Copepods??????

[albfishin']

I have these small, look like bugs, crawling all over lr and substrate. Are these copepods? Are they a good thing to have in the tank? How much is a good thing? I've seen them before and they kind of disappeered for awhile and now with just a simple glance, it looks like things are moving because of so many. Even with a young tank, is it time to add a mandarin goby??? Or should they be left to multiply and do their thing? Thanks for any input!!! :joy:

 

[puffer32]

You can add a mandrin if youhave a fuge, otherwise he will eat all the pods if they don't have a place to reproduce.

 

[reefkprz]

ok your going through the high period your copepod population is doing the explosion thing eventually your numbers will decline and stabilize at a number that your tank can sustain, they tend to go through several high to low periods before they stabilize this is completly normal. With out knowing tank size amounts of live rock fuge no fuge sump no sump, no one is going to honestly be able to tell you if your tank can support a mandarin. If some one says they can they are either mis-informed or just guessing and neither is safe in this hobby, if you list your specs there are plenty of people on here that can help you make an informed descision
I myself wouldnt put a mandarin in anything less than a 90g with at least 120lbs of rock and a fuge/sump as well to provide a place for copepods to multiply where your mandarin cant decimate their population. but this is just me, others have succeded in smaller tanks I'm sure
many people try and their mandarin lives for a while then wastes away, slowly starving to death.

 

[albfishin']

I've got a 55 gal. with about 75lbs of lr. I have a wet/dry filter with sump, not sure what a fuge is?? :thinking:
Regardless having them in tank is normal? Do I need to add anything to control their pop??

 

[d0 thy d3w]

theyre normal, and dont hurt anything..i myself find the little guys entertaining..they run across my glass like crazy..and other times i see almost none of them...you dont have anything to worry about

 

[snookedsteve]

I have a 125 with over 200# of LR and had millions of copepods. I bought a Madarin because I thought they were cool and the LFS said they would be fine with the copepods. He didn't tell me I needed to replinish the supply because he would decimate it in no time. Moral of the story. Don't get the Goby unless you have an endless supply of copepods. My Goby died before I could catch him.

 

[lbaskball]

good for the tank.