I setup my first reef tank a few months ago, I added cheto algae and a start of copepods after the tank was only running a couple weeks. my cheto has been doing well but I cant see any on the copepods, I asked the local fish store where I had purchased them, and I was told I need to add them every few months and that they don't survive in a refugium.
I was under the impression they would reproduce.
one other thing that might not be good was I put in a few hermit crabs in my refugium, will they eat the copepods? is there any hobbiest that I could get a start of copepods from or is it best to buy them.
the last time I bought them I couldn't tell if they were alive or not.
Thanks for taking the time to read and respond to my question. Jay