Copepod INVASION!

Reefs1

New member
I bought a pack of these from Reefs2go, among some other things. Well I only have an 8 gallon tank and I quickly realized I released too many. Is this an issue longterm? My tank literally went from a beginning reef tank to a copepod tank.

My inhabitants are as follows:

1) 10 pounds of live rock
2) refugium with two handfuls of Chaeto in the sump with led strip light on the fuge opposite time of tank lights
3) Pair of clown fish
4) emerald crab
5) six Blue leg hermits
6) 2 Trochus snails
7) some soft corals, Kenya, green star and regular polyps.

Will these Copepods and Amphipods eventually hide away? There are so many I don't know they have enough spots to go! My tank looks like a it has cockroaches! :headwally:
 
Clowns dont really eat pods, so that is why they are so bold. I would not worry about it though. The population will balance out after a while.
 
Clowns dont really eat pods, so that is why they are so bold. I would not worry about it though. The population will balance out after a while.

Thanks! I knew the clowns don't eat them yes, but good point. I thought I would just try and add some biodiversity to a fairly new tank. Whoa! I certainly acomplished that..But I don't want it to look infested, which is why I am concerned. I could always get a GOby that eats them but then I get into a cycle of having to keep that Goby alive by buying pod packs as it decimates the population. If it were self sustaining then I might get a Madarin or something similar for them, not sure that is the answer.

thanks for the advice.
 
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Are you kidding me!? A pair of clownfish in a 8 gallon tank is waaaaay too small for them. Get them out and find a suitable singular fish for a small tank - Clown goby or firefish with a shrimp is more than enough. Clownfish get upwards to 4 - 6 inches depending on species.
 
Are you kidding me!? A pair of clownfish in a 8 gallon tank is waaaaay too small for them. Get them out and find a suitable singular fish for a small tank - Clown goby or firefish with a shrimp is more than enough. Clownfish get upwards to 4 - 6 inches depending on species.

Let's stick to the topic. I an asking about the copepods not the size of my tank and what to stock for fish
 
If you put in too many and they are unable to sustain themselves in your system, some will die off until the population is balanced with available food
 
+1, tank is too small for the clowns, and too small to add anything else.

The pods will be fine. They will die off as they run out of food. There likely should be no problem in time. They will only breed as much as they have food available.
 
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+1, tank is too small for the clowns, and too small to add anything else.

The pods will be fine. They will die off as they run out of food. There likely should be no problem in time. They will only breed as much as they have food available.

Well since I am getting opinions on things I didn't ask for I suppose I will answer the concerns..The clowns are liternally a 1/2" a piece, and they are bred to be small. Sold as Nano Clowns..They have plenty of room and if they get too large they will be moved.

Thanks for the advice on the copepods..I will give it some time.
 
The pods will be a good addition, and they will take care of waste in your tank. I have pods in my 8g tank and never have to clean the filter. The pods take care of that lol.

I also have two juvenile ocellaris clowns and a clown goby in the tank. All three fish are less than 3/4 inch long, and there is plenty of room for them. The clowns were much smaller than I anticipated, so they have to stay in that tank until they grow big enough to stay out of the overflows in any of my other tanks. Your clowns are probably ok for a while too :)
 
The pods will be a good addition, and they will take care of waste in your tank. I have pods in my 8g tank and never have to clean the filter. The pods take care of that lol.

I also have two juvenile ocellaris clowns and a clown goby in the tank. All three fish are less than 3/4 inch long, and there is plenty of room for them. The clowns were much smaller than I anticipated, so they have to stay in that tank until they grow big enough to stay out of the overflows in any of my other tanks. Your clowns are probably ok for a while too :)

Agreed..In fact it appears they have ALL disappeared from my main tank today and from what I can see have taken up residence in the sump filter media I have before my Fuge. They are also bouncing around in the Chaeto.

You are right though, they seem to be chowing down on algae and detritus. I was considering a clown Goby in the future..What does yours eat?
 
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The clowns are liternally a 1/2" a piece, and they are bred to be small. Sold as Nano Clowns.


:facepalm:

No such thing as "Nano Clowns" nor they are bred to stay small. They will get upwards to 4 inches or more depending on species.
 
+1 on Nano Clowns being BS. Sounds like a sale's pitch from a LFS that gets hundreds a week to flip.

I have 2 clowns in my 20 Gallon and I sort of feel sorry for them sometimes. I couldnt imagine them in anything smaller.

EDIT: http://www.sustainableaquatics.com/products/sustainable-aquatics-hatcheries/clownfish/mocha/

That is the only information available on the "species" and it seems to me they just ship them alot smaller, which is why we see VERY SMALL clowns at our LFS. They are the same clowns, you get them at a younger age.
 
I put in 3 bottles of copepods in a 1 week period. Some took refuge in my chaeto. I just shined a light on my live rock (tank lights off) and I saw HUGE copepods scatter like cockroaches. Musta been 3-4 per postage size of live rock.

I'm debating on buying another bottle and putting it in the filter and back sump chamber of my 24ga nano.
 
I put in 3 bottles of copepods in a 1 week period. Some took refuge in my chaeto. I just shined a light on my live rock (tank lights off) and I saw HUGE copepods scatter like cockroaches. Musta been 3-4 per postage size of live rock.

I'm debating on buying another bottle and putting it in the filter and back sump chamber of my 24ga nano.

Is anything you have able to consume them? Or you just using them to clean up waste?
 
7 years ago I got 2 very small percs. and put them in solana 34. They were under 1/2 in, they where so small that brine shrimp looked huge. Anyhow 7 years later and they not much over a inch. They have been in a 90gal with no other fish for the last 2 years. Since I don't feed crazy their growth is slow. There has been several study's that if a animal gets a very low cal diet they will slow their growth and almost double their life span. So.
 
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