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FAQs on Culturing Food Organisms: Rationale/Use
Related Articles: Culturing Food
Organisms, Foods/Feeding/Nutrition, Reproduction, Marine Ornamental
Fish Culture, Mysids,
Related FAQs: Food
Culture 1, Food Culture 2, &
FAQs on Marine Food Culture: Sources
(Info., Starters, Products, ...),
Selection of Culture Species,
Tools/Materials, Culture Techniques,
Feeding Food Organisms,
Culture Pests, Predators,
Troubleshooting/Fixes,
& Foods/Feeding/Nutrition 1, Foods/Feeding/Nutrition
2, Foods/Feeding/Nutrition
3, Foods/Feeding/Nutrition 4, Frozen Foods, Coral
Feeding, Brine Shrimp, Algae
as Food, Vitamins, Nutritional
Disease, Coral Feeding, Growing
Reef Corals,
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Mmm, to boost the growth, color, reproduction, health of
(possibly too or mis-crowded) systems with much in the way of filter and/or
larger plankton feeding life.
For study, fun... profit?
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Capturing and culturing my own plankton - 3/24/04
Hi,
I go out to the sea often, and I'm thinking of hauling up plankton with my
plankton net. <Cool> Is there anyway to keep the plankton alive <Need a
holding place onboard. With good aeration and proper water parameters and
conditions.> and get them to reproduce like those commercial ones? <Well,
this is a loaded question. There are a few books out there on the subject but
the one most offered and used is: http://www.seafarm.com/products/index.htm> What
do I have to feed them with? <depends on the plankton. Some derive nutrition
through sunlight, phyto, detritus, rotifers and other planktonic animals on down
the line> Any advice is appreciated, <The books are the best place to
start. Try these links: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Culturing+plankton
and be sure to do your best to identify your plankton. Not an easy task culture
plankton. I told you it was a loaded question!> thanks. <Thanks for being part
of it all. ~Paul>
DIY DT's
I want to make my own DT's. From what I have found, all it is saltwater in a jar
that sits under light and kept warm for a week or two. The water will turn green
and then you have DT's. Is this true?
<Not exactly.>
If so how can they sell it for $16.00? There has to be more to this.
<Please take a look at the following articles:
http://www.reefs.org/library/talklog/r_toonen_102500.html
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-07/ds/index.htm>
Thanks so much for your time!
<You are welcome. -Steven Pro>
Sustaining Microfauna
population in a closed system 3-23-2008
Hello Crew,
<<Tia…>>
I'm interested in establishing a plankton population in my aquarium.
<<A very worthy interest in the world of aquaria.>>
I was thinking about adding a batch of mixed phytoplankton and then a smaller
batch of mixed zooplankton.
<<Must be done tactfully and “with purpose” lest they all end up food or
filter/protein skimmer fodder.>>
I'd like to add some more diversity to my tank as well as give my clowns
something to snack on throughout the day.
<<If you haven’t already do look into a refugium, it can help to server this
purpose.>>
My tank is near the end of its cycling process, so I don't have any livestock at
the moment.
<<A good time to think about your microfauna population.>>
However, I plan to only have a pair of maroon clowns, a BTA, various
macroalgaes, and a cleanup crew consisting of Nassarius snails and various
inverts from IndoPacificSeaFarms.com.
<<Said species can still decimate your microfauna populations if you aren’t
careful.>>
Basically, only my clowns and anemone will eat the plankton, so I'm thinking
that there might be a chance of sustaining a population due to not having a
bunch of corals.
<<Will still be difficult in a closed system, do consider refugia.>>
BTW, my tank is an 86.4g tall with a 30g sump. What do you think of this idea?
<<Sounds good, though without a safe haven for the microfauna to breed it could
be a waste of money. Do look into refugia as well as breeding phytoplankton in a
remote receptacle....keep searching reading WWM>>
TIA,
Random Aquarist
<<Adam J. WWM Aquarist.>>
Copepod Production 5/9/08
Hi,
<Hello>
I have a 55 gal reef with 75 lbs of live rock that has been set up for nearly 1
yr. At first I started with a primitive filter system (a
BioWheel and very cheap skimmer) while it was difficult to keep my nitrates low,
I had tons of copepods. I have upgraded to a sump (sorry
don't know how many gallons) a refugium (with 3" of miracle mud, live rock
rubble, and macro algae) and a better quality protein skimmer. My
nitrates have consistently stayed at zero for over 6 months, but I never see any
copepods.
<Being eaten?>
I even try to look past the macro algae in the refugium and I never see anything
there either. I've seeded the refugium several times with copepods, but I never
see the population increase. What can I do to increase the pod population. I am
asking because I want to eventually keep a Mandarin Dragonet, but want to make
sure that I can supply his needs by increasing the pod population in my display
tank and by culturing them in a stand alone.
Many thanks for your assistance.
<You're welcome and do read here and related FAQ's/articles below text.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_2/cav2i1/Pods/pods.htm
James (Salty Dog)>
Culturing Live Food, 7/9/08
I am looking for guidance on culturing live food. Doing such is driven by
interest rather than a hard requirement from my tank's inhabitants. I have a
24 gallon nano-cube (which I wish I had never gotten since it provides no
flexibility whatsoever. A little bit bigger system with a sump/refugium
would have definitely been the way to go. but I digressed).
<I think many people find this to be true once they get their tanks going.>
The tank has been running for 2.5 years, and it houses 2 Percula Clown fish, 1
small Pipe Organ coral, 1 small colony polyp, and a couple of dwarf crabs and
snails.
The clown fish readily accept flake foods and seem happily fed. On rare occasion
I have fed them newly hatched baby brine shrimp which they loved.
Also, the tank does have copepods that came in from the live rock. The clown
fish hunt the copepods, but the copepods mostly hide in the live rock and
substrate. The copepods are also very small, being barely visible to the naked
eye. Usually it requires a 30x eye piece to get a good look at them.
<Eye strain for sure.>
There seems to be a couple of choices of easily cultured live foods: brine
shrimp, copepods (larger Tiger pods and smaller Harpacticoids pods),
rotifer's, and Mysid shrimp. The live food(s) would be cultured in a dedicated
vessel. My questions are as follows:
1) Is anyone of the cultured foods listed above more useful than the others
given my tank's inhabitants?
<The pods and Mysid by far.>
2) Would introducing any of cultured foods 'live' be harmful for the current
tank's population of copepods? It is my understanding the Mysid shrimp are
voracious and would likely not only consume the current tank's population of
copepods but also would likely consume each other. I want to feed the tank, not
establish a new biological order.
<More likely it would strike some sort of balance eventually, but how many Mysid
could survive long term is hard to say.>
3) Culturing brine shrimp to adulthood would require that they be enriched
before feeding them to the tank. would this be worth the effort?
<Not in my opinion, easier to just feed the fish the food directly, the brine
itself adds almost nothing.>
4) Should brine shrimp eggs be de-capsulated before hatching them? Asked another
way, can adult fish eat them with the shells still attached or is
this just a concern for fish fry?
<Mostly a concern for smaller fish.>
5) Would the soft corals benefit from the addition of any of the listed cultured
live foods?
<Probably marginally.>
Thank you much for your guidance.
<I highly suggest checking out the works of Dr. Adelaide Rhodes, she gave a
great presentation at this year's IMAC, and is an expert on what you are trying
to do. http://www.essentiallivefeeds.com>
<Chris>
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