PodDrop / find your culture

Find your culture.

Your reef. Your goal. A clearer starting point for live copepods and phytoplankton.

Find my starting point

01 / Your goal

What are you planning?

Choose the closest match. You will see a short list of cultures to consider, with the context that matters.

Select a goal to explore your starting options.

02 / Mandarin / dragonet

Build a feeding plan, not a one-bottle fix.

Start with small live prey and protected habitat. Tisbe and Apocyclops offer different habitat-use profiles; a blend offers a convenient introduction of both.

02 / Reef biodiversity

Start with the habitat you can provide.

For an appropriately cycled marine system, compare a small surface-associated culture with a mixed-habitat option. Choose one targeted species or a blend, rather than assuming you need every bottle.

02 / Protected population

Give the population somewhere to live.

Start with a culture suited to your refugium habitat. Small surface-associated copepods are a practical starting point; mixed-habitat copepods can add another feeding profile.

02 / Filter-feeder diets

Match the feed to what actually eats it.

Compare small flagellates, cryptophytes and blends for the animals in your system. The correct choice depends on feeding biology and cell size—not on choosing the darkest bottle.

02 / Separate culture feeding

Choose the copepod first. Then its food.

There is no single phytoplankton diet that is best for every copepod. Use the comparison guide and your culture protocol to choose a suitable species or a deliberate diet combination.

02 / Hatchery / research

Start with the larva, not the bottle size.

Compare naupliar prey profiles and build a stage-specific live-feed schedule. Parvocalanus, Oithona and Acartia are distinct options, not interchangeable answers for every larval species.

03 / Make it specific

Check the details.
Build the plan.

Compare the profiles before purchasing. Then use the sizing guide for aquarium starting ranges or contact PodDrop about a dedicated culture protocol.

Compare copepods →Compare phytoplankton →Open the sizing guide →Need help with a specific culture? →
Living cultures. Individual systems.

These are starting options, not a guarantee of biological results. Check the current species, life stages, handling instructions and availability on the product page. Store cultures according to their own instructions—not one universal refrigeration rule.

Sources, scope & how to use this guide

These comparisons are qualitative decision aids, not laboratory measurements of the bottles being sold. Biological traits can vary with strain, life stage and culture conditions. Suggested applications are editorial guidance; they are not promises of establishment, survival, growth, coral recovery or a complete diet.

Product identity, price and availability come from the current product listing. Check that listing and its handling instructions before purchasing. A reference-only profile does not indicate a product is available for sale. No claim of axenic, sterile or pathogen-free cultures is implied.

  1. UF/IFAS — Choosing an Appropriate Live Feed for Larviculture of Marine Fish
  2. Mass culture and offspring production of Tisbe biminiensis (2011)
  3. Ballesteros-Redondo et al. — Microalgal diets and Apocyclops panamensis (2023)
  4. Broach et al. — Baseline culture parameters for Oithona colcarva (2017)
  5. Original description of Tigriopus sirindhornae (2013)
  6. FAO — Manual on the Production and Use of Live Food: algal production
  7. FAO — Hatchery Culture of Bivalves: algal culture
  8. FAO — Nutritional value of microalgae
  9. Bendif et al. — Description of Tisochrysis lutea (2013)
  10. Silicon and Phaeodactylum tricornutum (2014)
  11. UTEX — Phaeodactylum tricornutum LB 642 strain record
  12. Latsos et al. — Rhodomonas salina culture, salinity and pH (2021)

Guide prepared September 2026. For a hatchery or research protocol, confirm the supplied culture identity and stage-specific requirements directly with PodDrop.