Questions about copepods

[twentyleagues]

So I’ll be fine to go to my lfs and buy pods and add them today also Randy you seem wise about these thing will the pods I’m getting Tiger pods will they eat green algae and is there a way to get the green algae to die down.

I agree with @Randy Holmes-Farley while pods will eat and will survive off of algae growing in the tank you will not see a large reduction of algae if there is an algae issue in your tank. They will not make a dent in any macroalgae such as hair but can and will survive off of film algaes without adding phyto. But its a good idea to add phyto if you want them to thrive.

 

[twentyleagues]

If using pods to just feed fish its a good idea to set up a culture vessel or 2 with a single strain of pod like tigger as they seem to be one that most smaller fish enjoy and are pretty easy to culture. The issue with tigger pods is their tendency to swim in the water column which is why fish like them its easy to see them when they leave the rocks safety, so if you are trying to culture them in a reef they will most likely be eaten as fast as they reproduce or faster.

 

[DEE’S reef]

So when adding them add some to the rocks and and sump at night or should add some little container in my sump to make them grow and reproduce with less chance of death.

 

[twentyleagues]

So when adding them add some to the rocks and and sump at night or should add some little container in my sump to make them grow and reproduce with less chance of death.

If you want them to survive the initial add do it at night with flow off. They will gravitate to the rocks and substrate. Maybe add some to both the sump and tank especially if you have a refugium. Really depends on whats in the sump.

 

[exnisstech]

Nothing wrong with adding pods I suppose but I have always had pods in every tank without ever buying them to add. JME

 

[DEE’S reef]

So my sump is socks main chamber I have a skimmer the last chamber return pump

 

[Mac8128]

I am working hard at keeping a good sustainable pod population in my 13.5g nano. I dosed the tank three times over the past 5 weeks, once with Tiger pods from Reef Nutrition, once with a mixture of Tisbe, Tigriopus and Apocyclops from Florida Reef Labs and once with ApexPods from Reef Nutrition. In all cases I split the dosing over a few days and splitting the dose into my refugium, return chamber and the display. I can literally see hundreds of pods in my tank and refugium. I also have a small pile of rock rubble and a 2"x3"x2" DIY laser cut acrylic pod hotel in the display. With that said, I have had a Mandarin in the tank for the last 3 weeks and she seems to be doing very well. Beginning the first day she has been pecking at the rock and glass constantly, I can occasionally see her actually strike at a moving copepod. IMO, I'm thinking I am close to a stable pod population in the tank. But just in case, I am also running a 5.5g copepod culture tank along with a mason jar phyto culture. The pod culture has just recently started to explode. I feed the pod culture from the phyto culture every other day.

Looking at the glass of the culture tank I counted 47 pods on the glass in a 1" square that I drew on the glass with a marker. I am sure that number is very inaccurate, as I probably counted the same pods multiple times and had pods crawl in and out of the square. Bottom line, that 1" square was filled with pods! I will dose pods out of the culture once or twice a week into my nano just to provide insurance for the mandarin. If you give the pods enough safe areas in the tank and or in a refugium safe from predators, you should be able to generate a pretty good population.

Don't assume that your normal rockwork is safe from predators as I have seen my mandarin squeeze into the tightest of crevices and or go into a rock cave and almost turn herself upside turn to strike at pods on the roof of the cave. Last but not least, with a small tank you don't want to have a mandarin in with any other fish that eat pods.

 

[DEE’S reef]

So I got pods and I’m going to add them to my tank when my lights turn off I’m going to add them to the top of the tank.

 

[Mac8128]

Turn ur pumps off before you add the pods and keep them off for 10 minutes to allow some of the pods to settle into your rock work

 

[DEE’S reef]

How do I know if my pods are alive and doing well

 

[slingfox]

So I’ll be fine to go to my lfs and buy pods and add them today also Randy you seem wise about these thing will the pods I’m getting Tiger pods will they eat green algae and is there a way to get the green algae to die down.

To seed your tank with pods you want Tisbe pods or a pod mix. Tiger pods are the largest pods and therefor get predated the easiest and will have most challenging time to establish a stable population. Tiger are great for pod sellers since they need to be replenished. The fish love them since they are big and easy to hunt down (relatively).

 

[slingfox]

How do I know if my pods are alive and doing well

When I started my tank I added pods early on. Within a few weeks pods were crawling all over the glass. When I added wrasse I could no longer see them anymore except in the sump. I know they are still around since I added two mandarin at the winter mark and those have grown very quickly so they must be eating pods.

 

[DEE’S reef]

So I added tiger pods because that’s what my lfs had should look for to see if there growing in size

 

[afboundguy]

How do I know if my pods are alive and doing well

Check your tank glass especially right before you clean it. I see hundreds on my glass when it's a little dirty.

So I added tiger pods because that’s what my lfs had should look for to see if there growing in size

As others have suggested I would get some Tisbe pods. "Tigger" pods get eaten very quickly and thus don't have as good a chance to develop an ongoing breeding population. Tisbe pods are smaller and can get into rock crevices easier so they have a better chance of breeding.

If you have a refugium or sump it is the perfect place for pods to breed as well.

 

[slingfox]

So I added tiger pods because that’s what my lfs had should look for to see if there growing in size

If you want to “jumpstart” you pod population then adding Tisbe pods is the way to go since they can establish a breeding population in your tank since they are not as easily hunted down. That said, pods will naturally come as you add corals and macro algae.

 

[DEE’S reef]

Do I bother with those pod breeding setups to get pods going because I want to get a 6 line was but I was told to get a good population of pods first

 

[DEE’S reef]

Should I set up a copepod breeder or something where they can multiply and thrive

 

[slingfox]

Should I set up a copepod breeder or something where they can multiply and thrive

This is completely unnecessary but some people like growing phyto and/or pods. I had grown phyto in the past as well as pods. If you don’t mind the extra maintenance then these are fine things to do. You definitely don’t need to do anything of this to have a thriving pod population. The best thing you can do to jncrease your pod count is to eliminate any fish which eat pods