I'm Curious...Just What are the Actual Benefits of adding Copepods?

[MnFish1]

We’ll, I guess it goes back yrs ago, like you lol, when our live rock just came alive. We had lots of beautiful big dead corals we’d bleach to keep white. Once we added live rock I’d just watch with magnifying glass as Bristleworms appeared, mushrooms, paly Zoas started slowly appearing. I’d see tiny shrimp like things across substrate. We had that all in one drip tray and sump at bottom. All this stuff clear fronds or something. It just seemed as we had a truly biological balance. I had read yrs ago that pods were a sign of a healthy tank. Tangs will pick off and eat. I find all this just wonderful. You know as most 40 year vets in this, how much has changed since the 80’s. I love Paul B.’s ideas. I’m interested in what you’ve seen, I think you know much more than I as to chemistry, lighting etc. I’m glad we have a place to share
The best, Debra

I well remember the days when it was easy to order live rock directly from Florida, etc - at about the same price we pay for dry rock today. Often there was 'base rock' which was 'wet rock' that had been sitting in barrels - which was even cheaper, and then the top 'layer' was the 'fresh' live rock from the ocean. I also remember wet dry filters that were as big as the entire back of the tank - with multiple dripping trays and crushed coral inside - into a larger sump.

However, my experience at that time was that though there was a huge amount of life that was present, eventually, many of that life slowly died either through lack of food - or being out-competed by other 'stuff' (or eaten by fish)

I guess my question to you was 'why do you think copepods specifically are 'a great biological addition'' and what do you think they do?

Do you see them mostly as food for the fish? a mini clean-up crew? Or something else?

From a biologic standpoint (and a microbiologic standpoint) - tanks tend to become less biodiverse over-time as compared to less (unless you add stuff continuously). Yet there are many tanks that do not have access to 'the sea', in Kansas for example - yet they are successful. I have never added copepods to a reef tank, however as many others have said - lots of 'things' come in with corals, etc (even fish) being added. It does make me wonder whether the same 'diversity' is occurring with farmed coral and farmed fish

 

[Paul B]

Good Morning Debra. (thank you for reading my book, most people just level their Christmas tree with it)

I find keeping dragonettes the easiest, no maintenance fish there is and it boggles my mind why so much is written about how difficult they are. You throw them in an aged tank that is not sterile, not quarantined, medicated or dipped and not started with dead rock and they take care of themselves and spawn constantly.

You can't stop them from spawning and they live at least 10 years.
If you can't or don't want to keep a natural, normal tank, you probably should leave those beautiful fish in the sea. If we have to buy thousands of pods or use some other means to feed these fish, we will fail as there is no healthy way to keep them as they eat a pod every few seconds as my video shows.

They are not like us or other creatures that have a normal stomach. You can't feed them some worms or worse, pellets and expect them to make it for 8 or 10 hours to eat again. They have an intestine like a seahorse and digest tiny pods as soon as they eat them which gives them the energy to find another one and not much else.

The only way I lose these fish is because the females fill with eggs so often that they become egg bound and die because for some reason, the males often don't want to mate.

 

[davidflagg]

What is their bioload like? Sounds silly to ask, but say you had a fishless pico reef with nothing to eat them. Do they regularly die off and replace themselves? Maybe a shrimp should clean up the remains?

 

[Paul B]

What is their bioload like?

Do you mean the bioload of a pod? This is a copepod. It is a real Copepod but we as aquarists call anythng tiny a pod. That is fine because pod eaters will eat anything small.

-------------------> . <------------------- Her name is Nancy. She just pooped to her right but it is hard to see because it is so tiny.

Here she is enlarged



I doubt their "bio Load" is very much unless there are trillions of them.

Like any animal, if they have nothing to eat, they will die.

 

[Jay'sReefBugs]

People spend thousands on lights skimmers tanks etc but forget the very basic components of a reef system . The end goal is to mimic a reef system not be a baring desert of an eco system

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

People spend thousands on lights skimmers tanks etc but forget the very basic components of a reef system . The end goal is to mimic a reef system not be a baring desert of an eco system

I personally agree but know without a doubt many people will now flock to this thread denying that there is anything natural about an aquarium whatsoever. I've never completely bought that argument although it IS different than the natural sea (that's so obvious I feel dumb writing it). However, is it bad to try to mimic the natural habitat these creatures thrive in? If you don't care anything about mimicking the natural reefs whatsoever, why do you own a refractometer? Why do you feed fish whatever it is you feed them? Doesn't common sense say that their natural diet would be optimal?
If you deny that anything is/should be attempted to mimic a natural reef, lower your salinity to 20 ppt and then just never measure again. Buy a few starfish and assume they'll eat fish poop. Why not? If their natural environment means nothing, why don't they eat anything and everything available?

 

[Paul B]

I agree and try very hard to mimic the sea. I feed food from the sea, never dried foods that fish rarely find in the sea. And I strive to make my aquascape like I have seen on my 50 years of diving, very natural with growth on everything and many hidden passageways soI think my fish feel they never left the sea.