Copepod information

[claire7275]

I see that swf.com sells 200 live copepods. I have a 90gal reef tank with a Scotter Blenny, a Mandarin, a Purple Queen Anthia and a Clown. The tank was set up in April using lr and water from an established tank. My question is with 200, how quickly will the fish eat them? Will some have time to reproduce? Should I buy more then 200? Or is there another product for feeding the picky eaters mentioned above?
Thanks for all the help, I don't know what I would do without ya'lls advice.
Claire

 

[ejensen]

I'm pritty sure they can eat all of those in one day. The best thing to do is seed your rocks or your sump so they can start reproducing with out the risk of being eaten. If you have a sump/fuge you can swap rocks from your DT to feed your fish. It looks like you have a high demand on those pods.

 

[robdog696]

I used to have a great link for info on culturing copepods. I can't find it now, but do some searching. I'd take half the bottle and put it in the tank, as your mandarin is probably starving. The other half I would get a gallon jar and put some algae and a plastic scrubby sponge in there. Put it in the window where it will get plenty of sunlight. It takes about 2 weeks for copepods to go through a full reproductive cycle. Feed them like a few drops of cyclopeze 2-3 times a week. Then pull the scrubby thing out and rinse it in your tank to get some of the copepods off the sponge. Look at your mandarin... if his stomach is sunk in at all he is hungry. Most lfs's tell hobbyists that they are a hardy fish that accepts pellets. This is rarely true. If you're asking about copepods you probably already know this. Anyways... I'm no expert, but I have been trying to find a way to keep a mandarin without a well established tank. In my limited experience I have also found that purple queens are also not easy to feed. Might want to do some researching on their eating habits as well.

 

[puffer32]

I have a mandrin, scooter blenny and queen anthias in my 150. All are hard to feed. The difference in our tanks is that I have a 150 DT with a fuge and 175 lbs of LR. I hope you have a fuge, because that is the only way you can keep the 2 pod eaters in your tank. Even with my size tank, i still replenish my fuge with new macro algae that have pods living it it already. As far as the anthias, what do you feed it? Is it eating?

 

[shrimpi]

good link to culture pods
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issu...3/breeder2.htm
this is an informative site, not a vendor so please dont delete mods!

 

[claire7275]

Thanks Shrimpi, good read. I also found an article about using rubble inside the tank to provide a refuge for breeding pods--they suggested a strawberry basket, but I was wondering about a mesh bag--like 5 lbs of potatoes come in. I guess that concept is that the pods can breed inside the protected area and not be eaten. When their are too many in the mesh (or maybe just because they want to) the pods will venture out and be come "dinner" What do you think you that?
Thanks,
Claire

 

[shrimpi]

if you have the room to create a little 'rubble dome' inside the tank that will work well.

 

[claire7275]

Could I put the rubble pile in the mesh bag and put it behind my rocks, there are several places I think I have room. I have some LR that I have kept in a rubber-maid with a powerhead and some light. Most of the pieces are fairly big. Could I just break them up and use that? How can I "inject" the live pods into that pile--or am I just hoping they will find themselves there. Or
Could I try to seed the bag in the rubber-maid?(its not temp controlled), but its summer in SC and the house is never below about 70.
Thank you for being so patient with me. You are really helping me out!!!!!
Claire

 

[renogaw]

my goodness that is an awesome article. that one went right to my favorites Now i know what to do with my spare 10 gallon!!

 

[ecooper]

Or, reproduction if you will. I have found that many copepods get caught up in the filtration system and hang out in the filters. So, I have an extra overflow prefilter sponge placed in my overflow box and another in my hang-on filter. Both of these offer a place for copepods to reproduce. Every 2 or 3 weeks, I shake some of them out into the main tank. Their not happy about leaving their home, but their 'food' for goodness sake. Seems to work fairly well. However, my only copepod eater is a mandarin in a 75g. I don't think I could get away with this with a scooter, too.