Copepods Invasion!!

Chris-tico · May 27, 2015

Hey Guys!.

wanted to know how to get rid of copepods. if have them everywhere.! sometimes they are in the zoas, and this cause them to close.

what do you guys would recomend me to get rid of them.

i have a 30Gallons thank.. it is a reef tank. lots of zoas and palys, also some euphylias.!
i have 2 clownfish ocellaris. the tank is like 5 months old.

hope you guys can help me!

pura vida!

moulton712 · May 27, 2015

A wrasse if you have a lid. A mandarin if you think your system can handle it.

Chris-tico · May 27, 2015

The sixline is really agressive right?

MrDJeep123 · May 27, 2015

Pods are extremely beneficial to your tank.

4FordFamily · May 27, 2015

Chris-tico said:
The sixline is really agressive right?

Please do yourself a favor and skip the sixline.

Mandarins are a good choice if you have lots of pods and good water parameters.

Easier to keep would be any scooter or dragonet

Bensadork · May 27, 2015

I am overwhelmed with pods in my tank too. I do not, however have a sump to cultivate them for a mandarin. Should i be concerned at the amount of them that are constantly crawling in and out of my rocks? I just started getting corals for my tank and started off with a couple of beautiful zoas. They havent seemed to cause any trouble yet, but the thought of anything messing up my hard work so far is enough to raise a little concern. I would love to get a mandarin and I have done lots of reading about them and I am afraid if I put one in my tank it will be fat and healthy for all of a few days when it devours the whole pod population. Should I just let the pods run rampant? I don't mind the sight of them being in my tank. I cherish all life that I can sustain in my tank but we all know a mandarin goby is much more attractive in the tank than a bunch of little clear invertebrates rustling around.

4FordFamily · May 27, 2015

Bensadork said:
I am overwhelmed with pods in my tank too. I do not, however have a sump to cultivate them for a mandarin. Should i be concerned at the amount of them that are constantly crawling in and out of my rocks? I just started getting corals for my tank and started off with a couple of beautiful zoas. They havent seemed to cause any trouble yet, but the thought of anything messing up my hard work so far is enough to raise a little concern. I would love to get a mandarin and I have done lots of reading about them and I am afraid if I put one in my tank it will be fat and healthy for all of a few days when it devours the whole pod population. Should I just let the pods run rampant? I don't mind the sight of them being in my tank. I cherish all life that I can sustain in my tank but we all know a mandarin goby is much more attractive in the tank than a bunch of little clear invertebrates rustling around.

To be honest, you don't need a sump to grow pods. You just need areas of rock or macro algae that fish can't hunt effectively. Make areas in rock that would be inaccessible to a mandarin, and throw some saltwater plants (they love chaeto) in there.

When I had setups without sumps, I would buy a small cheap power head and submerge it at the bottom (say near the said rock work I mentioned). I would make sure the chaeto got light, then stick it to the pump. (This kept the chaeto from floating about the tank). The pump moved water through it which chaeto loves and this will also help remove phosphates and nitrates in your water. Just set it all up behind a big rock structure so you don't have to look at it. This worked great on my 55 and 54 corner I ran for years without a sump. Pods proliferated well.

One issue you may have though is tangs. They sometimes like to eat chaeto. Some eat it, others ignore it. One solution would be to get a small acclimation box or fish trap and keep it in there with the pump and chaeto inside and near the rock pod hideout but that's adding several layers of difficulty. The little clear box could avoid predation from tangs but I've never done that.

If you go through all that it may make more sense to buy a sump and plumb it up!

4FordFamily · May 27, 2015

I have had a target mandarin in my 125 in with 8 (yes eight) leopard wrasses. How she finds food is beyond me. She's been in there several months and although is not as fat as she might be without the wrasses, she's certainly not thin.

She's a small target mandarin. Just my .02.

A sump is a great tool, but not 100% necessary if you take pains to create a safe refuge for pods. They also like to breed in overflows. My 180 and 125 reef have standard corner overflows and pods proliferate there also. Again, unless you have a drilled tank without a sump (unlikely although I did for a year) that isn't helpful.

You can also add pods to your tank. eBay and group buys can make them pretty inexpensive. Indmas.org has a forum you should join (local Indy reefers) that people buy and sell pods frequently.

The for sale section there has a lot of deals regularly, although it is 21 dollars per year. Live rock, coral colonies, frags, news, inverts, complete setups, dry goods, fish, you name it they sell it. With your first purchase on there you'll recoop that 21 bucks guaranteed.

JVH · May 27, 2015

I Have the same thing! I had a million on the glass and did a large water change to rid my tank of them and them thought I would love a Mandarin or a Ruby Red Dragonet so I decided to let the multiply and so they have! Just not sure if its enough to sustain the life of a fish that eats only that.. So for now I guess I will be content with these little guys who I don't really see much during the day ad maybe Ill get Mandarin but the Ill have to keep buying or cultivating pods! Such a dilemma!

4FordFamily · May 27, 2015

JVH said:
I Have the same thing! I had a million on the glass and did a large water change to rid my tank of them and them thought I would love a Mandarin or a Ruby Red Dragonet so I decided to let the multiply and so they have! Just not sure if its enough to sustain the life of a fish that eats only that.. So for now I guess I will be content with these little guys who I don't really see much during the day ad maybe Ill get Mandarin but the Ill have to keep buying or cultivating pods! Such a dilemma!

i suggested some alternatives to adding pods above

RavenSF · May 27, 2015

Your tank is only 5 months old, so the pod population may descrease and stabilize in time. You may just be seeing an initial spike. I wouldn't add anything to eat them unless it's a fish you want anyways. I would avoid six lines, they are real bullies.

Chris-tico · May 27, 2015

Thanks guys for all the help. as i can see im not the only one.!

i just dont want my zoas to be closed because pod are walking/swimming close to them.. i dont want them to get stressed.

could this affect zoas? or they are used to it

RavenSF · May 27, 2015

I have wrasses and no pods but my zoas close on occasion so it's probably unrelated. Maybe double check your water parameters.

AlgaeBarn · Jun 9, 2015

Hi Chris,

Your Zoas are actually eating the pods and they are a GREAT coral food. When they close, they are closing around a copepod after they stun it with their nematocyst- like a chemical cannon that accelerates faster than a .22 bullet in a tiny amount of space with a barbed hook on the end of it. This is nothing to worry about and getting rid of copepods would mean eliminating a key trophic level of your ecosystem thus causing it to become less stable. I hope this helps and let me know if you have any more questions!

Lan

Chris-tico · Jun 9, 2015

AlgaeBarn said:
Hi Chris,

Your Zoas are actually eating the pods and they are a GREAT coral food. When they close, they are closing around a copepod after they stun it with their nematocyst- like a chemical cannon that accelerates faster than a .22 bullet in a tiny amount of space with a barbed hook on the end of it. This is nothing to worry about and getting rid of copepods would mean eliminating a key trophic level of your ecosystem thus causing it to become less stable. I hope this helps and let me know if you have any more questions!

Lan

Hey lan,

thanks a lot for your answer.

thats something new for me. and also something really good to know.!!

JVH · Jun 19, 2015

Wow I had no idea about that either! I know when I pick up my little Zola frag plugs that are on my Frantrie I'm always surprised to find copepods hanging around I thought they were just in the substrate and within the rock now it makes sense!
Do you or does anybody know how to tell if you have enough pods to have a dragnets? I really want a ruby red Dragon that because I think it would be a little bit easier than a Mandarin and I love them!
I do realize I would have to add copepods at some point but for now every rock and every surface at some point I see multiple pots so I can imagine the ones that I don't see! As well as bristle worms small little babies medium and one giant one that's going to come out the top of my tank I have a feeling LOL
But I would love to add one now but I don't wanted to starve..personally I feel like