Copepods are the second largest source of protein in the oceans, second only to krill. They are the natural food of many fish in the oceans, especially the early life stages.

Some fish will not eat non-living foods, and require live feeds such as copepods and mysids. Some good examples are: mandarin gobies, any seahorse species, scooter blennies, and early life stages of dottybacks, chromis, tangs, flame angels, etc. Owner's of these type of fish definitely need a consistent and reliable source of copepods for feeding.

Reef tank systems do better when there are a variety of natural organisms to maintain the ecological balance. The reason that "live rock" or "live sand" is such a great item is that it provides a foundation for healthy microorganisms that will allow the larger, more visible fish and invertebrates to thrive.

Over time, the population of the invertebrates from the live rock will naturally decline, as they are grazed by the corals, anemones, fish and shrimp in the tank.

Mangroves & More's copepods are a great way to boost your natural populations of copepods. 

 

 

Copepods are detritivores and will stay in your tank without any additional food.

ACCLIMATION

Mangroves & More's Copepods are shipped at 28 ppt to 32 ppt salinity (1.022 to 1.025). Copepods will settle to the bottom during shipping, so if you receive them and don't see any, try shaking it up.

 

Baby Brine shrimp:

Brine shrimp are a superlative food for starting a large number of aquatic larvae...fish, newts, salamaners, frogs...even shrimp do very well on newly hatched baby brine shrimp. However, there are few fish that do better with other foods. Hatched on a daily basis so your supply reaches you in the best possible condition.

Live Adult Brine Shrimp are tiny reddish brown crustaceans that are approximately 3/16" - 1/4" in length, and are an ideal food source for finicky eaters such as seahorses, pipefish, mandarin fish and other dragonets.

Brine Shrimp are non-selective, filter feeding invertebrates, and consume algae, bacteria, diatoms, and microbes. To maintain long term, keep in a small aquarium or 5-gallon bucket by themselves with an air-driven sponge filter. Live Brine Shrimp should be fed liquid Phytoplankton or Brine Shrimp Food like Isochrysis when maintaining these animals for more than a few days.

 

For short term storage, keeping them in the unopened bag (there is enough pure oxygen sealed in the bag for 3 days) and placing the bag in a 10ºc refrigerator works well.

 

Rotifers:

Rotifers (Brachionus plicatilis) are very tiny animals measuring between 130-200 micrometers. Rotifers are often raised as food for live corals and fish larvae. They are the ideal starter food for species of fish such as clownfish fry which have tiny larvae with very,  tiny mouths.

Almost any marine aquarium will benefit from the addition of rotifers, Their size and excellent nutritional value and make them the perfect live food for all (freshwater and marine) fry, anemones, sponges etc.

 

Phytoplankton: