Zooplankton

Discover the Power of Bulldawg Reef's Zooplankton for Your Reef!

Why should you add copepods to your system? They are a great micro clean up crew member to add to your current clean up crew team. They are also helpful to get some finicky eaters such as seahorses, pipefish, dragonets, etc. to eat due to their erratic jerking swimming motions. They eat micro algae, phytoplankton, uneaten food and detritus. Once they eat the phytoplankton all of the various benefits of the strain are passed to it. Once it is consumed by coral or fish, again the benefits pass on! Good source of protein for fish and depending on what phytoplankton mix you feed them they can be gut loaded with a number of other things such as vitamins, omega 3s, amino acids, and even pigments. 

Each species also serves a different purpose in terms of clean up crew. Tisbe b. are small and can get into the smallest spaces, they graze primarily on rocks, substrate and glass. Tigriopus c. are large and primarily feed in the water column making them also a great food source for finicky eaters like seahorses, mandarins and pipefish. Apocalypse p. are small to large and feed both on the water column and graze on rocks, glass and substrate. Having all 3 species colonizing in your reef system will cover all your bases in terms of nutrition for fish and clean up crew needs! 

As with any pod species, they should be added to the refugium to be able to establish a population without predators so that they can continuously feed the reef above! We recommend using a pod hotel in the refugium to help move the pods to the display weekly to replish the colony that’s feeding the fish and corals above. Here is our dosing guide for pods:

Once you receive a bottle of pods open the top and let them get some oxygen. Pods are meant to be dosed all at once and never to be put in the refrigerator. Before you dose the pods into your tank turn off the lights and turn off the flow. Leave these off for 20-30 minutes, you can also dose at lights out time instead of turning off lights for a period of time. 

We recommend creating 2 colonies by splitting your bottle between your sump and display. Put 1/3 of the bottle in the sump and the rest in the display. If you have a pod hotel place it in the sump and weekly pull it out and shake it into the display. This will help replenish the pod colony in the display!

These are 100% aquacultured here in house at Bulldawg Reef. We recommend feeding pods any one of our Bulldawg Reef Juice blends based on what benefits you are hoping to give to your reef! Below are some of the nutritional and basic information on each of our 3 species.

Apocalypse panamensis 
  • Nutritional Information:
    • Great source of highly unsaturated fats, omega 3 fatty acids, amino acids protein, and high amounts of a xanthophyll carotenoid, astaxanthin.
  • Size:
    • 70 - 700
  • Reproduction Rate:
    • Rapid reproduction rate with short gestation period. Lay eggs every 4-6 days, which is about twice as fast as our other species.
  • Reef Benefits and General Information
    • Crawls on rocks, and glass, but most importantly the adults will swim through the water column feeding on detritus, phytoplankton, algae, bacteria, and ciliates. By doing this they help improve your water clarity by cleaning the water column. Great food source for finicky eaters that prefer live foods such as seahorses, pipe dragons, anthias, wrasse and mandarins. Eggs released from females are a great food source for corals and filter feeders. 

Tigriopus californicus

  • Nutritional Information:
    • Great source of highly unsaturated fats, omega 3 – fatty acids as well as amino acids and a xanthophyll carotenoid, astaxanthin.
  • Size:
    • 250-1500 Microns
  • Reproduction Rate:
    • High fertility rates, coupled with a short gestation period along with females producing around 300 offspring. Reproduction rate gets higher in warmer water.
  • Reef Benefits and General Information
    • Red in color and has a 70-day lifespan and can handle large temperature swings between 40 and 90 degrees. Tigs swim in the water column and make a jerking motion that will attract fish. They also consume detritus, phytoplankton, and unwanted algae in the aquarium. Great food source for finicky eaters that prefer live foods such as seahorses, pipe dragons, anthias, wrasse and mandarins. Eggs released from females are a great food source for corals and filter feeders.

Tisbe biminiesis

  • Nutritional Information:
    • Rich in lipids such as fatty acids, and from studies done they are creating their own polyunsaturated fats ARA, DHA, and EPA. Great source of protein for fish, as their mass is 40-50% protein!
  • Reproduction Rate:
    • Tisbe have a high production rate and a short gestation period.
  • Size:
    • The nauplii 10-20 microns and adults are 40-60 microns.
  • Reef Benefits and General Information
    • Tisbe belong to the harpacticoid copepod family and are very small so they can get into virtually any tight space to eat microalgae, fish waste, phytoplankton, diatoms, bacteria (like biofilms), fungi, uneaten food and detritus. They are also very adaptable and can handle large swings in reef parameters. Great food source for finicky eaters that prefer live foods such as seahorses, pipe dragons, anthias, wrasse and mandarins. Eggs released from females are a great food source for corals and filter feeders.