Culturing Journal DataSheet
This first post should be updated regularly to include new information as events take place or changes are made to your system
General Species: Parvocalanus crassirostris
Species description: Very small copepod, pause and dart movement
Culture source (link if possible
): Dr. Andrew Rhyne, who isolated them from the ocean
If algae, CCMP # (Optional
): http://ccmp.bigelow.edu/ Culture Establishment Date: 6/28/13
Continuation Date: 9/28/13
Culturing Vessel Details Salinity: 30 ppt
Temperature: 72-80F, room temp
pH: 8
Vessel description: 5 gallon bucket, then, 1 gallon HPETE wide mouth jar with hole in cap. Current culture vessels are two 1-gallon HPETE wide mouth jars, one 10 gallon tank partially filled, and one 5 gallon bucket.
Lighting description: ambient for the tank and the bucket, but I keep the bucket covered, so not a lot of light. The gallon jars are in front of two undercabinet fluorescent fixtures, suitable for growing phytoplankton, although that is not necessary for the copepods.
Lighting cycle: 14day, 10 night
Aeration description: open to room air, and airline with 1 bubble per second or so
Methodologies Split methodology: Since establishing these cultures I have not done a lot of splitting. I feed them, and if I need them for feeding fish larvae, I take some out with a volume of water, and replace with clean saltwater, but I have no schedule of splitting.
Culture medium description: 30 ppt saltwater, 25 ml of live Isochrysis as needed, perhaps daily. The ten gallon tank gets 3-5 ml per hour of live isochrysis, depending on the concentration of the phyto at the time, as judged by eye. If the live phyto is coffee colored, I feed 3 ml per hour, if tea colored, 5 ml per hour.
Cell count: Was shipped about 40,000. Half were used in clownfish larval tank, with rotifers, half was put in 4 gallons clean water in 5 gallon bucket for one week. Survivors are now in a 1 gallon jar. see journal for details.
(if known) It's really hard to count these guys, so I haven't tried in a long while. If I take 100 ml out, and put through a 27 micron filter, they form a little brown puddle on the edge of the filter, and when I backwash into a petrie dish, there are a whole lot of them in all stages of development.
Reference links: Additional Information (No Pictures or Videos in the Section Please) Notes: Ciliate removal seems to be important. I first filtered through a 27 micon screen, and captured everything, including ciliates. I may need to filter them through 53 microns occasionally to get rid of ciliates, sacrificing the smallest nauplii.
As of September, I am no longer stressing over this. I just take what I need, replacing the water I remove, and try to remember to feed them appropriately if they are not on the peristaltic pump feeder. Ciliates are allowed to continue, with no apparent repercussions.
I strongly suspect that one key to the remarkably easy strategy, is that the vessels themselves have the appropriate bacteria/phytoplankton/microscopic life to handle the ammonia buildup from the copepod excrement as well as molts, dead algae, etc.
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<message edited by KathyL on Sunday, October 6, 2013 4:33 PM>