Where are my 'pods?

[montoya]

Several years ago when I had my fish only tank it was rich with pods. When the lights turned on in the morning there were thousands of copepods everywhere - covering the glass, rocks..............

I was just thinking today that my reef tank is now over 1 year old and I have never seen a single pod. Not one. I have looked at my tank at night, at first light - nothing.

Is it a case where somthing is eating them before the population can grow? My cleanup crew is the standard hermits, turbo snails, and three small starfish. I've never read anything to suggest these critters are big pod eaters if at all. I have a CB Shrimp - but again - I don't know them to be big pod eaters - at least not enough to keep a population down in a 55 gal full of live rock and sand.

With the numerous fish, corals and live rock I've added over the past year from a wide variety of sources I would think I would have introduced some by now.

Anyone else 'pod free? The big difference in this tank is it has a sand bottom where my last one had crushed coral. Are the pods simply living in the sand where I never see them?

 

[cthegame]

my tank goes thru pod population increase & decrease every so often. I used to have so many in my fuge. Now i see just a few when i try really hard to look for them. But im not worried because im pretty sure there will be another population bloom eventually.

 

[yote]

Games right.Pod populations will increase then die off some.Thats just the normal cycle of life.Then figure in your corals.Even though they get 90% of their energy from the lights,they still require some kind of food.Thats where the pods come in.The corals and other things in the tank will feed on the larval stages of the pods.

 

[reefplayground]

they come and go depending on your fish and chemical levels.

 

[Smitty]

I've noticed the same thing in my 55...when I had crushed coral, they were all over, now that I have sand, I may see one a week...the one I saw last week was eaten by my male clown before my eyes.

 

[reefplayground]

If you want a steady pod population, I would install a refugium with some cheato in it for a constant supply for your fish.

 

[Piggy]

I have all kinds of pods in my sump.

 

[DaveDiveMaster]

I use GARF "Grunge" in my tank. (www.garf.com) The grunge is crushed up coral and coralline algae and "stuff" that is rich in biodiversity. Because it is rubble-sized, it offers places for the pods to hide. I have a very large, very fat and happy Mandarin Dragonet that always has plenty to eat in my 150gallon reef. At night, I like to watch the little critters under maginification. (I know- I should start getting out more...)