thinking about copepods.

[banthonyb71]

Will adding copepods to my tank hurt? help? or do nothing? As of now I see copepods here and there but doesnt seem like a ton. amipods are the bigger ones right? havnt seen many of them though. I want a few invertabres and a scooter blenny or two but want to make sure they have plenty to eat. The tank is cycling well it has been up for 7 weeks now.

 

[VAreef]

Sure they can help and won't hurt at all. If your going to try and keep a Scooter blennie you need a refugium just so you can keep a constant supply of copepods to feed him. I would also wait on getting that fish until your tank is at least 6months old just so you get used to how everything works before taking on a difficult fish. Have you gotten your CUC yet? 7 weeks should be about done with your cycle depending on how you cycled it.

 

[Bifferwine]

Adding a bottle of pods can be a great way to jump start your tank's population.

 

[Bluespace]

Do LFS normally sell copepods? Or is online the place to buy.

 

[Bifferwine]

Most LFSs sell them bottled -- they'd be in the fridge (they are called Tigger Pods or Arcti Pods). You can also get them online.

 

[scu95821]

I bought some on EBay for my Scooter. I'm working on building a refugium.

I got them from this guy
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemVersion&item=250584765588&view=all&tid=0

 

[banthonyb71]

no way I can keep a scooter without a refugium?

 

[wontonflip]

no way I can keep a scooter without a refugium?

You don't need a refugium, but you would need to keep supplementing with pods since your tank is new and doesn't have an established pod population.

Another way to help with pod growth that I've heard some people do is take a couple pieces of live rock, and I think wrap them in some kind of plastic screen to keep fish out of there, so that way the pods can safely grow in there, and when they crawl through the screen, the fish will eat them up. In fact, I think someone here that does that reported that their fish would hang around there just munching on the pods. If you don't want to see the screen, you can always put other rocks around it to hide it.

But to begin with, you will definitely need to supplement w/ bottles of pods.

 

[project5k]

i just bought a bottle of tigger pods yesterday... took em outta the fridge this morning, gonna lett 'm warm up some, and then i'm gonna put most of them in my fuge, but i'm gonna make sure to dribble a few into the tank directly and i'm thinking i'm gonna dribble a few into the new 210 as well... just not sure what thier survival rate is gonna be putting them in an "uncycled" tank

 

[supernatureal]

Pods like cheato to hang out in rigth? So could you just make a small box out of egg crate and zip ties, fill it with cheato and place it in the tank for a place for them to breed and hang out.

 

[yote]

no way I can keep a scooter without a refugium?

Scooters,even though they are a dragonet,are a lot eaiser to keep than a mandrine.
MOST of the time,scooters will accept frozen foods with no problems.Though they do enjoy hunting the pods in the rocks,you dont have to worry as much about them starving.

 

[dcantucson]

+1 yote
I have one in my RSM and he thrives without issue.

 

[Aquagrrl]

Buying copepods for your tank is a waste of money. You've already got them, and if they aren't in large numbers it's because your tank can't support large numbers so adding more does nothing. Tigriopus sp. (Tigger pods and their variants) won't survive in your tank, and are only really good for mass culture. However, most home aquarists won't be able to culture enough to keep something like a mandarin alive.

 

[U4BOYZ]

Will adding pods of any kind add to my nitrates? I'm still trying to get my nitrates under 5...so I'm leary of adding anything food related...

 

[yote]

Pods are small enough that wont effect the water quality.
But I'm also one of those that thinks buying them is a waste of money.
If the food source and the cover is there,your tank will produce plenty of pods.