Copepods question

[WhitePanther93]

So sometimes when people talk about copepods I notice how they mentioned being able to see the pods themselves. Because I always wanted a mandarin I started to introduce pods even at an early phase in my tanks development. Usually couple of algae barns 5280 pods)And after almost a year into my tanks lifetime I have yet to see any pods in my tank.(after introduction that is. I did eventually get a mandarin. He was around half an inch when I got him and is now about 1.5 ish inches. I’m not sure if there’s a hidden population of pods that I just can’t seem to find or if it’s the frozen cyclopods that I feed , that he’s munching on.
Should I be able to see pods in my tank?

 

[Bucs20fan]

They are most visible at night, turn your lights off and shine a flashlight in the water after a few minutes. If you have enough pods youll see em zipping all around. Some of the larger species are visible enough throughout the day, but at night is the easiest.

 

[AlgaeBarn]

So sometimes when people talk about copepods I notice how they mentioned being able to see the pods themselves. Because I always wanted a mandarin I started to introduce pods even at an early phase in my tanks development. Usually couple of algae barns 5280 pods)And after almost a year into my tanks lifetime I have yet to see any pods in my tank.(after introduction that is. I did eventually get a mandarin. He was around half an inch when I got him and is now about 1.5 ish inches. I’m not sure if there’s a hidden population of pods that I just can’t seem to find or if it’s the frozen cyclopods that I feed , that he’s munching on.
Should I be able to see pods in my tank?

@WhitePanther93 , As @Bucs20fan mentioned turning lights as well as the flow will allow you to easily see the pods which will usually gather on the glass right above the sand bed -Raven

 

[MarshallB]

I thought the same things. I could see pods in my fuge but at night but I could never easily spotted them in the DT until recently. I stopped running filter socks as often and now the population in the display tank has become large enough that I can see them running around all over the place at night. That said, just because you can't easily spot them doesn't mean you don't have a lot of them.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

If your tank is a year old you should see tiny little white dots on your glass. I see them on my glass during the daytime. Even when you remove your filter or skimmer to clean you should see a bunch of little bugs moving at the bottom of the inside of the machine

Do you add phyto to your tank sometimes? That usually helps with copepod reproduction.

 

[melonheadorion]

as mentioned, do it at night. use a flashlight to look. i generally see mine on the rock. you will need something to assist with viewing, or perhaps not, depending on your eyesight. my eyes arent the best, so i have to use a magnifyer, but they can be seen if you look closely at most rock work

 

[Jay'sReefBugs]

So sometimes when people talk about copepods I notice how they mentioned being able to see the pods themselves. Because I always wanted a mandarin I started to introduce pods even at an early phase in my tanks development. Usually couple of algae barns 5280 pods)And after almost a year into my tanks lifetime I have yet to see any pods in my tank.(after introduction that is. I did eventually get a mandarin. He was around half an inch when I got him and is now about 1.5 ish inches. I’m not sure if there’s a hidden population of pods that I just can’t seem to find or if it’s the frozen cyclopods that I feed , that he’s munching on.
Should I be able to see pods in my tank?

Majority of the population you will never see . The naked eye can't process something that's 50-100um on substrate and rock work . Also I would recommend dosing some sort of phyto based product if you're not doing so currently

 

[Kmst80]

I can see them in the fuge where there is only ulva and pods but can't see them in the dt unless the glass gets a bit dirty or I see the mandarin plugging them from everywhere.

 

[Koh23]

Just take one small piece of rock, and leave it on dry few minutes in small bowl or something.

Lift the rock, and in that tiny amount of water that will be plenty of stuff, pods, small snails.....

You wont kill them, dont worry... After counting, just pour them back in tank....

 

[codenfx]

I discovered this last week at night when I decide to look through my tank with the flashlight, copepods everywhere! Had no idea they come out at night like that, really cool to see. I find if I don't clean my glass for a while, i'll see specks of pods all over the glass.