Dr. Mac’s Pod Pub Copepod Crush #4 – Tetraselmis Super Feeder Mix

Dr. Mac’s Pod Pub Copepod Crush #4 is a Tetraselmis algae super feeder mix designed to support pods, filter feeders, and reef nutrition.

We grow Tisbee and T-cal (Tigriopus californicus pods-essential food for Mandarins and other smaller fish plus all types of corals and inverts

Care Guide
Live foods should be refrigerated immediately upon arrival and gently shaken before each use to keep organisms evenly suspended. Feed small amounts regularly to target corals, filter feeders, pods, and reef fish while avoiding overfeeding. For best results, add live foods with return pumps or protein skimmers temporarily reduced to allow more time for feeding response and consumption. Store refrigerated at recommended temperatures and avoid exposure to heat, freezing, or prolonged direct light to maintain maximum nutritional value and live culture viability.

16 oz. Add One to Your Order!

Why Go Live?

Since 2000 we have been growing and selling thousands of coral frags annually. One of the secrets to our success is our feeding regime. Over the years we have tried a huge variety of foods from dead prepared foods to live foods. We discovered that live foods do not pollute our systems while providing the ultimate in nutrition. We also found that the best times to feed each coral varies. Some are best to feed when the lights are on and others are fed when the lights have been off for a while and their polyps are extended. During the last couple of years we have begun to feed our own in-house grown live foods exclusively with great success due to a marked improvement in coral coloration and increased growth. While we have been aquaculturing corals since 2000, the recent coral export bans have made our culturing efforts all the more important. In order to achieve the best growth and color proper nutrition is critical.  Now, we are releasing our live food blends so you can realize the maximum genetic potential from your reef too!

Feeding your reef typical prepared (dead) foods adds to the nutrient and waste levels in your tank leading to nuisance algae, deteriorating water chemistry, and subsequently poor coral health, growth, and coloration. Feeding our live foods does not increase waste, provides a naturally balanced diet along with natural vitamins, fatty acids, and amino acids. Regular feedings of our live foods will make your reef come alive! Corals will grow faster and color up better than ever before. Fish will be healthier and more active! Feeding our live foods eliminates the need for amino acid of other color enhancing supplements because our foods provide all your reef’s nutritional needs!

Microscopic algae-Phytoplanton-are at the core of our live foods. Phytoplankton provide valuable phytonutrients and biologically active ingredients including essential fatty acids, amino acids, sterols, organic minerals, enzymes, carotenoids, chlorophyll, trace elements, and vitamins. We grow many different species of phytoplankton. Each has a different nutritional profile with each providing different essential nutrients. By mixing different phytoplankton we achieve a complete and naturally balanced diet. We culture the following phytoplankton: Isochrysis, Nanocloropsis, Thalassiosira, Tetraselmis, Nannoclorposis, Pavlova, and Chaetoceros. As examples of their different nutritional profiles: Isochrysis has a high DHA fatty acid content, Thalassiosira has higher EPA fatty acid content, Tetraselmis has very high lipid content and natural amino acids that stimulates feeding responses. Each of the Phytoplankton we grow has different nutritional benefits and when combined provide a reef super food! However, not all reef animals in our tanks are able to directly utilize the nutrients within the cell walls of phytoplankton. So, we feed our reef super food to other critters (brine shrimp, rotifers, copepods) that can digest the phytoplankton and when eaten by your reef animals they can then gain all the benefits found in phytoplankton. This is all part or a natural feeding web as found in nature. There are no additives or artificial ingredients!

We grow a variety of zooplankton live foods in small batches for better quality control. We culture copepods: Tisbe and T-cal (Tigriopus californicus), Rotifers, and Brine Shrimp-all life stages from freshly hatched to adult. We feed them a variety of phytoplankton, as they digest those phytoplankton and are fed to your reef the brine shrimp, rotifers, and copepods then pass on the essential nutrients from the phytoplankton to your reef animals. Each of these live foods is a different size, some appeal to smaller polyp corals and others to larger polyp corals. By feeding a variety of our foods you can provide complete and balanced nutrition to all your corals, inverts, and fish.