thanks, yes I would like a starter of them !   As it happens I know where your town is. I'm in Harrisville, north of Saginaw and south of Alpena.
So driving or shipping is my main methods of purchase. Otoh, I really like this area.
 
I am going to try adding some different  copepods too. 

Jake
We are all in this together