Aloha,
It's easy for any hobbyist to grow a decent population of the common bugs
in his or her aquariums. Simply feed powdered dry food and lots of crushed
meaty foods. The extra food feeds the bugs and builds up the population. I prefer to feed
a pinch Golden Pearls at night after the lights go out, just before going to bed. The 50-100 micron size Golden Pearls feed all kinds of tiny
mobile inverts and sessile filter feeders too. Within a few weeks of nightly feedings the population can double. I have a large bottle of GP and would be happy to share.
The other item that is helpful in building up the population of bugs is Phytoplankton/Single-celled Algae. The most economical way to do this is not to grow your own, but to use Algae Paste. I also have a large bottle that I am willing to share.
I'm pretty sure that Tigger pods (Tigriopis californicus) rarely multiply in our tanks.
Also, Rotifers are not "huge" and it's impossible to develop a decent sized Rotifer population in our tanks. Culturing Rotifers is not that difficult.
Sorry
for being critical, but if we are trying to grow a decent population
of "bugs" in our aquarium, I believe it's important to understand what
specific bugs we are talking about. The most common are Amphipods, also
called Grammerus. The second most common are various types of copepods. A population of Mysid Shrimp sometimes develops in our Refugiums. Mysid shrimp swimming around in the corner and doing figure eights are often mistaken for baby fish. Here
are pics for identification.
Amphipod - adult size up to 3/8"
Copepods - some adults up to 1/16". This pic shows various species and possibly some of the tiny Rotifers next to a hydroid in a new tank that developed a bloom of single celled algae
Mysid Shrimp - adult size up to 1/4"
Rotifer culture in a jar - adult size ~1/64"
Edited by Mark Peterson - October 30 2013 at 6:46pm
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