Huge Pods?

JayChen · Mar 27, 2020

I've notice some big pods in my tank. I never knew that pods can get this big lol. What pods are these? They are almost half an inch.

Crabby48 · Mar 27, 2020

Amphipods. They are good. Some wrasse love them and can keep them from over populating

NS Mike D · Mar 27, 2020

Crabby48 said:
Amphipods. They are good. Some wrasse love them and can keep them from over populating

yes, unless you are keeping a copepod population as amphipods will eat copepods and the copepod population isn't being sustained, say through dosing phytoplankton as reported by @AlgaeBarn and @ReefNutrition in their commercial pod businesses.

Amphipods will eat larger pieces of food while copepods will eat nearly anything that is tiny including microscopic detritus floating in the water column.

If you aren't concerned about copepods getting eaten by amphipods then amphipods are good reef hitchhikers.

Ewok1 · Mar 27, 2020

JayChen said:
I've notice some big pods in my tank. I never knew that pods can get this big lol. What pods are these? They are almost half an inch.

Now you can get a beautiful wrasse or a mandarin

Mr Fishface · Mar 27, 2020

I have seen some absolute giant amphipods in my tank too. Crazy how big they can get!

JayChen · Mar 27, 2020

NS Mike D said:
yes, unless you are keeping a copepod population as amphipods will eat copepods and the copepod population isn't being sustained, say through dosing phytoplankton as reported by @AlgaeBarn and @ReefNutrition in their commercial pod businesses.

Amphipods will eat larger pieces of food while copepods will eat nearly anything that is tiny including microscopic detritus floating in the water column.

If you aren't concerned about copepods getting eaten by amphipods then amphipods are good reef hitchhikers.

Oh heck no, I want to keep my copepods population. I might need to pick up a fish soon.

JayChen · Mar 27, 2020

Ewok1 said:
Now you can get a beautiful wrasse or a mandarin

That's what I'm planning to do.

Crabby48 · Mar 27, 2020

I keep and abundance of copepods and amphipods.
I do think you need fish to keep them in control some.

JayChen · Mar 27, 2020

Crabby48 said:
I keep and abundance of copepods and amphipods.
I do think you need fish to keep them in control some.

I actually want them to get out of control for now before picking up a mandarin.

Nano sapiens · Mar 27, 2020

Crabby48 said:
I do think you need fish to keep them in control some.

Absolutely. The large grumpy adult Gammarus amphipods often start to attack Zoanthids, especially at night. Some have had them attack Mussids (Acans and Blastos). I've had them attack both healthy Zoas and Blastos in a small tank, so I eliminated them by keeping a nocturnal Black Barred Convict Goby for a few months.

You would think I'd have lots of Copepods now, but I rarely see any due to a robust Mysid population.

Crabby48 · Mar 28, 2020

JayChen said:
I actually want them to get out of control for now before picking up a mandarin.

Amphipods are big for mandarin they want little copepods

shaggydoo · Mar 28, 2020

Big amphipods aren't a problem with a cardinal. My banghai will eat them off my fingers when I drop them back into the tank after shaking them out of my harvested macroalgae. They only live in my fuge.