How to choose the correct Copepods for your tank

WHAT ARE THE RIGHT COPEPODS FOR YOUR TANK?

Generally speaking there are two major sub-groups of copepods that we offer. They are:

BENTHIC (Crawlers), these copepods spend the majority of their life on the substrate and rock work in our tanks. You may see them on the glass if you allow a film to develop in an inconspicuous area. These copepods are what we recommend for all tanks for two reasons. They are the most likely to colonize as their habits make them less available for being preyed upon and they are an awesome micro CUC while adding diversity to our mini ecosystem. We culture 4 benthic species Tigriopus, Tisbe, Apocyclops, and our unique Harpa Pod (close relation to Tisbe, but smaller and powerful reproducer). Of the 4 the Tigriopus is the least likely to colonize mostly because they move in a manner that attracts attention and elicits a strong feeding response, yet most popular as they are larger and more easily seen, the other 4 are well known to reproduce within closed systems like our aquariums. The Benthic Pods are perfect for fish such as Mandarin Gobies/Dragonets, Sand Sifting Gobies, Dragonets and many more. 

We offer our pods in different densities. Our ORIGINAL density which has gotten many positive reviews based upon actual life in each bottle.

EXTREME PODS harvested with 50% less water for a double density concentration of Copepods per bottle

DOUNLE PODS combining our EXTREME PODS with our HIGH DENSITY Harpa Pods for a double density combination including our specialty pod we have dubbed the HARPA.

Benthic pods are found in the following COPEPOD BUFFETS

BLENDED/BELENDE EXTREME - Tigriopus, Tisbe and Apocyclops 

PREMIUM/PREMIUM EXTREME - Blended with rotifers added without compromising the density of the copepods by adding them without additional water. 

MAJESTIC DOUBLE POD - 50% PREMIUM 50% HARPA PODS

GIGANTIC - 25% PREMIUM EXTREME 25% SELECT EXTREME 50% HARPA

PELAGIC (Free Swimmers) these copepods spend their lives active in the water column making them the perfect copepods for our “Cruisers”, high metabolism fish in constant motion that need an ever present food source and or frequent feedings, such as Leopard Wrasses, Anthias, Cardinals, and more. These copepods are less likely to establish strong colonies mainly due to their ready availability to be preyed upon. We recommend dosing these pods with some regularity based on the population of the cruiser type fish mentioned above. Dosing them in a refugium may increase the chances of established colonies but still less likely than Benthic species. We culture 3 species of Pelagic species Pseudo, Acartia and Parvo. 

Pelagic pods are found in the following COPEPOD BUFFETS

MIXED/MIXED EXTREME - Pseudo, Acartia and Parvo

SELECT/SELECT EXTREME - Mixed with Rotifers added in the same manner as above

ENERGETIC - 50% SELECT EXTREME 50% HARPA (Benthic)

GIGANTIC - 25% PREMIUM EXTREME 25% SELECT EXTREME 50% HARPA

We recommend the following sizes for tanks of the following volume in gallons.

8 Oz Nanno up to 20

16 Oz up to 40

32 Oz up to 90

1/2 Gallon up to 150

Gallon up to 250

EXTREME or DOUBLE PODS can populate a tank of twice the above.