Tigger-Pods Refrigerated Live Copepods - 6oz Bottle

Live, Large, Red Tigriopus californicus Copepods

• Fantastic Live Food Source for Fish & Coral
• Each Bottle Contains Approximately 3,000 Copepods
• Perfect for Refugiums & Increasing Biodiversity
• Ideal for Feeding Mandarin Dragonets, Seahorses, and Pipefish
• Size Range: 250-1700 Microns

Copepods are tiny crustaceans that serve as a rich source of nutrition for fish and invertebrates in your saltwater aquarium. Adding live copepods to your tank helps support the natural diet of finicky feeders like Mandarin dragonets, Seahorses, and Pipefish. Beyond being a nutritious snack, copepods can also help create a more natural and balanced ecosystem within your aquarium by acting as tiny clean up crew members.

Reef Nutrition Tigger-Pods (Tigriopus californicus copepods) are a popular choice because they are easy to culture and perfect for propagation or restocking refugia. They breed rapidly, producing scores of eggs per female. Their jerky swimming motion stimulates a natural feeding response in fish.

Storage and Acclimation Recommendations

Storage: We recommend that you add Tigger-Pods the day you receive them.  If you need to hold them before adding, simply pop the cap and put them in the fridge for a few days. 

Receiving your Tigger-Pods: Upon arrival, you may notice the Tigger-Pods aren't very active. This is normal when cold shipped or cold stored. As the bottles warm up, the Tigger-Pods will become more active. It is not uncommon for a few of the oldest copepods to die from old age. Reef Nutrition packs the bottle with life stages above 300 microns, so the bottle will be full of juveniles and egg-bearing females. On average, they add at least 10% more in every bottle to account for any DOA. Each bottle contains approximately 3,000 copepods.  

Acclimation: Open bottle cap and remove the inside liner, if there is one. Let the bottle stand at room temp for 2 hours. The Tigger-Pods can be poured directly into your refugium and/or main tank.

Directions for Use

Establish in a refugium (Recommended method):

1. Pour in the Tigger-Pods and watch them settle in
2. Since some of the copepods will cling to the side of the bottle after pouring, make sure to rinse the remainders out with clean saltwater so that you get every last pod

Direct feed to fish, corals, and other inverts:

1. Turn off wavemakers and recirculating pump(s)
2. Pour in the Tigger-Pods and watch the feeding frenzy
3. A target feeding device is recommended for spot feeding corals
4. Since some of the copepods will cling to the side of the bottle after pouring, make sure to rinse the remainders out with clean saltwater so that you get every last pod

Establish in a display:

1. Turn off the lights, wavemakers and recirculating pump(s)
2. Remove filter socks and floss. Replace the next morning
3. Pour in the Tigger-Pods and wait for 30 minutes
4. Return the system to normal function
5. Since some of the copepods will cling to the side of the bottle after pouring, make sure to rinse the remainders out with clean saltwater so that you get every last pod

Care and Feeding

Copepods are relatively easy to care for and maintain. They feed primarily on microalgae and can be fed phytoplankton-based product blends such as Phyto-Feast.

Copepods can live in your main tank, your refugium, or in a separate dedicated system. In your main tank, they will be eaten and depleted by your fish and corals. In your refugium they will thrive since there are no predators. Pods from your refugium can be periodically harvest and fed to your main tank.

Copepods like to remain inconspicuous, so they will prefer an environment with nooks and crannies. In your main tank they will hide in your live rock and substrate. In your refugium they will hide in your macroalgae and rubble rock.

Note: Due to customs restrictions, we are unable to ship this product to Canada.