copepod question

[sid700]

Hello.

Question - Do copepod population grow in cycles, regardless of feeding frequency (or amount)? Or does overfeeding trigger a population boom?

I went on vacation several weeks ago and I put an autofeeder on my tank. I felt the lowest setting of the autofeeder fed more than what I want, but it's what I had. I went away for 10 days, and had my sister fill my reservoir with pH adjusted RO water.

The tank and inhabitants did very well, although I had a lot more algea growing. But my refugium was just teeming with copepods. Lots of them!! I was very happy. In the next several weeks, I started to get back to the normal routine of maintaining my tank, but I started to cut back on the feeding as a means to control the algea. Today, I can't find one copepod in the refugium - which is the normal state before my vacation.

Any experience with your pod population would be appreciated.

[jedininja]

Pop population is usually pretty close to porportional to the amount of food they have.

I am sure you stil have quite a bit of pods in there, just not as a visible amount.

[teachermark]

Yeah, you should lift some rocks and shells and shake them. I'm sure you'll see some little guys scurrying for shelter.

[wayside]

What exactly do you feed copepods? Is it phytofeast, that microalgae stuff, macroalgae, or zooplankton? I have a few seeded but probably need to cultivate them more in the refugium.

[jedininja]

different copepods will feed on different things and different strains of algae. Any of those products will work. Just over feeding your tank will cause algae bloos that will feed them too.

[teachermark]

I feed them nothing. They seem to survive on what I add to others, nannochloropsis and rotifers are part of that feeding regimen.

Mark

[sid700]

Thanks guys. I'm just bummed out because I can't see them anymore. When I said I had a lot, I meant they were swimming all over the place, not just hanging out by the glass (maybe a different pod). I'm thinking of setting up the autofeeder again and see if I can replicate it.

[jedininja]

I wouldnt do that. Arent the lifves of your fish and coral more important than the pods? If you try to replicate it, you'll have an excess of nutrients in the tank. If you really want to try to replicate it, why not set up a seperate 10g tank that is not connected to your system and see how well they multiply in there.

[Kinetic]

i got tons of pods in my tank now. they're all over the glass! what eats these things? I think they're growing like crazy.

[SuperNerd]

Wrasses will eat them.
Mandarines will live off of them too but only in a big tank. In smaller tanks you will have to target feed them vitamin enriched brine shrimp or they will starve to death.

[Kinetic]

what about my trochus snails... what about a flame angel? (don't have yet but plan on it in a couple weeks). what about my ocellaris? skunk cleaner shrimp?

I'm sure these guys are good for the tank though, kinda creepy how they're everywhere though.

[daveonbass]

I've observed all my fish eating pods. Expecially chromis. They decimated a whole 30 gallon tank in literally min's. But my ocellarus clowns, my cherub angel, and six line have all been seen eating these critters. And of course mandarins. They all appear to just nibble at them enough to stay fat and healthy till the next meal...but it keeps the pods from making to big a population bloom in the display tank...So now I only see them at night when I turn on a light for a sec. then they run like roaches.

[SuperNerd]

Yeah, I believe that, in general, if a fish can see them it will go after them.

Trochus snails and pacific skunk/scarlet cleaner shrimp most likely will not go after copepods, with the former being a wholly herbivorous diatom grazer and the later liking meaty foods.

Unless you feed a lot of food that you see the shrimp catching and eating, you most likely will have to target feed if you want it to survive in the long term.

[Kinetic]

i read on wetwebmedia that the skunk cleaner is a good scavanger, and as long as there is food being fed, it'll scavange them without a problem. I've never heard of needing to spot feed a cleaner shrimp?

thanks guys, and sorry about the hijack.

[SuperNerd]

Yeah, they're good scavengers but IME(I forgot to say that above) they last longer when you actually give them something to eat.

Okay, no more cleaner shrimp discussion. This is supossed to be about copepods! :lol:

[Kinetic]

hehe, COPEPODS!

[sid700]

I remember when I first established my tank. I had snails, a cleaner shrimp and a peppermint. At lights out, they both would keep jumping on the glass from the bottom of the tank. They would give this sweeping motion, with their pinchers. I believe they were trying to catch the pods that were swimming around the bottom of the tank.