Where do copepods come from?

[cisco006]

Hello All,

I have a 350g Reef Setup. The tank was setup 2 months ago, and is doing very well. Right now the tank is FOWLR but I will be introducing LPS and SPS corals once the system is a bit more mature. The tank has a 3inch deep sandbed (aragalive live sand) and 250 lbs of dead limestone rock and 75 lbs of fiji live rock. The live rock was allowed to dry out completly to ensure that no harmful critters would survive, but the obvious downside is that no beneficial critters were added either. I chose the first option because I have had my share of mantis shrimp problems, and did not want to deal with it.

Like I mentioned before the tank is doing quite well, nitrates are present but under .05 ppm, phospates are almost undetectable with a salifert kit, All other major parameters such as alk, calc, amonnia, nitrite, magnisium, ph, temp. are all within allowable ranges. Coraline algea has begun to grow all over, even on the dead limestone. However I have seen no evidence of copepods or amphipods. The LFS told me that the aragalive livesand had the larvae for the copepods, Is that true? If not how can I introduce copepods to my tank. Also, Since there were no beneficial critters added to my tank, I have none of the starfish and featherdusters that live in the rocks, what benefit do the these critters have, and how could I introduce these critters.

Thanks
Cisco

 

[rrome]

They usually come from the live rock Whick in your case was dead rock

I do not believe that you'd get any from the aragalive.

It may take time for the population to grow if there are any ther.

You can order them from several places, this seems like a good one

http://www.oceanpods.com/

and

www.ipsf.com

 

[cisco006]

thanks for the info, does anyone have anymore info on the aragalive

 

[cisco006]

thanks for the info, does anyone have anymore info on the aragalive

 

[Reeses]

I'm sure at one time aragalive really did contain live beneficial bacteria and creatures......however, when purchasing a product that claims to be "live", one must look at the circumstances surrounding that product. Is the product housed in a temperature controlled environment? With a product like sand, can it be expected that anything live is able to stay alive sealed tightly in a plastic bag for a number of days? How long did the product sit on the shelf? It just doesn't seem very likely that there is a possibility of anything living through such an environment.

Just my gentle 2 cents

If you've got another reefing buddy, ask them for a cup of sand or two, and that might help.