Problems Problems and more Problems!!

hello, well its day 10 and yesterday i added the macro algae to my sump/fuge and suddenly all my tank was covered with copepods and also i saw yesterday for the first time a in my LR a HUGEEE amphipod !! but this morning i looked at my tank and only saw one damsel (if you dont know i have 2 damsels for the cycle) so i tryed looking for it as it has been hiding at night in one hole in my LR but i couldnt find it, so i started to panic and i thaught the HUGE amphipod might of been a mantis shrimp, so i started to take out all the LR when suddenly the fish fell off one as i was picking it up,, i put everything inside again, when suddenly the 2 damsels started to rub on the sand, i think it might be the copepods that are disturbing them? or could it be the ammonia and nititre level that both are high right now?

 

pods are good! they won't hurt your fish were they rubbing on the sand or fanning? damsels fan the and as do clowns, it's kinda a nesting ritual....seems like normal behavior to me. if it is rubbing then the ammonia might be getting a little high for them. it's cool though, they're tough!

 

I agree with cuttingras, copepods and such are good. As for the rubbing behavior, it is... possible that its mating behavior, but since your tank is only 10 days old... well lets just say "they are called cycle fish for a reason?". Though, some of my damsels did survive the initial spike (they are tough little buggers).

Overall, I would not move rock and such around very much because it will lead to high stress levels.

 

+1, that too...

 

+2. Damsels are tough, but IMO its always better to cycle without fish. As long as you don't have Isopods your good. That HUGE amphipod will probably make a delicious snack for one of your fish later on.

 

well actually the fish rubbed on the sand but it was right after i moved the rock. they haven't done anything like that anymore and whats so fascinating is that they started to eat all the copepods lol! even do i fed them today they still are swimming over the whole tank eating any copepod that comes across them,, cant wait to finish these long and tense cycle!

 

Trust me, you won't make the mistake between amphipods and a mantis I would try to dig it out, but wear gloves