How to Culture Copepods

Written By Björn

Copepods are one of the most valuable live foods in a reef aquarium. They're packed with nutrients, perfect for finicky fish and fry, and help clean up detritus and microalgae. Best of all? They're surprisingly easy to culture at home.

What You’ll Need

  1. A clean container (2 –10L works great)

  2. Saltwater (1.020–1.025 salinity)

  3. Live phytoplankton (as a food source)

  4. Starter culture of copepods

  5. Gentle aeration (stone or airlift)

  6. Test kits

  7. Thermometer

Step-by-Step

1. Set Up the Tank
Fill your container with clean saltwater and add a bubbler. Avoid aggressive flow — copepods like calm water.

2. Add Phytoplankton
Dose live phytoplankton daily or as needed to keep the water tinted green. This feeds the pods and keeps the water healthy.

3. Introduce Copepods
Pour in your starter pod culture. Tisbe, Apocyclops, and Tigriopus are popular choices depending on your goals.

4. Harvest Slowly
Wait 5–7 days before the first harvest. Use a fine mesh sieve or turkey baster to remove pods and feed them to your tank. Always leave some behind to repopulate.

5. Maintain
Top up evaporated water with fresh RODI, feed phyto consistently, and avoid crashing the culture with overharvesting or poor water quality.

Pro Tips

  1. Split your culture into two containers as backup

  2. Keep temps stable (18–26°C)

  3. Avoid light starvation — copepods need phyto daily

Start your own culture

To start your own copepod culture, you will need both of these:

 
Björn
Previous

How to Culture Phytoplankton