Copepods

jahel318

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Is it ok to mix different species of copepods into your reef system or will some kill other species off?
 
Yes and Yes.

Even through all of them will consume detritus and film algae, different species of Copepods specialize in different micro-environments and will therefore perform this important task in different areas of your tank (in the sand, on the rock, inside tiny pores, etc.). Most varieties of Copepods will peacefully coexist.

AlgaeBarn provides a good writeup of this on their website for their "EcoPods" product:


However, it is important to note that when you start to also add Amphipods things get a little different - the Amphipods will eat the Copepods. That's not always a bad thing, as Amphipods are a valuable food source for your fish, but it does mean that if you add them to your tank you will need to get in the habit of adding more Copepods on a regular basis.

Again, AlgaeBard provides a good article on this too:

 
Is it ok to mix different species of copepods into your reef system or will some kill other species off?

AlgaeBarn seems to recommend mixtures of copepods.

DFWMAS last week's guest speaker was Chad Clayton of Reef Nutrition who also mentioned amphipods eat copepods.

To me, copepods are meant to be eaten, that is why I buy them. If one copepod eats another making it more nutritious to fish when fish eats copepod, that is a circle of life I'm okay with having
 
I breaded several copepods species all that will survive and breed in your reed system will co-exist. There's plenty of pod marketing schemes on other variants that have no chance of successful taking hold in a normal reef system
 
It is always good to add multiple species to your tank. There are a few types of copepods that will eat other copepods but they’re not very common. Tisbe pods are my favorite and customer favorite. They’re small, breed quickly, and hide from fish. Tigger pods are great too but due to their larger size they’re quickly eaten in a reef environment (they are found naturally in tide pools so they don’t have to fear predators there so they don’t have that instinct).
 

IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

  • Yes!

    Votes: 32 45.7%
  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

    Votes: 9 12.9%
  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%
  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%

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