Fun with Copepods!!!!

[paulyd1978]

Just a few questions about copepods for anyone with experience with them:
1. Do they molt? I've got a refugium with pods and occasionally I'll see what looks like a molted copepod shell floating around my display. Maybe a dead one?
2. What do they eat? I know when they're small they feed on phytoplankton, but what about when they're larger?
3. Typically, how long do they live and how many times do they spawn? I want them to keep breeding!

 

[novahobbies]

1) Yes, they molt. But what you are probably seeing is a grammarus amphipod molt, not a copepod molt. if it looks like a little curved, segmented comma, it's probably an amphipod molt. I get 'em all the time.
2) copepods (and amphipods) eat detritus, algae, phytoplankton.....they're pretty opportunistic.
3) I don't know how long an individual pod lives, but they spawn a LOT. Assuming you have a fuge or protected area in your DT for them to breed and live safely, and that you don't have many pod predators, you won't have to worry about your pod population. It'll bloom pretty nicely in just a few months.

 

[paulyd1978]

Thanks for the input, I appreciate it