Tisbe the most popular aquarium Pod -they consumes your aquarium’s wastes and detritus, reproduce well, and are food for a multitude of reef inhabitants!ReefPods™ Tisbe is a live culture of the harpacticoid copepod Tisbe biminiensis. Tisbe adult copepods live on bottom substrate such as live rock or sand and will eat detritus and microalage in the aquarium. They produce a small nauplii which is an excellent food for aquarium filter feeders and fish larvae. The adults are eaten by small bottom feeding fish such as gobies, dragonettes and blennies.ReefPods™ Tisbe may be used as a starter culture to add to marine aquarium refugiums or the main tank. Once established they will reproduce quickly, growing from nauplii to adults in about nine days. They will thrive in a wide range of aquarium temperatures and a wide range of salinities. It is suggested they be added to the aquarium at night or to the refugium to avoid immediate fish predation.
ReefPods™ Tisbe may be cultured separately in a small tank by feeding PhycoPure™ CopePod Blend™. The nauplii are 55-140 micrometers wide, making them suitable for many fish larvae. Adults may be harvested for feeding juvenile seahorses and other small fish.
Reef Pods™ are the only truly tropical live copepod cultures available on the market today. It opens an exciting new area of feeding possibilities for the experimental marine aquarist. Look for many new species of copepod cultures to be available from the culture professionals at AlgaGen.
Aquarium Applications
Tisbe is an excellent all purpose aquarium copepod owing to its role in the natural environment as a detritivore. An opportunist feeder, Tisbe can be used as a tank cleaner consuming uneaten food and wastes as well as phytoplankton in the tank and refugium. Tisbe is capable of producing many eggs during its adult life span that hatch into nauplii which will enter the water column as food for your filter feeding reef inhabitants and replenish the adult population vital to tank hygiene. Tisbe adults and juveniles may also enter the water column and be tasty and nutritious treats for your reef fish!
Culturing tips
Tisbe can be cultured in containers as small as one gallon. Tisbe are tolerant to a wide range of water quality, which requires culture containers to be cleaned no more than once per week when the copepods are not overfed. Tisbe can be cultured continuously for months in an ecologically established low-density culture similar to an aquarium refugium when small amounts of live microalgae are added periodically. When high densities and maximum egg production are desired, live microalgae should be fed at a rate sufficient to be “cleared” within 18-24 hours.
Acclimation upon receipt
Upon receipt of your Tisbe starter culture, open the bottle and smell the culture water. It will be normal to smell a sweet salt smell or even a slightly earthy smell. It will not be normal to smell rotten eggs. Do not use your copepods if a rotten odor is detected. Tisbe tolerates a wide range of temperatures and salinities and doesn’t usually require water-parameter acclimation. Healthy Tisbe can be added directly to the main aquarium, sump, refugium or culture containers.
