COPEPOD CULTURE WATER CHANGE - A STEP BY STEP GUIDE

[@marksamuels6463]

Hi great playlist, so much so, I purchased my first copepod culture set which is arriving this afternoon! Thanks for the inspiration...

[@TheSaltyLife]

Thats great news! Thank you for your support 😊 glad you enjoyed watching 😁 good luck with your culture!

[@Mmanifesto22]

Get another container and just pour the water over the net into the extra container. You'll save some time netting them out. Good job with the pods

[@shelfridges]

I know this is a year old, but I've since upgraded to a 30l beer making fermentation vessel as it has a tap at the bottom. I put my pod strainer under the tap and drain the water into a bucket, catching millions of pods in the strainer. Much easier than trying to net them, and it means I can keep some live rock in the vessel with a permanent live pod culture at all times. Great video, more reefkeepers should do this, it's so simple and beneficial for the tank.

[@eduardorn8313]

I'm Brazilian and I'm loving the tips. Thank you very much

[@TheSaltyLife]

Your very welcome 😊 glad my vids are helping 😃

[@TheLindsell]

Thank you so much for your videos on copepod culturing. I’m just about to set up my own culture with 4 different types of copepods, both SS & L strain rotifers, a 8 litre brine shrimp hatchery plus 4 different types of phytoplankton cultures. I’ve found your videos to be the best & easiest to follow, so I thank you for that. Many thanks, all the way from Australia The flying seahorse, Nathan

[@TheSaltyLife]

Hey Nathan 👋🏼 you are so very welcome! Ooo that sounds exciting!! Good luck with your culture's and hatcheries! Im glad I managed to help you by doing this little mini series of videos thank you so much for the support ✊🏼😊

[@beachy73]

hi . fyi if you put a small light near the top {best done in a dark room} you can harvest with a dropper all the n1+ stage naps . if you only scoop your actually throwing out 2 weeks worth of young which is seriously hitting your growth rates.

[@DoubleCFit]

Great video and update on the copepods. Looks like they are doing very well. Looks like a lot of new pods as well!!

[@TheSaltyLife]

Thank you michael! 😊Yeah I was surprised when looking in and saw soo many lol. I hope now it can sustain itself even after harvests so I can get a fish in the future that relys on them 😁

[@DoubleCFit]

The Salty Life it should, you did a great job!

[@TheSaltyLife]

@@DoubleCFit thank you 😊 how are you getting on?

[@DoubleCFit]

The Salty Life I’m doing well. Posting a new video soon. Had to do a little upgrading so new updates. Which you may have kinda seen on my Instagram.

[@TheSaltyLife]

@@DoubleCFit hehe yes I'm excited to see a full video though 😁 interested to see what your up to lol

[@criticalreef1372]

Great videos, ordered a kit to culture my own copepods... Nice to watch your videos, nice and clear, well explained. Thanks 👌

[@damiandeans9265]

This is brilliant, keep them coming, you’ve inspired me

[@andy2798100]

Great video. So glad I found your channel. I’ve cultured copepods before but after a while they just seemed to die off. I was trying to constantly keep them in the same water and just top it up and add phytoplankton weekly, I never thought of emptying the container and filling it with fresh salt water as I thought doing this would just kill the copepods. After watching your videos I’m going to order a new culturing kit and start again. One thing I did use to add to my culture that also seemed to help them grow was organic spirilina powder. I get it from Sainsbury’s. Anyway thank you so much for making these videos. I look forward to the next update. X

[@TheSaltyLife]

Hey Andy! Thank you for your comment! Yeah definatly give it another go! And follow along with me :) I love the fact I've got you wanting to do it again! Ooo yeah I will check that product out next time I'm in sainsburys for sure! Thanks. I was dreading the water change I was also worried that I would lose loads of pods and ruin my culture but actually as long as you have a copepod siv your fine. I didnt lose any. Yeah keeping the same water gradually over time the water will deteriorate. Even though pods are more tolerant of rubbish water quality I wouldnt recommend it. so definatly have to do water changes. But if my videos help you than that alone makes me happy. Good to have you with me! Im always here to help so feel free to comment if you have any questions See you in the next update!

[@andy2798100]

The Salty Life I never used a siv last time. I just used to scoop some of the copepods out with a small container and pour them straight into my tank. I thought the water my copepods were in would have lots of nutrients in it for my fish and corals. After watching your video and seeing the siv and how you use it I’ve ordered one. Thanks again for making these videos, I’ve been keeping marine fish for about 10 years and I tend to get drawn in with the latest products like powerheads, expensive lights and everything else but after watching your videos of you setting up your reef tank it’s made me take a step back and put things into perspective. X

[@TheSaltyLife]

@@andy2798100 I've been fish keeping for over 20 years now and in the salty side of it for a yeah and a half. I do tons of research all the time and honestly I do not believe you have to spend hundreds of thousands to have a epic reef system. I wouldnt put the water from my copepods in the fish tank. Purely because it's not a clean and could effect my ammonia nitrite or nitrate so to stay on the safe side I just use a siv 🙂 I will do a video at some point of exactly what equipment I run. 🙂 I guess it depends on what corals your are keeping tbh. Some demand more. 😁

[@frontbattles8090]

you should close the end of the air tube in the copepods and make many small holes in the tube with a needle this way the copopods dont get pushed away bye the big bubbles so there are more small bubbles and more oxygen in the water ;)

[@shubidubi88]

Awesome i cant wait to see the next video

[@TheSaltyLife]

That's great to hear thank you 😁

[@7h0m4s]

Thanks for this, gonna giving this a try!

[@patrickschultz5171]

Nice! Hopefully we get more content on this!

[@TheSaltyLife]

I will continue to document my copepod journey. If there is anything you would like me to cover let me know 😊

[@Uncle_Diesel]

Thank you for showing us

[@TheSaltyLife]

You are very welcome 😊

[@thiagotonelli8336]

Parabéns pelo vídeo, seu vídeo chegou até o Brasil é está sendo útil para mim, logo vou começar minha cultura

[@queencityreefs]

Great episode 👌👍🙌

[@bugnator]

Was there a follow up to this? The first three are great.

[@andy2798100]

I just watched this video and again as I’m going to do my first water change on my copepods so I’m following the steps you take to do a water change. I’ve had my copepods setup for just over a month but although I have quite a lot I don’t have anywhere near as many as you have so I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong. Do you have a light that you shine on your pod culture or do you just have them near a window so they get natural day light? I’m keeping the water a light green colour, I have the air line creating a bubble every couple of seconds and they are opposite a window so they get natural day light. Just can’t work out why I’m not getting loads of them.

[@TheSaltyLife]

Hey Andy! I have mine near the window all day then in the eve turn the lamp on. Then when I go to bed I turn lights out so they are in darkness till next morning. Mine took over a month to get to that point. It does take a little while for them to start doing their thing. See what it's like in another month. I didnt do a water change for at least 2 months I just left them to it. So maybe hold off on the water change just incase they have laid/released eggs into the water column. You dont wanna loose them before they get started 🙂

[@andy2798100]

The Salty Life ok. I will wait for another month before I do a water change, I’ve also got a light so I will put it on for a few hours every night. Thank you. X

[@TheSaltyLife]

@@andy2798100 your welcome anytime! 😊 x

[@neilsreefaquarium9530]

I’m definitely going to give this a go 😀😀😀

[@TheSaltyLife]

Do it Neil! It's fun and cheap to run! And great if you have a fish that has pods as its primary food source! Let me know if you do and keep me posted on how you get on.. of course if you have any questions feel free to give me a shout 😊🐠

[@neilsreefaquarium9530]

The Salty Life I’ll definitely keep you posted on how I get on 😀

[@alfst5546]

Hi, great video, I have tried so many times to hatch Copepods they seem to get to a certain size then die off, some say you need a heater, some say you don’t, some say you need a light source 24/7 other say you don’t, I found this video on kraken Corals, I hope I can find your other videos, if you could maybe think where I am going wrong, I would love to hear your advice. Alf

[@TheSaltyLife]

Hiya Alf, glad you enjoyed my video 😊 sorry to hear you have been having bad luck with your own culture. Copepods can withstand low tempretures and I wouldnt want the water warmer than 25 degrees Celsius. I lost my populations in the summer as here in the U.K we had a hot heatwave and it wiped them. With only a few left. I plan on starting a new one in the new year. But alot of people find they don't get as much breeding in the winter months so wait till about spring time. You definatly dont need a 24/7 light source. In nature you dont have 24 hours of light so why should home pod keeping be any different? It can take around 2 or so weeks for you to get the first lot of babies. As it takes about that amount of time for them to go through their breeding to hatching stage. I would say a temp between 23 degrees Celsius and 26 degrees Celsius is a good temp. But others could say different. I found that to be a good temp when mine were breeding like mad. Overfeeding is the most common way people crash their cultures. So just make sure your feeding enough but not over doing it. 😊

[@alfst5546]

@@TheSaltyLife he he he, that’s exactly what I did with mine, I was feeding spirulina, the water seem to go almost clear, so I fed in a tiny bit of spirulina powder, the next morning they were all dead, I too am in the uk and struggled to keep my tank from over heating in the summer 👎 regards Alf

[@TheSaltyLife]

@@alfst5546 I didnt feed mine spirulina powder i fed mine specific copepod feed which is phytoplankton. I brought the copepod feed from reefphyto the same place I brought my culture from. So not sure if yours died due to not getting a full healthy diet. Im not 100% sure why yours crashed. Lol yeah it was crazy hot this year. I kept my tank cool but the culture wasn't as easy unfortunately.

[@harlemscarlet]

This is amazing! I never knew ppl bred copepods. I want a mandarin dragonette so bad but I'm afraid of not having pods to feed him. I'm gonna try this!

[@TheSaltyLife]

Hey 👋 even though a copepod culture is a good thing when having a dragonet. I wouldnt recommend getting a manderin dragonet until you tank is at least a year and well matured with a pod population in the tank too. 😊

[@rhondarogus9421]

You do not need to feed your mandarin live copepods. Research on KZbin. There is a guy who shows how to teach your mandarins to eat frozen meaty foods and I have successfully done this with mine. Have had him four months now and he is doing great. No live food other than the occasional (every other month) live brine treat I buy for all the fish in the aquarium.

[@Kent-carp-angler]

Looking good 👌👌

[@TheSaltyLife]

Thanks matt..yeah it's coming along nicely was nerve racking doing this water change but not as bad and/or problematic as I thought actually nice and easy. 😊

[@gordonlaw4125]

Really helpful video - thank you

[@TheSaltyLife]

Your very welcome 😊

[@jonathanbrown1265]

I might do this, I spend way to much money on Pods

[@TheSaltyLife]

The exact reason I set mine up well one of the reasons anyway 😂 if successful you will save a ton of money 🙂

[@jonathanbrown1265]

The Salty Life probably be my next project

[@一万小时]

What kind of pods are these? They look so much bigger than the copepods I get from my LFS. I'm setting up my own copepod farm. Your videos are super helpful.

[@TheSaltyLife]

Hey👋🏼 these pods are Tigriopus californicus and Harpacticoida. Im glad my videos are helping you with your own pod journey 😊 good luck 😁

[@一万小时]

@@TheSaltyLife Thanks!

[@TheSaltyLife]

@@一万小时 your very welcome 😊

[@seemasuthar6354]

I have freshwater copepods in my culture setup ...Good to see your culture setup... I hv been using dechlorinated water and the water turns green in some days..why does that happen

[@aver8333]

Great video. What kind of phytoplankton do you feed your Copepods?

[@TheSaltyLife]

Hey so I get bottles labelled copepod feed which is a blended concentration of algae mixed together ideal for culturing copepods. Thats what it says on their site I'm guessing it's a mix of different copepod feeding algaes and phytoplankton mixed in. But you can also feed live phytoplankton if you are culturing phyto. :)

[@jarradjenkins4668]

How often do you perform water changes? Also, how often to you find yourself feeding? I find myself topping up daily? But it seems to be taking a while for numbers to increase

[@TheSaltyLife]

Hey :) I perform water changes on my copepod culture ever 2 months the water quality doesnt soil like a fish tank does. I do not feed all the time I literally feed once a week. If you think about it copepods survive days and days in the plastic bags you buy them in the shop they dont have a food source in there but all survive. You dont need to be feeding everyday. I feed 2ml of feed every 5-6 days it took about a month and half for me to start seeing more pods now they seem to have a steady rate of pods. :)

[@jarradjenkins4668]

The Salty Life Thanks! The reason I ask is because my culture goes from that vivid green tinge shown in the video to a very very pale green colour in one or two days. I’m using the same feed as you from reefphyto

[@TheSaltyLife]

Yeah no probs I'm happy to help 🙂You may find you have more pods than me? If not just stick to feed maybe every 4 days and see how it goes 🙂 in cultures over feeding is worse than under feeding. So feed 2ml ever 4 days and see how you go? It's hard to give a definitive answer without seeing it but you wont do harm by slightly under feeding but can crash your culture by over feeding. It can be pale green that means theres still feed but when it's pretty much clear that's when to feed 🙂 hope all that makes sense

[@jeand5910]

In your other video you say not to feed too much phyto... Why is that? I'm reaching out to you because theres not much info online. After watching your videos a month ago my pod culture is going strong 2 weeks in!! Just worried about it since I accidentally put too much phyto and if I should dilute it or not. Is direct sunlight ok or a lamp is better? I figured the sun would multiply the phyto since the live stuff is extremely hard to find in my area. I'm no scientist and very curious. I love your videos btw

[@KeepItFishyyEG]

How often do you do a wc on the culture?

[@Spook-yea]

still doing this? if you are i'd love an update!

[@fishstix1988]

Just to confirm, you do a water change every month?

[@tomyoung7757]

I'm feeding my pods tetraselmus which is much lighter than your phyto. I find I have to add phyto frequently and in fairly large amounts. How often do your cultures lighten up and need more phyto?

[@Thekarrybird]

Not sure if you answered this or not, but if you have algae with the pods in the culture would you still need to do water changes? Or at least a lot less often?

[@elizabethwatson71]

I am going to start, and ordering a kit next payday. Question, do you notice the pods at the bottom of the container when it is not agitated?

[@TheSaltyLife]

The pods were everywhere. Even when I wasn't cleaning them all out . 😊

[@mamdmzreef7738]

How is this doing now? Have they taken off? Thanks

[@TheSaltyLife]

Hey Mark, they did take off i have documented it in this video. I had a big boom in populations then this heatwave we had in the U.K wiped aload out. 😔 i will do an update on the culture after my next video which will be a big tank update as I havnt done one on my aquarium in a while now. But will do an update on the culture are that 😊

[@glenbarrow8573]

We're did you get your copepod start kit from.

[@TheSaltyLife]

Hey! I got it from reefphyto.co.uk 😊

[@a.j.gruening7705]

Great video! What temperature is the water?

[@TheSaltyLife]

Thank you 😊 im glad you enjoyed watching. The temp is room tempreture I dont use heaters. But I would say my room temp is around 24 degrees ish lol

[@grooveykans]

Can i use bio filtration on this culture, so i dont need to water change?

[@jenniferxjeffrey]

How often do u do water changes and harvesting?

[@timmarshall1125]

Lost all of mine in the heat of last week. How often and how much do you feed.

[@girlnextdoor1110]

Can you recommend a species of copepod to be feed in larval rearing of mud crab?

[@martinhblake]

May I ask if are you planing to make a video about algae culture to for feeding copepods? Thank you.

[@TheSaltyLife]

Unfortunately I'm not sorry.

[@martinhblake]

@@TheSaltyLife Never mind, it's ok. I founded tons of info. Today I started my copepod culture following your instruccions. So, thank you!

[@Uncle_Diesel]

How long do you keep the light on for

[@TheSaltyLife]

I have my culture next to a window so it receives natural light during the day. Then I turn the light on in the evening as you would with other household lights. Then when I go to bed I turn it off so they are in complete darkness till the next day when the cycle starts again. Hope that helps 😊

[@RobertTamburro-yl8ks]

What's with the light on the stand?

[@leeandmandybattersby5958]

hi i just got this kit was wondering if you still use it and if you have a update video (mandy)

[@4SunnyinMiami2]

Where did you get the copepod net. I am having a hard time getting one.🤔

[@TheSaltyLife]

Hey, I got it from the same place I got my culture bits from. Reefphyto the link is in the description of the setting up the cuture video 😊

[@4SunnyinMiami2]

@@TheSaltyLife Thankyou😊

[@TheSaltyLife]

@@4SunnyinMiami2 your welcome 😊 hope you can get hold of one 😊

[@legalreefer4204]

Where is this harvest video we were promised

[@reefboy2558]

👍

[@Adammillett3]

Where did you get the copepod sieve?

[@TheSaltyLife]

Reefphyto.co.uk 😊

[@shubidubi88]

I wonder if feeding spirulina to copepods is ok? There's a spirulina company that claims that their spirulina can be fed to culture copepods

[@TheSaltyLife]

Spirulina shouldnt be a problem. I know someone who used that to feed their pods. But I have never used it myself so couldn't say for sure if it's the best way to feed a pod culture.

[@shubidubi88]

@@TheSaltyLife awesome. Ill give a try👍

[@TheSaltyLife]

@@shubidubi88 yeah see if it works...theres nothing wrong with a little experimentation. I hope it works out for you. 🙂🐠

[@rosihanhan3962]

Net size for copepod, please 🙏

[@14mailliw14]

Update pls and ty!

[@TheSaltyLife]

Hey William, I will do a update on the culture soon I have a few videos lined up before doing a pod update so if there is anything you would like to know or questions you have feel free to ask 😊

[@frontbattles8090]

@@TheSaltyLife soon? :P

[@thisisparta1]

how often do you water change?

[@TheSaltyLife]

Every 2-3 months 😊

[@nixvapper]

how about if we dont do water change just top off the water ?

[@TheSaltyLife]

When populations explode in your culture you will have to do a water change as the ammonia levels will rise and you will loose all your populations. Topping off will not prevent this. 😊

[@nixvapper]

@@TheSaltyLife i see , thank you for answer. i will try it , tired of buying every week.

[@TheSaltyLife]

@@nixvapper your welcome, good luck with your culture journey and yeah it will deffo save you money 😁

[@Koalavo]

are water changes mandatory? or can I just remove waste

[@TheSaltyLife]

Water changes are mandatory every now and again to keep ammonia and other nutrient levels down.

[@thisisparta1]

you cultured anything new lately? would be cool to get videos about culturing other things

[@TheSaltyLife]

I dont culture anything else. Copepods only.

[@nphuskerchic]

Is there a next video? Little concerned that you haven't posted in a while.

[@TheSaltyLife]

No this is the end of the little mini series on the copepod culture. I lost my culture due to a very hot heatwave we had here in the UK last year. But as my culture wasn't needed as I dont have a fish that primarily eats pods.. I saw no reason to set it back up. Thats no to say I won't set up a culture in the future. But if I do it will be when I next upgrade my tank and ill have a fuge in the sump. I'm active daily on instagram so if you ever have questions feel free to message me in there too! 😊

[@gunabal9655]

how to get mass culture of copepod

[@TanganyikaBbq]

hi Tanks for the nice video :-) #melvinthepufferfish

[@zachary_smith1]

No one ever covers the milk at bottom that has all the babies and eggs

[@a.j.gruening7705]

I live in Florida, I keep losing my pods

[@TheSaltyLife]

Hey alot of people lose their culture due to the culture crashing. Usually this is caused by over feeding and rising ammonia levels that become toxic and kill of the copepod populations.

[@danzo5521]

Florida will kill copepods because the strong magnetic fields

[@harlemscarlet]

@@danzo5521 huh? 🤔

[@danzo5521]

@@harlemscarlet i was trying to mess with the guy because he said he lived in florida, completely unrelated to culturing pods

[@harlemscarlet]

@@danzo5521 oh lol. Bcuz I live in Florida and I was like whoa, wait a minute, what?! 🤣

[@emmieshouseofcacti840]

When the last video gonna come me and my son waiting☺😉

[@TheSaltyLife]

Awww bless you guys! The culture is shut down for now. I lost my populations in the big heatwave we had here in the U.K in the summer. So will start it back up again if and when I get a fish that primarily eats pods. Like a manderin dragonet. 😊

[@emmieshouseofcacti840]

its was hot this summer in UK that's gutting u need to get back on it we want the harvesting as other on KZbin do it but make it fair to hard to follow 😁

[@TheSaltyLife]

@@emmieshouseofcacti840 oh really?!? I will set up another culture soon and I'll do a harvesting video for you 😊

[@emmieshouseofcacti840]

@@TheSaltyLife 😁thank u 😘

[@TheSaltyLife]

@@emmieshouseofcacti840 your welcome 😏

[@DARKSHADES]

Couldn’t you just pour it with the net covering lol

[@diegoliberty366]

Yes she could have. Not sure why she makes this more difficult than it has to be. 😆