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Harvesting copepods

hotweldfire

hotweldfire

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Joined
23 Mar 2011
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Location
South London
Apologies if this is the wrong forum for this topic.

I have a new nano that's been cycling for a couple of months and am probably going to introduce some shrimp to it next week. In the meantime it has become a playground for an array of microorganisms. Primarily copepods but also a few worms (not planaria) and some tiny dark louse like creatures that like to hang out on the roots of my frogbit.

I'm sorely tempted to introduce some microrasbora in here as I think they'd have a field day on all this live food. However, I'm also somewhat uncomfortable with putting fish in a tiny 12 litre tank, even chilis.

Instead I was thinking I could use these creatures as a live food source for the fish in my main tank. Anybody have any ideas for catching them?
 
Hi all,
Anybody have any ideas for catching them?
Click to expand...
As you've probably found now they are really difficult to catch, much more difficult than Daphnia etc. The best hope would be to syphon most of the water out and then pour it through a fine net to collect the Copepods etc. (or just water change the water + microfauna it onto the tank with the fish in it). I use my water butts a bit like this and they "trickle feed" live food into the tanks with each water change.

Personally I'd be tempted to try the Microraspbora in the tank, it won't take them very long to eat all the microfauna, so you would only have to leave them in the tank for ~48 hours, although you may then struggle to catch them as well.

It should prove entertaining to watch as well, watching a fish with a small mouth, that isn't used to eating live food, trying to catch a Cyclops etc is priceless. After a while they get better at it.

cheers Darrel
 
Thanks Darrel. I have to admit I am seriously struggling to resist the temptation to buy them. I'm only 10 mins from aquatic design centre in london and I know they had some in stock last time I was around. However, if they go in then they're not coming out any time soon. Don't have another tank for them to go in to right now. Might just go with 6.

My main concern apart from the size of the tank is the desk it sits on. When I type the whole thing vibrates a bit, as does the tank. Would be a bit like living in an earthquake zone for them.
 
Agree with Darrell. If not those fish, why not have a look at the Daniola Dracula, tiny little fish that are very interesting to watch. As well as the Indostomus crocodilus another micro fish that loves live food and copepods, ostrocods etc
 
ah, i have 42 of those :) 3 did not make it through the quarantine :( my first losses
 
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