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kgwilliams 
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 Topic: Finally Copepods!
Posted: March 25 2006 at 11:36pm |
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I've had my tank set up for about 9 months now. Today when I changed the filter there were copepods squirmin all in it! I thought they were some kind of parasite, but I took some to my LFS and he told me what they were! I'm so glad my tank is finally maturing! Now I can keep my favorite fish! (green mandarin)
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75gal reef /sump/ref 150MH 2 96w CF
Perhaps I would be better at basket weaving. . . at least it would be cheaper!
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dkle
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Posted: March 25 2006 at 11:57pm |
That is great news! I still remember how exciting it was pod-seeking at nights when I started my tank (well that just shows how much of a nerd I am ).
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If you can't bedazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with your bs!
Dinhkim Le - Procrastinator extra-ordinare
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Dion Richins
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Posted: March 25 2006 at 11:59pm |
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How big is your tank? How much live rock? How big is your refugeum? It takes a lot of copepodes to keep a mandarin alive. Unless you get one that will eat frozen.
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: March 26 2006 at 2:33am |
FYI, what you saw most likely are Amphipods called Grammeras, rather than Copepods. (Maybe you could educate the LFS. )
 
Copepods are so small you would not be able to see them in the filter media. Copepods typically look like a swarm of tiny specks moving in tight circles in a small cavity under a rock or moving carefully on the glass.
You probably have them but can't find them in the tank. I use a jewelers loop or good magnifying glass to find copepods.
Mandarins eat both and can decimate the "pod" population in a small tank within a week. Personally, I would not have a Mandarin in anything less than a 75.
Edited by Mark Peterson
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kgwilliams
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Posted: March 26 2006 at 10:42am |
Why do you always have to be so right, Mark!? It must have been the Amphipods, cause that's what they looked like, and they were big enough for me to pick up and put in a container. Apparently my LFS needs to visit this site. lol
This mandarin that I got has been accepting frozen brine too so I'm not to worried about her. I've kept one in this tank before, for over 6 months until it ran into my anemone.
Holdencraft 33~ 30 gal hex, no refugium or sump, and I think there is about 35lbs of live rock in there.
dkle~ You're not the only one! I thought I was loosing my mind for the longest time because my crushed coral substrate kept moving! Until I looked really close and realized it was these little guys!
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75gal reef /sump/ref 150MH 2 96w CF
Perhaps I would be better at basket weaving. . . at least it would be cheaper!
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Angel
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Posted: March 26 2006 at 10:50am |
Here's a site that sells live copepods. http://www.reef-revolution.com/
It says they are a sponsor of the Oklahoma aquarium - aren't you in OK, kgwilliams?
I suppose a person could get a bottle of that and dump it in a refugium. Is it that easy? Yea, yea you have to feed them but it does get them in the system.
Here is an article on the introduction to the biology of copepods "Although copepods can be found almost everywhere where water is available most of the more than 12.000 known species live in the sea..."
http://www.uni-oldenburg.de/zoomorphology/Biologyintro.html
Edited by Angel
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Connie
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Dion Richins
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Posted: March 26 2006 at 11:48am |
Good post Angel.
The biology artical is very interesting. My Question is how long can the copepods survive in a comercialy produced bottel. Would they turn on each other and endup with only a couple alive in the end? They have to produce waste that would eventually kill them off.
I bought a "helping" of live amphipods from Florida pets once and felt like I was taken to the cleaners.
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Angel
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Posted: March 26 2006 at 12:40pm |
Dion,
I did wonder about these things myself - and resparation. Perhaps if I order some, there would be someone who would want to instruct me on doing a count of live critters like they do the rots.
It looks as if they only do the copepods and have just added some test kits. At least I didn't see other items. Here is a picture from a site they linked to:
Edited by Angel
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Connie
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Angel
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Posted: March 26 2006 at 12:54pm |
OK, just some more info. on the subject :
"These tips are provided in addition to a very comprehensive article written by Frank Marini for the Advanced Aquarist. Here are my additional bits of advice on the topic.
The trick with keeping the copepods going is to make small adjustments, and not do everything at once. For example, set up your culture with half the bottle (the copepods can continue to live in the bottle for quite a while - several months if treated right), so that if your original culture doesn't work, you have some to fall back on.
Keep them in a tupperware container or a jar, with very little aeration until you start to see the numbers increase, and then split the culture, and continue to let the little guys thrive - work your way up to the larger system in Frank's article, if you need that many pods." from: http://www.oceanpods.com/faq.html#amphipods
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Connie
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Dion Richins
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Posted: March 26 2006 at 9:47pm |
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Cool. It might be fun to try.
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kgwilliams
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Posted: March 26 2006 at 10:27pm |
Angel~ Ya I'm in Oklahoma. That aquarium is a couple hours away from where I live though, and it's freshwater. I didn't realize that you could buy copepods like that! I learn somethin new everyday on this site! Thanks for all the info, I really could use it. Considering I thought these things were parasites at first!
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75gal reef /sump/ref 150MH 2 96w CF
Perhaps I would be better at basket weaving. . . at least it would be cheaper!
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stephan
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Posted: March 26 2006 at 11:07pm |
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What other fish eat amphipods? I've got all kinds of those. I know they are probably good, but I don't like the looks of them and would feel better knowing that something is keeping them in check. I have a 100 gallon with lots of live rock in the display and 25 gallon refugium/sump. I've seen little tiny white things crawling around on the rock, but I can't tell if they are copepods or just smaller amphipods.
Also, I've been meaning to ask about this too- I have a ton of what look to me like tiny keyhole limpits, mostly in dark areas of the aquarium. They're white oval-shaped shelled things with little holes in the center. Anybody else have those or know anything about that?
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Stephan Lovstedt
Camarillo, CA
65 Gallon Glass
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: March 27 2006 at 12:08am |
The answer to your question is found in the Sea Star Newsletter. The article is titled Herbivores vs. Carnivores. If I remember correctly, I made of list of each.
http://www.utahreefs.com/SeaStar/SeaStarJunePrint.pdf
The article may also point out that decreasing the "pod" population can invite an algae problem, so if you add a carnivore, be sure to add more snails, to make up for the loss of the tiny herbivores.
Keyhole Limpets have been known to eat coral, specifically SPS. Keep an eye on them.
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