Why can't I keep copepods alive?

[JonsNano]

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

You will get pods anyway without intentionally adding them, they will come on rock and corals and will build up their population over a few months. If you let your glass get dirty I bet you will see a few tiny pod dots consuming and moving around on the film algae.
My quest for pods came after a major tank crash quite a few months back when I realised I didn’t seem to have many at all compared to what I was used to seeing and coincidentally had a massive population of tiny little red flatworms(planaria I think) and heard that these consume pods.
I didn’t find anything but them orange tiggers but my pod population is back and I have not added anything other than trying to establish a healthy biome again after my crash.

 

[PotatoPig]

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?

From your description in other pods it certainly sounds like you’ve been adding tigger pods. Popular commercially as they culture easy and are big enough you can actually see them so folks don’t feel like they’re just adding a bag of water to the tank.

Not entirely sure where you’d get other bottle pods from in Europe, Google defaults to US based suppliers for me, guess it knows where I live.

Bottle pods are one way of getting them, but not the only way, and not even the main way for many people. If nowhere available to you sells Tisbe pods then adding virtually any quantity of live rock and/or corals and/or crabs/snails/etc will almost certainly bring random species of these little critters in that’ll colonize your tank.

In the end you won’t keep these things out of your tank even if you try, which is why people are telling you that you probably have them already.

 

[Lavey29]

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

Problem is tisbe and Apocyclops don't ship well and are often DOA. Tigger pods ship the best and if you have enough rock they will swim into hiding and multiply but only come out at night to.

 

[BubblesandSqueak]

have you checked your filter? You should have your pump turned off for like an hour to let them settle to the bottom of the tank sand/rock so they don't just get sucked right in and can latch themselves to something.

 

[JonsNano]

Problem is tisbe and Apocyclops don't ship well and are often DOA. Tigger pods ship the best and if you have enough rock they will swim into hiding and multiply but only come out at night to.

That’s a shame to hear about the doa not worth the risk then, but also exciting as when I checked my tank at 2am the other day I saw at least 4 or 5 little(about 3-5mm) red/orangey fuzzy things swimming which were attracted to my light, I guess these might be tiggers and if so somehow they have lived in my tank for a long while

 

[floridareeflabs]

That’s a shame to hear about the doa not worth the risk then, but also exciting as when I checked my tank at 2am the other day I saw at least 4 or 5 little(about 3-5mm) red/orangey fuzzy things swimming which were attracted to my light, I guess these might be tiggers and if so somehow they have lived in my tank for a long while

Per comment about not shipping well we disagree. We ship thousands of bottles of each species and yes sometimes weather is a factor but 99% of the time they arrive alive and well.

As for pods we agree they are there, but as already said depending on inhabitants they could be consumed quick or are being filtered out by filter media. If you can setup a true refugium that has plant filtration and rocks etc you can run without filter media and not worry but most can’t or don’t want to have that “muck” so just dose pods weekly/bi weekly or monthly to keep populations up. You can culture your own in a side tank and harvest or buy direct from a vendor.

 

[JonsNano]

Per comment about not shipping well we disagree. We ship thousands of bottles of each species and yes sometimes weather is a factor but 99% of the time they arrive alive and well.

As for pods we agree they are there, but as already said depending on inhabitants they could be consumed quick or are being filtered out by filter media. If you can setup a true refugium that has plant filtration and rocks etc you can run without filter media and not worry but most can’t or don’t want to have that “muck” so just dose pods weekly/bi weekly or monthly to keep populations up. You can culture your own in a side tank and harvest or buy direct from a vendor.

Do you ship internationally?

 

[floridareeflabs]

Do you ship internationally?

Currently no, we used to but during Covid paperwork got to be too much so we are US only at moment, We do plan to ship internationally again in near future. Also, we were successful with shipping internationally, cost is the main factor as not only shipping prices but also packaging and heat/cold controls have to be in place. .

 

[JonsNano]

Currently no, we used to but during Covid paperwork got to be too much so we are US only at moment, We do plan to ship internationally again in near future. Also, we were successful with shipping internationally, cost is the main factor as not only shipping prices but also packaging and heat/cold controls have to be in place. .

Cool thanks for the informative response!

 

[TWYOUNG]

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

Agreed! After watching those videos I made sure to add them early and often. Still spent the first 12-18 months fighting algaes and dinos. I think I'd been better served with advice on ways to increase biodiversity.

 

[TWYOUNG]

Having a Refugium is great for a reef. My copepods thrive there, easily seeing hundreds in a glance. My leopard wrasse quickly hunts down pods on the rocks every morning. If diatoms are your issue, turn back the lights and feed less. Conch will stir your sand as will a sand sifting starfish.

I always debate the value of adding pods to my fuge. I have chaeto and ceramic biomedia so there's plenty of area for them to populate however my sump has its fuge before the skimmer chamber and UV. I just question the purpose of growing them in a fuge if it seems unlikely they'll make it to the display. Do they serve any valuable purpose if they never leave the fuge?

 

[tzabor10]

I always debate the value of adding pods to my fuge. I have chaeto and ceramic biomedia so there's plenty of area for them to populate however my sump has its fuge before the skimmer chamber and UV. I just question the purpose of growing them in a fuge if it seems unlikely they'll make it to the display. Do they serve any valuable purpose if they never leave the fuge?

You could shake out the cheato in your display when harvesting it

 

[drblank1]

Temp 22
Salinity 32.5
PH 7.7
Nitrate 10
Nitrite 0
Ammonia 0

Maybe its because your tank temperature is too low!!

Like many have already said, they are in there. But if you want more, try a "pod" refugium. I have a 20 gallon tank attached to my system with just rocks and sand. I seeded it with copepods. The fuge overflows to my return pump so any pods that make it out go to my main tank. Every now and then, I like to turn on the light and creep on the pods swimming around in the fuge.

 

[MissMolly]

Maybe its because your tank temperature is too low!!

Like many have already said, they are in there. But if you want more, try a "pod" refugium. I have a 20 gallon tank attached to my system with just rocks and sand. I seeded it with copepods. The fuge overflows to my return pump so any pods that make it out go to my main tank. Every now and then, I like to turn on the light and creep on the pods swimming around in the fuge.

Not sure if the temp it causes them not to reproduce but they sure can survive.

But no they aren't in there. Tore the whole thing apart to see.. Been sneaking up at night also. Nothing. It's kind of funny how no one believes me except the ones who have experienced this as well.

Yeah I don't plan on a refugium although I know that this is a great way to grow the pop.

 

[MissMolly]

Agreed! After watching those videos I made sure to add them early and often. Still spent the first 12-18 months fighting algaes and dinos. I think I'd been better served with advice on ways to increase biodiversity.

I still belive very much in the BRS method and think the pods will fight diatoms (absolutely not dinos) but it has to be the right pods. I can't find them and I can't make em survive so yeah that's amazing

 

[MissMolly]

have you checked your filter? You should have your pump turned off for like an hour to let them settle to the bottom of the tank sand/rock so they don't just get sucked right in and can latch themselves to something.

Oh the pump is off all day, just the wavemaker on. No pods in the filter after. Just on the walls, and then nothing.

 

[MissMolly]

Per comment about not shipping well we disagree. We ship thousands of bottles of each species and yes sometimes weather is a factor but 99% of the time they arrive alive and well.

As for pods we agree they are there, but as already said depending on inhabitants they could be consumed quick or are being filtered out by filter media. If you can setup a true refugium that has plant filtration and rocks etc you can run without filter media and not worry but most can’t or don’t want to have that “muck” so just dose pods weekly/bi weekly or monthly to keep populations up. You can culture your own in a side tank and harvest or buy direct from a vendor.

Wished you shipped those to Europe Seems impossible to find here.

I am very happy about my current setup so not planning on setting up a refugium just to keep copepods. They must live in the tank or don't. I will continue to search for tisbe or other pods than tigger here and hope to find some - otherwise I will wait a century or so until they show up on their own.

 

[MissMolly]

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

You know you CAN use a reship address in the US. I have thought about that and ordering from Algaebarn. I use reship a lot.. But it will end up pretty expensive. Not sure copepods are worth it. But I saw that you foudn some tiggers in the middle of the night in your tank. Congrats!! I didn't

 

[Cthulukelele]

Not sure if the temp it causes them not to reproduce but they sure can survive.

But no they aren't in there. Tore the whole thing apart to see.. Been sneaking up at night also. Nothing. It's kind of funny how no one believes me except the ones who have experienced this as well.

Yeah I don't plan on a refugium although I know that this is a great way to grow the pop.

It's not that people don't believe you. Those people who "agree" with you are telling you that they had a very small pod population early in their tank's lifespan (which I and others who say you have pods also agree with). Your tank is young and likely can't support a large pod population, but almost certainly there are pods in your tank. Pods are ubiquitous. They're also elusive especially before you have large populations in an old established healthy tank.

 

[JonsNano]

You know you CAN use a reship address in the US. I have thought about that and ordering from Algaebarn. I use reship a lot.. But it will end up pretty expensive. Not sure copepods are worth it. But I saw that you foudn some tiggers in the middle of the night in your tank. Congrats!! I didn't

I had thought of similar but decided it was to much hassle or expensive lol tbf I was in a bit of panic mode looking for them for no real reason other than my situation and observation of far fewer numbers than I was used to seeing, they are back in abundance now thankfully with no additions.
Thanks you may have one day too, I honestly never thought I would have tiggers I thought it was impossible for them too last lol I randomly sometimes grab a bag every few months from the Lfs just as an extra food addition so I am amazed