can you starve a copepod/aphipod

been trying to get my pod population bigger again, use to see them all the time, but not anymore and i need them for my dsb. my question is it possible to starve them?
i have hardly any algae on my walls and i dont wipe them down. i even have a refugium so they can repopulate without the mandrian eating them. i have added in two bags of reef pods in the last month. is it possible that my bigger cuc (snails, crabs) are eating up all the detritus and algae so that the pods dont have enough to eat? water specs are good

 

Anything that needs to consume food to live can starve. I would assume your pod population had a large bloom, consumed the food available and then had a crash when not enough food was present. That's ok, it's a perfectly normal situation... your pod population will come to equilibrium with the available food. You still have them, no worries.

 

The populations often come and go. I'm sure it is possible to starve them. Do you feed your fuge also? Also Amphipods are known to eat copipods.

 

Just like any living organism, it requires food to thrive. Outside of predatory concerns, the population will most often be determined by the food source available, such as phytoplankton.

 

If they're thriving and reproducing in the fuge, it's more likely that your mandarin is keeping the DT population depleted.

 

i do not feed the refugeum, should I ? i always thought the plants in there along with the bits of food that make it in there would be enough. my fuge is just a seperated part of the tank, using plastic used for kitting. theres a build up of detrius in there, and hair algea.

another question now that phytoplankton was broght up, what affect does a uv sterilizer have on the pods (i have one)? dont the uv kill the free floating algea? therfor killing a type of algea the pods may eat. thanks for the replies.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by "reef pods"...are they Tigriopus californicus ("tigger" pods)? If so, they won't reproduce at tropical temps (only males are born above about 68*F). If you're trying to seed the tank, pick up some Tisbe sp..

They do require food, and live phyto is good for copepods, with the exception of Nannochloropsis, which has a very thick cell wall that can't be readily digested by most organisms. Tetraselmis or Isochrysis are much better, and have good nutritional profiles.

Since most common copepods are benthic/demersal, they won't be affected by a UV unit, but algae cells can be. Best to turn it off for awhile after adding live phyto.

HTH