Bring it inside
Remove the shipment from outdoor conditions promptly and keep bottles away from direct sun, heaters, freezing surfaces, or hot vehicles.
PodDrop / After Delivery
Receiving Your Live Cultures
Everything you need to know from delivery to introduction — with separate handling paths for live copepods, phytoplankton, blends and starter packs.
First steps
The first few minutes matter.
Live cultures can settle, separate, warm or cool in transit, and very small organisms may be difficult to see at first glance. Start with the package condition and the correct handling path before deciding whether something is wrong.
Inspect before changing anything
Confirm the labels and look for leaks, broken seals, unusual damage, or a clear product mismatch while the shipment is still in its arrival condition.
Document a concern first
If something appears wrong, take clear photos before discarding, transferring, feeding, or altering the culture further. The live-arrival reporting window is time-sensitive.
Use the right guide
Copepods and phytoplankton are handled differently. Blends and starter packs may contain multiple culture types that should not all be stored or introduced the same way.
Live copepods
Inspect. Introduce. Give them habitat.
Adult copepods may be easy to spot, while juveniles and nauplii can be extremely small. Settling on the bottle, clustering near surfaces, or disappearing quickly into reef structure after introduction can all be normal.
1. Inspect the bottle
- View the bottle against both a light and dark background under good room lighting.
- Gently roll or invert the bottle to redistribute organisms that have settled; avoid aggressive shaking.
- Do not judge the entire culture by how many large adults are immediately visible. Life-stage mix and species size affect visibility.
- A bottle arriving at room temperature or warmer than expected does not, by itself, establish loss of viability.
2. Prepare the system
- Use the culture promptly unless the product label provides a different holding instruction.
- If aquarium temperature or salinity differs materially from the culture water, make the transition gradually rather than holding the organisms unnecessarily.
- For reef seeding, a dimmer-light period and protected rockwork or refugium habitat can reduce immediate predation pressure.
- Where practical, temporarily pause UV, skimming and mechanical filtration during introduction so the organisms can disperse before normal filtration resumes.
3. Introduce the culture
- Distribute the culture near rockwork, substrate, macroalgae or other protected habitat appropriate to your goal.
- For refugium seeding, add directly to the protected zone rather than relying on organisms to pass through pumps first.
- Resume normal system operation after the culture has had time to disperse into the aquarium or refugium.
- After introduction, reduced visibility is expected. Copepods often move into crevices, substrate, macroalgae and other protected surfaces.
Visibility is not a population count. Species, life stage, bottle geometry, light and settling all affect what you can see without magnification. Establishment and reproduction after introduction are biological outcomes and are not part of live-arrival coverage.
Live phytoplankton
Mix gently. Store correctly. Keep it clean.
Live phytoplankton strains differ in cell size, pigment, density and storage tolerance. Color and opacity can vary substantially between species, so appearance alone should not be used as a universal measure of cell count or culture quality.
1. Inspect & remix
- Check the bottle and seal for leaks or damage before use.
- Gently invert or roll the bottle until settled cells are redistributed. Avoid violent shaking.
- Some settling or a visible density gradient can occur during storage or shipment and may be normal for the strain.
- Green, gold, brown, red and other pigment profiles are species-dependent. Do not compare unlike strains by color alone.
2. Store by the label
- Follow the storage direction on the specific bottle or product instructions; storage requirements can vary by strain and intended use.
- If refrigeration is specified, refrigerate promptly and do not freeze.
- Keep capped product away from direct sunlight and unnecessary heat exposure during storage.
- Minimize repeated warming, prolonged open-bottle time and contact with unclean tools.
3. Dose or culture cleanly
- Remix gently immediately before measuring a dose or inoculum.
- Use clean measuring tools and avoid returning aquarium-exposed pipettes, syringes or cups to the bottle.
- For reef dosing, follow the product-specific dosing guidance rather than assuming all strains are interchangeable.
- For culture use, start with clean vessels and appropriate sterile or disinfected media, salinity, nutrients and lighting for the strain.
Reef dosing and culture inoculation are different uses. A bottle used as a clean inoculum should be protected from aquarium tools and cross-contamination. Follow strain-specific culture instructions when propagating phytoplankton.
Blends & starter packs
Treat the system as coordinated cultures — not one bottle.
A copepod blend can contain multiple copepod species in one bottle, while a starter pack may contain separate copepod and phytoplankton products. Follow each label and keep storage requirements separate.
Step 01
Identify each culture
Read every bottle label before opening. Do not assume all components have the same storage, handling or dosing requirements.
Step 02
Seed the live prey
When the pack is designed for reef seeding, introduce the copepod component into protected habitat according to the copepod guidance above.
Step 03
Support the food web
Use the included phytoplankton according to its label and intended purpose. Allow protected populations time to move into habitat rather than expecting immediate visible establishment.
Quick answers
What is normal?
These are common receiving questions. Product-specific instructions and the Live Arrival Policy control when they differ from this general guide.
I do not see many copepods. Does that mean the bottle is dead?
No. Some species and early life stages are very small, and organisms can settle or collect along bottle surfaces. Gently redistribute the bottle and inspect under good lighting against contrasting backgrounds. If you still believe there is a live-arrival issue, document the bottle before transferring or discarding it and follow the policy.
The bottle arrived warm. Is that automatically a DOA?
No. Arrival temperature by itself does not establish viability. Move the shipment indoors, inspect the product in its arrival condition, and follow the product-specific receiving steps. If there is a concern, document it promptly.
My phytoplankton has settled. Is that normal?
Settling can occur with live phytoplankton. Gently invert or roll the bottle to redistribute the cells. The degree of settling, color and opacity varies by strain, so appearance alone should not be used as a universal quality or cell-count test.
Should every phytoplankton bottle go straight into the refrigerator?
Follow the storage instruction on that specific bottle or product page. Different strains and culture-intended products can have different handling requirements. If refrigeration is specified, refrigerate promptly and never freeze the culture.
Should I keep copepods in the shipping bottle for later?
Use live copepods promptly unless the product provides a specific holding instruction. A shipping bottle is intended for transit, not indefinite culture or long-term storage.
What should I do if something genuinely looks wrong?
Stop before discarding or transferring the product. Take clear photos of the shipment and affected culture, keep the packaging, note the order number and carrier delivery time, and submit the concern within the reporting window in the Live Arrival Policy.
Something does not look right?
Document first. Then contact PodDrop.
If a live product appears compromised on arrival, the Live Arrival Policy requires a complete initial report within 2 hours of the carrier’s recorded delivery time. Photograph the shipment before discarding, transferring, feeding, or altering the culture further.