Copepod Culture Quarantine

[Tlindsey]

Don't know why I waited all these years 😆 not having them in atleast one of my aquariums. 

Long story short collected a few from a small lake near me.

It's been around 2 months having them in a large plastic container with airstone.

How long have anyone quarantined their copepod culture?

I did put a couple in my pipefish aquarium last weekend. Observed the aquarium for any activity with my magnifying glass non noticed. 

 

[Kit Craft]

I've never quarantined them because I have never intentionally introduced them, they just show up. In fact, I had never noticed any until I started a shrimp and snail jar. Maybe because there are no fish to eat them or maybe because I use live plants and botanicals now whereas I didn't before. Anyway, loads of them in my 2.5 gallon pink Ramshorn jar.

 

[Stunning fish]

Normal practice for cultures of such is to take a small percentage of the culture and restart it in jars, over and over until you only see the desired species. They can get fickle.

Getting them established into a tank with active predators is kinda annoying but not impossible, the goal is to get them into the hiding places they'll breed in.

The population growth will slow whenever you add excess water conditioner. Unsure of the reason. Off gassing the conditioner or chlorine works fine.

If there are no predators in the tank you probably wont notice the lack of productivity but if you want to keep up with fish hunting, it only takes the population being weak to wipe it out, have had them disappear from my sanded tank, but gravel ones seemed to handle it better,

If you have plants and are about to plant them in to the tank, dip the roots into the culture then plant them in the tank, some should make it under the substrate and multiply, pretty easy just wont be sure of results for awhile, like months. Most reproduce asexually so you only need one that isn't being hunted down before it multiples to have them

turkey basting them under the substrate make work too, just haven't tested it,

large enough gravel or a substrate they can escape from fish is a perfect breeding habitat for most Meiofauna. If you add lava rock,  the internal passageways get colonized by them too, safe from hungry fish.

I enjoy them quite a lot, make the fish seem happier and that's what I'm here for, Hope this isn't too much

[Tlindsey]

@Stunning fish thanks for sharing your experience. I will try adding a few in a aquarium that has gravel,  plants, and algae. Thanks again!