Copepods

[sinner's g]

I'm debating making an order (well, had the cart filled when I thought my final price would be $80, but my $20 credit came off of the live good total not the real total, so now i'm not sure I want to spend $100 to order. It's hard enough coming up with 79, worth of stuff to order for one tank-then I had to add MORE stuff to add another $20).
I see Copepods listed, never bought them before. would they help my sand became live? I just added the dry sand then cycled my tank. the sand is not alive.
would the copepods reproduce and be food for my fish/inverts?
thanks!

 

[lexluethar]

Copepods won't make your sand live. What makes them live is bacteria that you can't see, copepods are living creatures, but they are higher up on the food chain and don't eat ammonia / nitrites, so they won't make is "live."
From my understanding if you are done cycling, then your sand is live at this point. If you can sustain a decent amount of bioload (fish food, fish poop) and not have ammonia go up - and having it convert straight to nitrates then you have cycled, and anything in your tank like sand, rocks, filter pads, bioballs are now "live" because it is surface area that the bacteria grows on.
As for the amount of bacteria, if you only cycled with a piece of shrimp and haven't put any fish in the tank then there may not be a lot of bacteria, but if you right now have fish / inverts, and no ammonia / nitrites then your sand / lr are well populated. Make sense?

 

[browniebuck]

What does your order consist of? You could always add the copepods (especially if you wanted to get a mandarin at some point...I don't know your plans or anything about your system). You could add more inverts (clean up crew, different types of crabs (anemone, porcelain, emerald, etc...), cleaner shrimp, peppermint shrimp, cleaner clam (though I would just go to your grocery store, as these are much cheaper there), maybe a cheap coral...it all depends on what your system is, your current livestock is, your current order is, etc...
Give more info!!!

 

[ecooper]

I've ordered the copepods before. They are VERY TINY!!! But, the ones I received from SWF are different than the ones that grew naturally in my tank - I'm assuming a different species. If you want something different, it would be fine.
But, unless you have a really large tank and plan to have a lot of live rock, I wouldn't get them with the idea of a mandarin in the future. I had a mandarin in a 75g filled with live rock and had to continually order copepods because he ate everything! Obviously, my mandarin never took to frozen food. But, he was doing fine until dying 3 weeks ago when he jumped out of the tank.

I didn't even know a mandarin could do that...

 

[browniebuck]

Originally Posted by ecooper
http:///forum/post/2496252
But, he was doing fine until dying 3 weeks ago when he jumped out of the tank.

I didn't even know a mandarin could do that...
Sorry to hear about that. I have never heard of them doing that either, but now I will look at my tank for any possible escape routes to prevent this from happening!!

 

[sinner's g]

I thought sand wasn't alive till there were creatures in the sand? this is my first time with sand, had cc before (I know evil. lol)
nothing but live rock and sand is currently in the tank. and just a few pieces of rock. I still have to move all my live rock, but was waiting for the cycle to end. (we moved, had to take down my 75 and had my star and lr in a 20long-got the 75gl back up and now cycled-but haven't moved the live rock over-didn't want to kill all my feather dusters.)
my order:
1 X Hermits - Assorted - Group of 10 0% $9.99
1 X Emerald Crab - Group of 3 0% $9.99
1 X Decorator Crab 0% $6.99
1 X Brittle Starfish 0% $7.99
1 X Chocolate Chip Starfish 0% $12.99
1 X Copepods - Group of 200 0% $9.99
1 X Yellowtail Blue Damsel 0% $4.79
1 X Three Spot Damsel 0% $5.99
1 X Blue Damsel 0% $4.49
1 X Fighting Conch - Aquacultured 0% $8.99
1 X Serpent Starfish 0% $9.99
1 X Scarlet Hermit Crab 0% $3.49
1 X Cleaner Clam 0% $4.99
Credit To Be Used = - $20.00
Sub-Total = $80.67
? Boxes, Packaging, & FedEx Shipping = FREE
Processing Fee = $9.99
? Temporary Fuel Charge = $9.99
Live Goods Total = $100.65
(current out of urchins, so I couldn't add those).
however, I really don't' want to add three fish at once (that was dh doing that. grr) i don't want damsel at all. I shouldn't add 3 stars this soon (though I have a ton of rock that's establish and has tons of growth). and a tank only needs so many crabs! (my free item is a CBS). (only got 1 asst of ten, because in the past, more than ten come in the order)
Anyway, i'm not placing the order, too ricky imo to add all that this soon. and personally i'm ticked the $20 credit comes off the live good order and not my total. so, although i've had great luck with swf orders before, $100 is just too much for an order.
I'll pick up some stuff locally, after i move the lr and make sure I don't have a change in levels. I don't want a spike and lose all my inverts!!!
hopefully, the processing fee and fuel charge will go away, and i'll be able to place a order in a few months.
longer term plans for fish? no sure. I made a list and did my research a few years ago, but i no longer like those fish. I know I want a clown, because I love their personality1
i'd be able with two clowns, and a tank full of inverts.
however, my husband wants lots of fish and likes damsels. though i'm the one doing all the work. so

 

[sinner's g]

Originally Posted by LexLuethar
http:///forum/post/2496211
As for the amount of bacteria, if you only cycled with a piece of shrimp and haven't put any fish in the tank then there may not be a lot of bacteria, but if you right now have fish / inverts, and no ammonia / nitrites then your sand / lr are well populated. Make sense?
I used a few pieces of shrimp and a piece of rock. I've used just shrimp before.
no fish or inverts, i have lr that I need to move over. need to test today to make sure the cycle is complete, before i move my rock. (didn't want to cycle with all my lr and kill my feather dusters!)

 

[1journeyman]

Originally Posted by Sinner's G
http:///forum/post/2496572
I thought sand wasn't alive till there were creatures in the sand? this is my first time with sand, had cc before (I know evil. lol)...
Actually you are correct.
True "live sand" is filled with pods (all varieties), worms (again, all sorts), tiny crustaceans, tiny stars, etc.
Bagged sand will never give you this. You need fresh sand. You can order it (from here), get it locally from a hobbyist, or get some good fresh live rock that will "seed" your sandbed. (Not as thoroughly as adding fresh sand, but better than nothing).

 

[lesleybird]

If you are doing corals they would benifit from the copapods. Don't think your fish will need them. Amphipods are the large ones that some fish like to eat where copapods are the smaller ones in my understanding. I have both in my tank as I have ordered a plankton culture and a pod culture to get them. Some may come in on live rock though. The tiny bugs that are seen on the glass are copapods, the amphipods are the larger ones running around on the rocks and sand that look like tiny shrimp. To see if you have either you may have to wait until you have had your tank up for a couple of months and look with a flashlight in the dark at night. Some of these creatures may not make it through a hard cycle in a new tank. I also added a worm culture to my tank to live int the sand to help keep it clean (they have multiplied there). Do a google search for reef worms, or use the term seafarm with reef worms to get a good place to purchase them as I cannot mention any sites here. Lesley