novahobbies
Well-Known Member
In my years here on these forums, I think one of the most often asked questions I've seen is this one: "What the HECK is this stuff on my glass?"
Ironically, the second most asked question seems to be, "I never see copepods...how do I know I have them?" Don't feel bad -- I know people who have been in this hobby for YEARS and they don't seem to know what to look for. Pods are funny buggers; and the hapacticoid copepods that are so helpful in our tanks are especially small and hard to see.
Hopefully these pictures will help both camps. While I was cleaning the glass tonight I noticed my pod population had gone through a minor explosion. Copepods tend to go through population cycles, so on occasion you will see dozens of them in a few square inches, and other times your glass may look completely devoid of the little white specks.
"But, what do they look like?" you ask? Well, when you're looking at your tank glass, they will appear as miniscule white specks on the glass. Miniscule, I say, as in roughly 1/32nd of an inch in length for the "big" ones.
There is a picture of my glass, focused on the glass itself. See all those little white specks? Copepods. For those of you who don't know what to look for....well, there ya go. Bear in mind that ALL the ones you can actually see are the large females with egg balls, so they're a little more larger and noticeable.
Here are a group of four females, all with egg clusters. Feasting away on the algae on the glass.
Here's another 2 females with eggs, and I believe a female without.
Last pic. I took these all with my phone's camera thru a printer's ocular. I figured it was the closest thing to our standard fallback, the trusty magnifying glass. Hopefully these pictures will help newcomers identify a few of those creepy little critters scurrying around on the aquarium glass!
Ironically, the second most asked question seems to be, "I never see copepods...how do I know I have them?" Don't feel bad -- I know people who have been in this hobby for YEARS and they don't seem to know what to look for. Pods are funny buggers; and the hapacticoid copepods that are so helpful in our tanks are especially small and hard to see.
Hopefully these pictures will help both camps. While I was cleaning the glass tonight I noticed my pod population had gone through a minor explosion. Copepods tend to go through population cycles, so on occasion you will see dozens of them in a few square inches, and other times your glass may look completely devoid of the little white specks.
"But, what do they look like?" you ask? Well, when you're looking at your tank glass, they will appear as miniscule white specks on the glass. Miniscule, I say, as in roughly 1/32nd of an inch in length for the "big" ones.
There is a picture of my glass, focused on the glass itself. See all those little white specks? Copepods. For those of you who don't know what to look for....well, there ya go. Bear in mind that ALL the ones you can actually see are the large females with egg balls, so they're a little more larger and noticeable.
Here are a group of four females, all with egg clusters. Feasting away on the algae on the glass.
Here's another 2 females with eggs, and I believe a female without.
Last pic. I took these all with my phone's camera thru a printer's ocular. I figured it was the closest thing to our standard fallback, the trusty magnifying glass. Hopefully these pictures will help newcomers identify a few of those creepy little critters scurrying around on the aquarium glass!
