ID HELP PLEASE

[stephenm894]

So it Was hard to take a picture of these little guys with my phone but I tried it looks like they have a small tail with two tiny little antennas they’re smaller than copepods please help I have no idea what these are. My tank will be a month old on Friday. Also you can see them on the glass near my margarita snail. While observing I actually saw my clown fish eat one.

 

[FactoryKTMmotocross46]

 

[stephenm894]

Is it possible to sustain them without a Refugium?

 

[FactoryKTMmotocross46]

Yes, they will live in your substrate and rocks. Very beneficial, they'll eat algae as well.

 

[stephenm894]

UPDATE: so if these are copepods that’s great But I woke up this morning and there is an explosion of them they are everywhere all over the glass, are we sure this is copepods?

 

[Goaway]

Yes, they show up at night covering everything. It's a good sign.

Unless you have the coral eating amphipods.

 

[stephenm894]

Yes, they show up at night covering everything. It's a good sign.

Unless you have the coral eating amphipods.

They are tiny like the tip of a needle

 

[Goaway]

They are tiny like the tip of a needle

yup, you'll always see them dusk to dawn. and on film covered glass. That's what they eat.

 

[stephenm894]

So how do I Sustain this population and get a mandarin Goby

 

[stephenm894]

I would say when I woke up this morning to turn on the lights there was between 30 and 50 per square inch

 

[BanjoBandito]

So how do I Sustain this population and get a mandarin Goby

That went from 0-60 pretty fast!

 

[stephenm894]

That went from 0-60 pretty fast!

Well when I posted originally it was at night so maybe I just didn’t see all of them but I woke up this morning and there was literally hundreds maybe thousands

 

[stephenm894]

Well when I posted originally it was at night so maybe I just didn’t see all of them but I woke up this morning and there was literally hundreds maybe thousands

Anyone need copepods LOL

 

[stephenm894]

Anyone need copepods LOL

Also are copepods A sign of a healthy system or can they thrive in any system?

 

[BanjoBandito]

Copepods and "critters" will bloom early in your tank's life cycle. They'll eventually level out to sustainable levels. My comment was about the Mandarin. Give it a couple months before you do that. A mandarin can wipe out copepods in a day. They constantly feed. You need a good mature colony to sustain them, and probably will have to "cultivate" some pods.

 

[BanjoBandito]

Also are copepods A sign of a healthy system or can they thrive in any system?

HEALTHY SYSTEM. This is a good, NO, GREAT thing to see.

 

[BanjoBandito]

Are you dosing any phyto?

 

[stephenm894]

Are you dosing any phyto?

No I am not should I?

 

[Goaway]

Just keep at what you are doing.

For a mandarin long term, you need a territory for the pods to reproduce and not get devoured. So, piles of rock, a refugium, HOB type deal, or in sump, They love ulva lettuce, the pods do. Depending on refugium and tank size, will depend on the work you need to do for a mandy. I had a 55g with a 30g fuge. Eventually, 2 years down the road it would eat mysis in the water column.

UNLESS you get a captive bred mandy already eaten prepared foods.

 

[stephenm894]

Just keep at what you are doing.

For a mandarin long term, you need a territory for the pods to reproduce and not get devoured. So, piles of rock, a refugium, HOB type deal, or in sump, They love ulva lettuce, the pods do. Depending on refugium and tank size, will depend on the work you need to do for a mandy. I had a 55g with a 30g fuge. Eventually, 2 years down the road it would eat mysis in the water column.

UNLESS you get a captive bred mandy already eaten prepared foods.

I have a 24 gallon all in one So essentially the Sump is built into the back of the tank.