Dinkins Tigriopus Copepods (Tigriopus californicus)

Dinkins Aquatic Gardens Live Tigriopus Copepods (Tigriopus californicus) are the big, bright, tank-bred workhorse pod every reef keeper wants. These large harpacticoid copepods are packed with natural astaxanthin, so they double as a color-boosting live food and a self-sustaining cleanup crew that grazes detritus and algae film. Their bright movement in the water column is exactly what triggers a feeding response in picky fish. Pour some into the display for an instant feast, or seed a refugium and let them multiply. Explore the rest of our saltwater livestock and reef supplies to round out the tank.

Why Tigriopus Pods

• Built for finicky eaters: the top live food for getting mandarins and scooter dragonets, wrasses, seahorses, and anthias eating and thriving.
• Large and hardy: Tigriopus are one of the biggest, toughest pod species, easy to see and slow to crash, so more of them survive to reproduce in your system.
• Color boost: naturally rich in astaxanthin, the pigment that deepens reds and oranges in reef fish and corals.
• Refugium powerhouse: establishes a breeding population in a sump or refugium that feeds your tank around the clock.
• Coral and cleanup: nauplii and adults feed corals and filter feeders while the population grazes nuisance film across rock and glass.

How to Use

• Acclimate briefly, then turn off pumps and skimmer for 30 to 60 minutes so the pods can settle instead of being blown around or skimmed out.
• To feed fish, pour a portion directly into the display near the rockwork after lights out or during a low-flow period.
• To seed a population, add the bottle to a refugium or sump with chaeto or an Adaptive Reef pod habitat where they can breed undisturbed.
• Feed the pods with live phytoplankton to keep the colony growing between orders.

Available Sizes

Specifications

Recommended Pairings

• Dinkins Live Phytoplankton, the food that keeps your pod population booming
• Dinkins Reef Snacklebox, a three-species pod blend for even more biodiversity
• Adaptive Reef Copepod Habitat, a protected in-sump breeding shelter
• Scooter and mandarin dragonets, the fish these pods were made to feed

FAQ

Why copepods instead of just frozen food?
Live pods trigger a natural hunting response, which is often the only way to get a mandarin or dragonet to eat. They also reproduce in your tank, giving your fish a food source between feedings.

Will they survive at reef temperature?
Yes. Tigriopus are famously tolerant and thrive across the temperature and salinity range found in a normal reef tank, which is a big part of why they establish so well.

How do I keep the population going?
Seed a refugium or protected sump area, dose live phytoplankton to feed them, and avoid dumping the whole bottle straight into high flow where pumps and skimmers remove them.

Do I need to refrigerate them?
Keep the bottle cool and out of direct sun and use them within a few days. We hold them cool for you right up until pickup.