Why can't I keep copepods alive?

[MissMolly]

Despite what BRS tells you, though they make a teensy difference at keeping a tank clean, they will do nearly nothing at fixing the ugly stages of the first 6 months to a year of having a new reef

Mmm I don't know if BRS is lying to me or not. But anyways I would like to be able to keep pods alive. Not too worried about diatoms. Just want to understand the pod situation.

 

[Cthulukelele]

Mmm I don't know if BRS is lying to me or not. But anyways I would like to be able to keep pods alive. Not too worried about diatoms. Just want to understand the pod situation.

I'm telling you as everyone else in this thread is telling you you have pods. They hide during the day in rocks and rubble especially in the presence of fish. You may not even see tons of them at night. Your tank will sustain the quantity it can currently sustain based on available food. Idk why people come to threads to ask questions of people who have done this before to argue with them.

 

[MissMolly]

Copepods won’t be your primary algae control, they help, but shouldn’t be expected to take care of it.

Amphipods can mow down a *little* more, but again are unlikely to be your primary algae control.

Snails, crabs, conches. These are the big guns.

Yeah as I said to another in here. I'm not too worried about algae. But I would like to keep pods alive and therefore understand why I can't.

I do have snails

 

[MissMolly]

I'm telling you as everyone else in this thread is telling you you have pods. They hide during the day in rocks and rubble. Idk why people come to threads to ask questions of people who have done this before to argue with them.

By now there should be millions. It's a TINY tank, I can see my rubble and sandbed through the glass with a loupe. There is not a single one to see after a few days after adding. Don't you find that weird? When I first add them they are incredible easy to spot. They are all over the place. mostly on walls bu also stone and rubble.

I should add that my stones are white (with brown spots from diatoms), my sandbed is white, rubbles are white and all very close to the glass.

 

[PotatoPig]

Yeah as I said to another in here. I'm not too worried about algae. But I would like to keep pods alive and therefore understand why I can't.

I do have snails

So, if the pods are tigger pods they almost certainly won’t colonize. I cultured these things for a few months, added them to the tank daily. Must have added hundreds of thousands of them. A day or so after and they’re all gone.

Other pod species do (Tisbe are a readily available bottle pod that fits the bill). But they’re hide and seek pros. I added a bottle and didn’t see any for about 3 months, gave up checking, then one day did the flashlight thing and realized there were a bunch on the glass. Can just take time.

 

[Cthulukelele]

By now there should be millions. It's a TINY tank, I can see my rubble and sandbed through the glass with a loupe. There is not a single one to see after a few days after adding. Don't you find that weird? When I first add them they are incredible easy to spot. They are all over the place. mostly on walls bu also stone and rubble.

I should add that my stones are white (with brown spots from diatoms), my sandbed is white, rubbles are white and all very close to the glass.

They will not survive in large quantities in a tiny tank without a refugium. There is some amount of die off, some amount of predation (clownfish eat pods. Regardless of if you're observing it or not they are a species that occasionally pecks away at pods). Your tank will sustain the population that can survive in this sized tank. Tiger pods as another commentator said don't reproduce super well in our tanks, but you'd still likely have a small population. Tisbe and apoc pods are more prolific. Adding the bottle is meant to be a seeding event. What you're describing isn't weird at all.

 

[Lavey29]

I don't and I study the tank with a loupe also. They are not there

At 3 months tank age, you have a very unstable undeveloped biome so not surprising tiny life is not established yet in your tank. I wouldn't worry about it. If you do your part they will eventually establish very well as your tank matures.

 

[taricha]

If you want a very large number of pods (to feel better, rather than just trusting they are in there) it's pretty easy to culture them in big numbers.
I have a gallon jug with an airline bubbling.
I alternate between adding a few drops of phytofeast and a tiny pinch of finely ground up fish flake every few days.

This is a 1.5 week harvest of what is caught by a 250 micron filter.

Not all pods will culture up this way - these are mostly tigger pods, but tisbe pods common in tanks culture up this way as well.

 

[MissMolly]

So, if the pods are tigger pods they almost certainly won’t colonize. I cultured these things for a few months, added them to the tank daily. Must have added hundreds of thousands of them. A day or so after and they’re all gone.

Other pod species do (Tisbe are a readily available bottle pod that fits the bill). But they’re hide and seek pros. I added a bottle and didn’t see any for about 3 months, gave up checking, then one day did the flashlight thing and realized there were a bunch on the glass. Can just take time.

Okay so this is actually really helpful, thank you. Thank you for not just saying that I do have pods in there when I don't So most probably I have been adding tigger pods and they don't reproduce and therefore the population die off, rigth? That makes sense to me. So I have to get tisbe pods right? Any recommendations where to get these in Europe? Are there any other species of pods that will reproduce well in tank?

 

[MissMolly]

If you want a very large number of pods (to feel better, rather than just trusting they are in there) it's pretty easy to culture them in big numbers.
I have a gallon jug with an airline bubbling.
I alternate between adding a few drops of phytofeast and a tiny pinch of finely ground up fish flake every few days.

This is a 1.5 week harvest of what is caught by a 250 micron filter.

Not all pods will culture up this way - these are mostly tigger pods, but tisbe pods common in tanks culture up this way as well.

Thank you for showing this! I don't want to culture my own, I have so many tanks and already a lot to take care of. I don't mind buying the pods but I would like them to survive and reproduce in the tank

 

[MissMolly]

At 3 months tank age, you have a very unstable undeveloped biome so not surprising tiny life is not established yet in your tank. I wouldn't worry about it. If you do your part they will eventually establish very well as your tank matures.

Okay so it really comes down to biome? Too little in a new tank? I just thoguth that if I fed them enough phyto it would be okay. Also with the little amount of diatoms in there currently. But not enough I guess....

 

[MissMolly]

They will not survive in large quantities in a tiny tank without a refugium. There is some amount of die off, some amount of predation (clownfish eat pods. Regardless of if you're observing it or not they are a species that occasionally pecks away at pods). Your tank will sustain the population that can survive in this sized tank. Tiger pods as another commentator said don't reproduce super well in our tanks, but you'd still likely have a small population. Tisbe and apoc pods are more prolific. Adding the bottle is meant to be a seeding event. What you're describing isn't weird at all.

I will see if I can find some tisbe and apoc pods to seed. Worth a try. I am suspecting that I have been adding tigger pods.

And as y'all suggested I got up last night at 3 am hunting for copepods with my phone flash, but none were to be seen as I expected.

 

[Lavey29]

Okay so it really comes down to biome? Too little in a new tank? I just thoguth that if I fed them enough phyto it would be okay. Also with the little amount of diatoms in there currently. But not enough I guess....

When my tank was young I dumped bottles of pods in but would not see any after a few days. As the tank matured I developed a pod population explosion then as the tank continued to mature the excess pod population self regulated its numbers and just became an integral part of the tank based on its available food sources. I dose phytoplankton weekly and have had a mandarin for 2 years now. I wouldn't worry about it to much with a new tank. The pods will come as your environment becomes more stable and inviting to them.

 

[MissMolly]

When my tank was young I dumped bottles of pods in but would not see any after a few days. As the tank matured I developed a pod population explosion then as the tank continued to mature the excess pod population self regulated its numbers and just became an integral part of the tank based on its available food sources. I dose phytoplankton weekly and have had a mandarin for 2 years now. I wouldn't worry about it to much with a new tank. The pods will come as your environment becomes more stable and inviting to them.

Makes sense. Thank you. So thinking that phytofeast everyday would keep them alive wasn't enough I guess. Also I think I need to look into different kinds of pods a long the way. Stronly suspect the additions I made to have been tigger pods now.

Initially I started this thread to find out if anything was "wrong" with the tank or parameters for copepods. But I guess it's a maturity thing. That is comforting to know

 

[JonsNano]

I will see if I can find some tisbe and apoc pods to seed. Worth a try. I am suspecting that I have been adding tigger pods.

And as y'all suggested I got up last night at 3 am hunting for copepods with my phone flash, but none were to be seen as I expected.

Are the pods you are buying an orange colour and floating in the water in the bag?
These are all I seem to be able to find in the uk for a while now and they are swimmers not crawlers and don’t last long lol

 

[Lavey29]

Makes sense. Thank you. So thinking that phytofeast everyday would keep them alive wasn't enough I guess. Also I think I need to look into different kinds of pods a long the way. Stronly suspect the additions I made to have been tigger pods now.

Initially I started this thread to find out if anything was "wrong" with the tank or parameters for copepods. But I guess it's a maturity thing. That is comforting to know

Yes adding different types of pods eventually is beneficial. There is nothing wrong with adding a bottle of pods here and there as your tank matures but just sharing that my experience was similar to what you describe. Now all kinds of critters appear in my tank and I have no idea where they came from or even what some of them are.

 

[MissMolly]

Are the pods you are buying an orange colour and floating in the water in the bag?
These are all I seem to be able to find in the uk for a while now and they are swimmers not crawlers and don’t last long lol

Mm they are orange yes and floating. The bag has some writing in red and blue on it as I recall.

 

[MissMolly]

Are the pods you are buying an orange colour and floating in the water in the bag?
These are all I seem to be able to find in the uk for a while now and they are swimmers not crawlers and don’t last long lol

I am kind of glad I'm not the only one with this issue!

 

[Tired]

Clownfish and mollies do eat pods, for the record. They just don't hunt them exclusively like some fish do. They also scare the pods into hiding more.

 

[JonsNano]

Mm they are orange yes and floating. The bag has some writing in red and blue on it as I recall.

Yep that’s the ones all gone within the day you add them, if you do manage to find any tisbe pods or the apocyclops pods please let me know!
I was even thinking of contacting someone like algaebarn to see if they would ship lol