Copods

[RDENNI15]

This is my Second Marine Tank I have owned in probably 15 years. My current tank has been up for around 6 or more years without any major problems, My question is how are Copods introduced into the tank other than purchasing them from the local fish store.
I have never seen them in my current tank at all but did have them in my older tank.

My current setup was built from everything Dry and new, dry rock, dry sand etc. I cycled the tank with deli shrimp and off it went without many issues.
Here it is years later still running well and not 1 Copod has ever been seen, I do not currently have many corals in my tank at all (I have 1 hairy green mushroom rock) but want to add more.

Are Copods something that has to be introduced. I never did knowingly on my old aquarium..

Just a thought I had

 

[sde1500]

If everything was dry then no way a living creature could make it in. Anything living has to be introduced somehow.

 

[Scrubber_steve]

This is my Second Marine Tank I have owned in probably 15 years. My current tank has been up for around 6 or more years without any major problems, My question is how are Copods introduced into the tank other than purchasing them from the local fish store.
I have never seen them in my current tank at all but did have them in my older tank.

My current setup was built from everything Dry and new, dry rock, dry sand etc. I cycled the tank with deli shrimp and off it went without many issues.
Here it is years later still running well and not 1 Copod has ever been seen, I do not currently have many corals in my tank at all (I have 1 hairy green mushroom rock) but want to add more.

Are Copods something that has to be introduced. I never did knowingly on my old aquarium..

Just a thought I had

An Algae scrubber is fantastic for adding copepods & amphpods. They produce millions of them.

 

[Dxpert]

Great idea on the algae scrubber!

 

[kuzko]

An Algae scrubber is fantastic for adding copepods & amphpods. They produce millions of them.

Sorry maybe I am missing something..... You're saying in order to produce millions of copes and amphs all I need to do is buy an ATS!?!? Like, the dry piece of equipment that comes in a dry box and dry packaging??? If I just plug that in, it will magically ADD copes and amphs to my system??? Or did you not read OPs post?


OP - go to your LFS, buy a piece of live rock out of one of their STOCKED tanks (sometimes their "live rock" tanks may have some, sometimes not), put it in your tank, you'll have copepods in a week. Or if any of your LFS's have a tank of empty shells for hermits, ask for a handful of empty shells. I've never not found copes/amphs living in the empty shells eating the leftovers.

 

[roli112]

Get some chaeto from me, its full of pods!!!

 

[Scrubber_steve]

Sorry maybe I am missing something..... You're saying in order to produce millions of copes and amphs all I need to do is buy an ATS!?!? Like, the dry piece of equipment that comes in a dry box and dry packaging??? If I just plug that in, it will magically ADD copes and amphs to my system??? Or did you not read OPs post?


OP - go to your LFS, buy a piece of live rock out of one of their STOCKED tanks (sometimes their "live rock" tanks may have some, sometimes not), put it in your tank, you'll have copepods in a week. Or if any of your LFS's have a tank of empty shells for hermits, ask for a handful of empty shells. I've never not found copes/amphs living in the empty shells eating the leftovers.

your sarcasm is unbecoming!

\When the ATS grows algae, copepods naturally occur, & get washed through the system. A refugium does the same magical thing.

 

[alton]

Go to Algae Barn, sometimes they have buy one, get one free. Also some of our members here sell them in the for sale threads

 

[Elricsfate]

your sarcasm is unbecoming!

\When the ATS grows algae, copepods naturally occur, & get washed through the system. A refugium does the same magical thing.

An ATS or refugium may support a pod population, but they do not cause the spontaneous generation of previously non-existent pods. The actual living creatures must be introduced somehow, and as was pointed out, they are not in the box the ATS comes in.

 

[sde1500]

your sarcasm is unbecoming!

\When the ATS grows algae, copepods naturally occur, & get washed through the system. A refugium does the same magical thing.

If introduced on a sterile system, could you then explain how they appear? ATS provides a home for them, nothing more.

 

[sde1500]

Wow.. Sweet... copepods are actually spawned from algae.. :hmm2:
That is a real miracle of nature..

Maybe that only happens in Australia..

:spin2:

Yea someone should take a look at this thread. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2622298

 

[kuzko]

your sarcasm is unbecoming!

\When the ATS grows algae, copepods naturally occur, & get washed through the system. A refugium does the same magical thing.

Well I'll be! This must be how my tomato plants produce caterpillars in the summer.

 

[Scrubber_steve]

My current tank has been up for around 6 or more years without any major problems,

My question is how are Copods introduced into the tank other than purchasing them from the local fish store.

I have never seen them in my current tank at all but did have them in my older tank.

Hi RDENNI15; Let me elaborate a bit on my post here concerning an ATS adding copepods to the system, in my experience!

My tank had been running for 4 years, & like you, I hadn't seen any copepods in my tank either. Neither running around anywhere, or getting caught in the filter floss.

After adding an algae scrubber to my system I started noticing heaps of them getting caught in the filter floss, & running around the bottom of my tank at night.

Now, did I add copepods? No.

Did I add an algae scrubber? yes.

Were they in the system laying dormant prior to the scrubber being added? Most likely yes. Probably in the liverock. But, it wasn't until I added the algae scrubber that they became evident.

Consider the following RDENNI15;

Water, Water Everywhere

Scientists have found copepods living in waters around the globe.
They're in fresh water and oceans from the surfaces to the depths.
They're in frigid polar waters as well as hot springs, rivers, lakes,
streams and caves.

They also live in the stagnant waters of leaf litters and old tires.

Conservatively, there are more than 10,000 species of recognized copepods, making them the most abundant multi-celled animal on the planet, even more than insects.

Now, I wonder how those copepods found their way into old tires; or tyres, as we spell it here in Australia:rolleye1:

Must have been magic!

 

[kuzko]

Hi RDENNI15; Let me elaborate a bit on my post here concerning an ATS adding copepods to the system, in my experience!

Must have been magic!

Okay listen, you just spent way too long justifying an invalid suggestion. An ATS is a great place for copes to live and breed if they already exist in a system. Did you not read the part where OP stated they started with DRY rock and DRY sand? Because that means there's no room for hitch hikers. Sorry to kill your 10 years of reef experience with my less than 1 year by telling you this simple fact - Copepods cannot live or survive in dry rock or dry sand. OP will have to add them to the tank via existing live rock/Chaeto/frag plugs/etc. Please don't waste another extensive period of your time doing extensive research on something this concrete.

 

[Scrubber_steve]

Okay listen, you just spent way too long justifying an invalid suggestion. An ATS is a great place for copes to live and breed if they already exist in a system. Did you not read the part where OP stated they started with DRY rock and DRY sand? Because that means there's no room for hitch hikers. Sorry to kill your 10 years of reef experience with my less than 1 year by telling you this simple fact - Copepods cannot live or survive in dry rock or dry sand. OP will have to add them to the tank via existing live rock/Chaeto/frag plugs/etc. Please don't waste another extensive period of your time doing extensive research on something this concrete.

Were the copepods in the old tire introduced by an aquarists Kusko?

I'll now qoute my self from my last post;-

"Now, did I add copepods? No.

Did I add an algae scrubber? yes.

Were they in the system laying dormant prior to the scrubber being added? Most likely yes. Probably in the liverock."

Can you read Kusko. I can see your very aggressive, sarcastic & arrogant.

What's your real problem? Are you part of the attack squad of ATS haters?

Take a pill & chill, & stop taking me out of context to start an argument to try & impress you buddies around here & make yourself out to be a big man. You act like some self appointed moderator.

Behave.

To RDENNI15, buy all the live rock you like, but unless you have an ATS, or refugium growing macro, or breed copepods using phyto, you'll never see any copepods.

 

[kuzko]

Were the copepods in the old tire introduced by an aquarists Kusko?

I'll now qoute my self from my last post;-

"Now, did I add copepods? No.

Did I add an algae scrubber? yes.

Were they in the system laying dormant prior to the scrubber being added? Most likely yes. Probably in the liverock."

Can you read Kusko. I can see your very aggressive, sarcastic & arrogant.

What's your real problem? Are you part of the attack squad of ATS haters?

Take a pill & chill, & stop taking me out of context to start an argument to try & impress you buddies around here & make yourself out to be a big man. You act like some self appointed moderator.

Behave.

To RDENNI15, buy all the live rock you like, but unless you have an ATS, or refugium growing macro, or breed copepods using phyto, you'll never see any copepods.

You are really stubborn and misinformed. Did you happen to get your information about them being found in tires from "Evaluation of cyclopoid copepods for Aedes albopictus control in tires." Because if you read that journal in full you would understand they were cultured in tires. They were not found there naturally.

 

[Bongo Shrimp]

To RDENNI15, buy all the live rock you like, but unless you have an ATS, or refugium growing macro, or breed copepods using phyto, you'll never see any copepods.

Twinfallz you still seem to be missing the point that OP started a tank with no liverock or live sand so the likelihood of there being dormant copepods/eggs in his tank would be pretty slim. Therefore adding an algae scrubber wouldn't be useful until the copepods were introduced from another source.

Not only that, but the above statement that "unless you have an ATS, or refugium growing macro, or breed copepods using phyto, you'll never see any copepods." is completely false. While having/doing those things will definitely help boost their populations, there are numerous species of copepods that will thrive in an aquarium without having to do anything specific for them.

RDENNI15- like already suggested, getting a piece of established liverock or some chaeto macro algae from someone's refugium and adding that to your tank will certainly seed it with some different types of microfauna including copepods.

 

[mcgyvr]

I don't have an ATS nor a refugium nor do I breed the little buggers and I have copepods and various other "critters" that my wrasse loves to munch on..

I started with dry rock/sand.. Pods,etc... were introduced into the system when I added corals (that had them on them) from the local lfs,etc...


One can simply buy a bag of all sorts of pods to introduce into a "dry started" tank..
Algaebarn is a great source.. Even that crappy reefs2go or whatever they are called now works just fine.. They give you tons for cheap.. I wouldn't buy anything else there but pods fine..

Or if you are planning to start a refugium then they will more than likely be on the chaeto or whatever macro algae you plan to incorporate into it..

But we all know an ATS does NOT magically make pods come by itself.. It will give them a place of "refuge" where their populations will grow/increase.. Twinfallz simply had pods prior to the ATS and since its introduction the pod population has increased to where they are simply noticing them now..

 

[Bongo Shrimp]

I don't have an ATS nor a refugium nor do I breed the little buggers and I have copepods and various other "critters" that my wrasse loves to munch on..

I started with dry rock/sand.. Pods,etc... were introduced into the system when I added corals (that had them on them) from the local lfs,etc...


One can simply buy a bag of all sorts of pods to introduce into a "dry started" tank..
Algaebarn is a great source.. Even that crappy reefs2go or whatever they are called now works just fine.. They give you tons for cheap.. I wouldn't buy anything else there but pods fine..

Or if you are planning to start a refugium then they will more than likely be on the chaeto or whatever macro algae you plan to incorporate into it..

But we all know an ATS does NOT magically make pods come by itself.. It will give them a place of "refuge" where their populations will grow/increase.. Twinfallz simply had pods prior to the ATS and since its introduction the pod population has increased to where they are simply noticing them now..

Well said. Just be aware that not all species that are cultured and sold as supplements may be able to establish and reproduce in an aquarium setting.

 

[Bongo Shrimp]

No, I'm not missing the point. What I have said has been taken out of context, intentionally, & in a very unfriendly & sarcastic manner! And in one case, pure racism.

My first post read "An Algae scrubber is fantastic for adding copepods & amphpods. They produce millions of them."

Actually everyone seems to have taken your post quite literally in reference to the original question of the thread which asks how to get copepods into a tank that was set up completely dry. Your original response suggested that the simple act of adding an algae scrubber would somehow introduce copepods to a tank that never had any. No matter how you want to spin it, thats how it reads.

I also haven't seen any racism in this thread.