REEFreshments®: Tisbe Live Copepods (8 oz.)
SKU:
$17.99
$17.99 - $38.97
per item
REEFreshments®: Tisbe Live Copepods is a single-specie (Tisbe biminiensis) starter culture, containing 1,500+ adult and juvenile aquacultured live copepods. Tisbe are the perfect food for finicky fish (e.g., dragonets and wrasses) and corals, contribute to an aquarium's clean-up crew, and help maintain a balanced ecosystem.
About REEFreshments® Tisbe Live Copepods
Our Tisbe starter culture is perfect for aquarists who are interested in raising their own Tisbe biminiensis copepods or who want to give their aquarium inhabitants a delicious snack. Tisbe biminiensis are a harpacticoid copepod, meaning that they are bottom-dwellers (benthic). In addition to consuming microalgae, Tisbe biminiensis serve as scavengers, contributing to an aquarium's clean-up crew. They are a hardy copepod, they reproduce very quickly, and they can be easily cultured in the main display, a refugium, or in a separate dedicated system by simply adding our Live Phytoplankton.
Directions for Dosing
- Allow bottle to warm to aquarium temperature before dosing.
- Can be used as a broadcast or target feed.
- Can be added directly to display, refugium, or seperate culture vessel.
- We recommend to turn off skimmer(s) and return pump(s) before adding our Tisbe and leave this equipment off for 15 minutes to ~2 hours to allow animals to consume the live feeds.
- If you choose NOT to turn off your return pump(s), then we recommend to remove micron filter socks for 24 hours when dosing Tisbe.
Shelf Life and Storage Instructions
- Average shelf life of our Tisbe is 6-8 weeks.
- We recommend to REFRIGERATE Tisbe between 33-42˚F.
- Do NOT freeze Tisbe!
Instructions for Culturing Tisbe Live Copepods
While our REEFreshments®: Tisbe Live Copepods can be fed directly to your aquarium, some customers may choose to culture the copepods in a separate culture tank for a continuous food source for their aquarium. Instructions for culturing our Tisbe are as follows:
Preparation of Culture Tank:
To culture our copepods, first prepare a culture tank. A culture tank can be anything that holds water -- Even something as simple as a 5 gallon bucket will work. Fill the culture tank with premixed saltwater (specific gravity ~1.024 and temperature of 70F-76F). Add a small sponge filter for aeration/filtration and set it to a light rolling bubble. Add low light.
Adding the Copepods:
Sieve the bottle of Tisbe with a fine mesh sieve or net, and add your sieved copepods to the culture tank. We recommend inoculating new cultures at a ratio of one 8 oz. bottle of REEFreshments®: Tisbe to 1 gallon of saltwater.
Feeding the Copepods:
Copepods thrive on phytoplankton and detritus. We recommend adding our REEFreshments®: Live Phytoplankton to feed copepod cultures. Feeding requirements depend on the density of the copepod culture. A good rule of thumb is to add enough phytoplankton to always to keep the water tinted to ensure that the copepods have a continuous microalgae supply.
Maintenance of the Copepods:
Adequate water quality of the culture is of paramount importance. Water quality should be tested on a daily basis and necessary adjustments made accordingly (e.g., maintaining pH). If water analyses indicate a spike in ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate, perform a water change until these parameters are back at ~0ppm.
Copepod Life Cycle:
On average it takes about three weeks for copepods to mature from an egg to an adult. Be patient with your cultures. It may take a few weeks before you observe copepod densities increasing, as the young nauplii are difficult to see with the naked eye.
Preparation of Culture Tank:
To culture our copepods, first prepare a culture tank. A culture tank can be anything that holds water -- Even something as simple as a 5 gallon bucket will work. Fill the culture tank with premixed saltwater (specific gravity ~1.024 and temperature of 70F-76F). Add a small sponge filter for aeration/filtration and set it to a light rolling bubble. Add low light.
Adding the Copepods:
Sieve the bottle of Tisbe with a fine mesh sieve or net, and add your sieved copepods to the culture tank. We recommend inoculating new cultures at a ratio of one 8 oz. bottle of REEFreshments®: Tisbe to 1 gallon of saltwater.
Feeding the Copepods:
Copepods thrive on phytoplankton and detritus. We recommend adding our REEFreshments®: Live Phytoplankton to feed copepod cultures. Feeding requirements depend on the density of the copepod culture. A good rule of thumb is to add enough phytoplankton to always to keep the water tinted to ensure that the copepods have a continuous microalgae supply.
Maintenance of the Copepods:
Adequate water quality of the culture is of paramount importance. Water quality should be tested on a daily basis and necessary adjustments made accordingly (e.g., maintaining pH). If water analyses indicate a spike in ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate, perform a water change until these parameters are back at ~0ppm.
Copepod Life Cycle:
On average it takes about three weeks for copepods to mature from an egg to an adult. Be patient with your cultures. It may take a few weeks before you observe copepod densities increasing, as the young nauplii are difficult to see with the naked eye.