Copepod Question

[JonoH]

Newbie questions here!
Can anyone give me the low down on dosing/adding in Copepods?
I have a 110 Gallon set up with softies and fish, it was already cycled/established when i purchased it a few months ago, so in all its a 5+ year old system.
However, it needs work - more rock/coral etc (it was pretty minimalist from the old owner).
Would it be worth adding in Copepods, or would this require a refigium set up in Sump first (which is on my list of things to do).
Thanks

 

[Stephen8169301]

Newbie questions here!
Can anyone give me the low down on dosing/adding in Copepods?
I have a 110 Gallon set up with softies and fish, it was already cycled/established when i purchased it a few months ago, so in all its a 5+ year old system.
However, it needs work - more rock/coral etc (it was pretty minimalist from the old owner).
Would it be worth adding in Copepods, or would this require a refigium set up in Sump first (which is on my list of things to do).
Thanks

Does your system have a sump? It doesn’t need a refugium per say but it’s a safer place for them to thrive you can get a long tube with that bottle of them and introduce them into your sand bed so research before doing I’ve never personally done it but I am thinking of doing this you could also get the hob refugium and put them in there

 

[JonoH]

Does your system have a sump? It doesn’t need a refugium per say but it’s a safer place for them to thrive you can get a long tube with that bottle of them and introduce them into your sand bed so research before doing I’ve never personally done it but I am thinking of doing this you could also get the hob refugium and put them in there

Yes it has a sump - was going to set up the refugium there.

Good to know that you can add them without a fuge, i'm guessing that it is beneficial for the whole system?

 

[Stephen8169301]

Yes it has a sump - was going to set up the refugium there.

Good to know that you can add them without a fuge, i'm guessing that it is beneficial for the whole system?

Send a pic of your sump and yeah I’m not sure the survival rate though if you have fish that actively hunting them

 

[Jay'sReefBugs]

Newbie questions here!
Can anyone give me the low down on dosing/adding in Copepods?
I have a 110 Gallon set up with softies and fish, it was already cycled/established when i purchased it a few months ago, so in all its a 5+ year old system.
However, it needs work - more rock/coral etc (it was pretty minimalist from the old owner).
Would it be worth adding in Copepods, or would this require a refigium set up in Sump first (which is on my list of things to do).
Than

You already have copepods in the system more then likely. Just dose a little phyto to boost them up a little

 

[floridareeflabs]

Hello,
So first off, You can NEVER have too many copepods so adding is never a bad thing. Copepods will eat ditritus but they hunt for phytoplankton (live preferably). Anytime we work with someone setting up a new system we always suggest adding copepods within 30 days of stabilization. As for needing a sump or not, you do not "need" a sump to be successful. You do need sand and a good amount of rock for them to live and hide etc. Depending on the inhabitants you have in the tank you may find that you are able to maintain a healthy number of copepods but if you have things like wrasse/gobys/dragonets you will have to probably dose copepods weekly or biweekly to keep populations up enough to feed those guys. We have seen for example people put a goby in a 30 gallon nano tank and they thrive for many years but required 8-16 oz of copepods dosed weekly.

So, moral of story; add copepods and dont look back!