Why don't retailers stock refugium critters?

[2poor2reef]

Seems like many of us hobbyists are spending a lot of money shipping small crustaceans from online retailers. Why don't any of the retailers stock live mysid, copepods, amphipods and such? I'm sure a few do but I've never seen a single LFS do so.

Seems like it would be a profitable product as the space requirements would be small, they breed like crazy, and folks are willing to pay quite a bit considering the alternative will set you back quite a bit for overnight delivery.

 

[JennM]

If I knew where to buy them, I would.

Never see them on stock lists.

Jenn

 

[Anonymous]

Seems like it would be a profitable product as the space requirements would be small, they breed like crazy, and folks are willing to pay quite a bit considering the alternative will set you back quite a bit for overnight delivery.

Most retail systems are not set up to be 'pod friendly. Most do not use natural systems that promote the breeding of such critters and thus simply do not have them to sell.

We do use a natural system (no mechanical filtration - period, DSB's, LR for bio-filtration etc) and our tanks are TEEMING with pods and larvae. However the problem is efficient and consistant packaging. I have not been able to determine a reliable method for regularly harvesting these critters. We will often sell sand starter cultures and bristleworms and whatnot but each starter culture has some variability in population density.

 

[Chucker]

Collection of said critters is also labor-intensive. I found this out after asking for a volume discount from IA once on certain items. They declined, as even if you plan on ordering ~100 mini-brittle stars, it doesn't make picking them out of their hidey-holes any easier.

 

[2poor2reef]

I can understand if they are being grown in a natural system. I would have thought there would be a way to grow them in a dedicated setup, adding the new foods we have available en masse, with bare bottomed, densely populated smaller tanks. Perhaps I'm wrong.

Seems though, that if it can be done with brine shrimp, we might be able to do it with mysid, amphipods, and copepods.

 

[JennM]

I've cultured brine, copepods and amphipods (all separately.....)

My brine thrives on neglect. Amphipods in a small 10 g with a sponge filter and some rubble...shake off the sponge to collect the pods and copepods in greenwater......they take a long time to establish.

I have mini stars in my refugium but wouldn't know how to begin collecting them one by one.....I'm lucky to see one on the glass now and again.

Jenn