Increasing Copepod Population in Tank

I wanted to make this thread after achieving positive results from doing a lot of trial and error in trying to increase copepod population.

This tank does not have a sump/fuge yet.
130 Lbs Uncured Live Rock
30Lbs Base Rock

About 30 Lbs of live rock came from my old 29G tank which was seeded with pods about a year ago.

Now, im not expert in the subject, i'm basically sharing my experience.

Ok so i start my new 120G tank and i really did not expect any copepods to bloom in the new tank. A few months go by, i add about 5 fish. 1 wrasse and 4 chromis. Also added 4 cleaner shrimp and 1 fire shrimp.

I saw some copepods here and there, just a few i could easily count.
I always wanted a green mandarin and i know how they can be about their diet and i knew that there was no way they would survive with just a few pods.

So i really started doing some reasearch and found out what copepods like and what makes them multiply. Also the most common type - Herpactacoid copeods are really high in Omega-3 which is very benificial to fish in preventing diseases.

There are the steps i took to increase the population.

1. Removed 4 chromis and 2 cleaner shrimp.
2. Stoppped cleaning algae on the sides of my tank.
3. Turned off skimmer and mechanical filtration at night.
4. Added 10 drops Vitamin C (marine c) every morning.
5. Added 5ml Marine Snow every night after filtration is turned off.
6. Added 10 drops of Phyto Feast every night after filtration is turned off.
7. Added 5ml marine trace twice a week.

Feeding the copepods i belive is important to help them finish their life stages and continue to reproduce at a high rate. The Marine snow and Phto feast are very tiny .2 microns to 100 microns. Also removing copepod hunter will allow them to multiply faster.

Also copepods are one of the hardiest creatures, they can survive extreme changes in temeperature, salinity, pH etc.

Here are the results before and after. Sorry i only have 1 before picture.
All those tiny dots on the glass in the third picture are copepods.
If you have any questions, i will be happy to answer them.

Before The before picture was taken just when the bloom started. Before that it was just clean glass lol


After a few days


The arrow is pointing to the side glass.

 

Hey - great write up of your endeavor, thank you. I’d be interested in seeing what takes place after you add your fuge.

 

Thanks. I'm going to pick up my sump/fuge today. I'll post pics of that aswell.

 

Mandarin Goby

Hi there,

Great write up... thanks for sharing

But i have a question for you. I'm a complete newbie, just got my tank set up a few days ago. I was able to purchase live rock and established saltwater from a fish store. Then purchased my first fish, a mandarin goby, on Saturday. I know i know, i should have waited but i didn't realize. The shop allowed me to buy it, it was on sale, and they told me i could just purchase a bottle of copepds, dump it in, and it should proliferate on its own (I have yet to buy a bottle since it was out of stock). All this sounded awesome until I decided to do some research on my newly acquired fish (which i looooove). I then found out that this fish requires a lot of copepods and the number 1 reason for its fatality is starvation.

Thus, this is how i found your post, i wanted to know how to increase the number of copepods in my fish tank... i was able to find a handful swimming around on my glass whenever i turned off my filter.

So... my question is... you recommended that the filter be turned off every night??? wouldn't that be somewhat detrimental to the aquarium??

thanks a lot in advance

 

Good job! I increased mine by feeding something called Zoeplankton
http://www.shop.precisionaquatech.com/product.sc?categoryId=14&productId=70

 

Established saltwater?

 

Thanks for sharing infamous. I'm going to start a pod farm after my next water change. Interesting stuff you got here.

Your tank isn't even cycled yet. You need to return that fish. The LFS is just after your $$. Sorry. The recommendation for that fish is to have a tank that is about 1 year old (not to mention a steady pod population). They are delicate to fluctuations, which you will surely have. Just be patient and always research a particular fish before you buy to save you these kinds of hassles. I know it can be a real pain.

I don't even run a filter other than my Live Rock and skimmer. Just FYI, the filter will filter out pods too

 

Hmmm, Peredhil, quick question for ya. In a 29gal tank with 40 lbs LR could I get away with just the LR and my skimmer instead of this canister? The canister only has carbon and those bio rings in it so it's just holding water and aggitating the water surface for now.......I'm just wondering because it would be nice!!!

 

I really don't want to be hijacking Infamous's thread here folks. Please just post questions on my profile page.

I have almost 2lbs LR per gallon and a skimmer rated for almost twice my tank size. That's all I run as way of filtration with excellent results. I also have a light fish bio-load (see sig). Individual mileage may vary.

I would say if you get 20lbs more LR you could probably do without the canister. If you add 20lbs base rock, wait for it to become live. And don't overstock or overfeed but it is very doable.

Good luck.

Sorry infamous.

 

Sorry Infamous!! Didn't even think to post on your page!!