Introducing copopods for biodiversity in a base rock only tank.

[Reef_prop88]

I am 10 days into a fishless cycle with only base rock and I am concerned that the tank will not have enough biodiversity without any live rock present. Does it make sense for me to introduce a population of copepods before I add fish so they have a chance establish in the tank? Also is there anything else I should add to the tank other than copepods and bottle bacteria (microbacter7) in order to improve the biodiversity?

P.S. I now I misspelled copepods in the title lol. Dunno how to fix it.

 

[Spare time]

PNS Probio, PNS substrate sauce, live phyto, dr tims eco balance, and others can help

 

[Chrisv.]

I added @AlgaeBarn pods about 3 weeks before adding fish. I can't say how it would have gone if I already had fish in there, but the pods got well established and are still doing great even after adding fish.

 

[Sump Crab]

Yes. You should add some liverock lol!

 

[Reef_prop88]

Yes. You should add some liverock lol!

I’m avoiding live rock because I don’t want anything bad getting introduced to what is going to be a sps dominant tank.

I added @AlgaeBarn pods about 3 weeks before adding fish. I can't say how it would have gone if I already had fish in there, but the pods got well established and are still doing great even after adding fish

Good to hear I’m going to grab some as soon as the tank is cycled.

 

[Chrisv.]

I’m avoiding live rock because I don’t want anything bad getting introduced to what is going to be a sps dominant tank.

Good to hear I’m going to grab some as soon as the tank is cycled.

Honestly I think it's so worth it to add the live rock. What are you concerned about with regard to your plans for sps?

 

[Reef_prop88]

I don't want bristle worms, aiptasia, majanos, mantis shrimp, asterina star fish, etc.

 

[J1a]

The problem with copepod is that they are but a single link in the complex ecosystem. By introducing only copepods, you may be able to get them established, but it's going to be a far cry fron real diversity.

 

[Reef_prop88]

The problem with copepod is that they are but a single link in the complex ecosystem. By introducing only copepods, you may be able to get them established, but it's going to be a far cry fron real diversity.

What else is there I can add without just taking my chances with live rock? I am also using microbacter7.

 

[J1a]

What else is there I can add without just taking my chances with live rock? I am also using microbacter7.

Maybe you can get some rock from established tanks. Or ask reefers whom you trust to baby sit some of your rocks in their tanks for a few months

 

[damsels are not mean]

I'm honestly shocked there is no pest-free aquacultured rock out there. Maybe there is but I don't know. If you're really worred about pests, buy some rubble pieces and inspect them for pests. You could pay $200 to get all the animals and algae and bacteria you do want in bottles or buy $30 worth of rubble that blows that diversity out of the water.

 

[J1a]

I'm honestly shocked there is no pest-free aquacultured rock out there. Maybe there is but I don't know. If you're really worred about pests, buy some rubble pieces and inspect them for pests. You could pay $200 to get all the animals and algae and bacteria you do want in bottles or buy $30 worth of rubble that blows that diversity out of the water.

I guess some of the "pests" are just rightful residents in the natural reef. Oh well.

 

[Chrisv.]

I don't want bristle worms, aiptasia, majanos, mantis shrimp, asterina star fish, etc.

If you are careful and observant, you can keep aptasia, majanos, and asterina out by acting quickly to remove them when you see them. bristle worms are more tricky, but they are not the demon that they were in 2004. I don't bother to remove them because I see them as cuc. There are some exceptions but most are completely fine. Nobody gets mantis shrimp unless they buy fresh live rock, which I guess you could from Fl.


Dry rock tanks seem to take much longer to become established and so the dry rock people have come up with the term "ugly phase" so that extended nuisance algae blooms can seem normal and ok.

You do you, but life will be way easier if you get some rock from an established tank that you trust.

 

[Reef_prop88]

If you are careful and observant, you can keep aptasia, majanos, and asterina out by acting quickly to remove them when you see them. bristle worms are more tricky, but they are not the demon that they were in 2004. I don't bother to remove them because I see them as cuc. There are some exceptions but most are completely fine. Nobody gets mantis shrimp unless they buy fresh live rock, which I guess you could from Fl.


Dry rock tanks seem to take much longer to become established and so the dry rock people have come up with the term "ugly phase" so that extended nuisance algae blooms can seem normal and ok.

You do you, but life will be way easier if you get some rock from an established tank that you trust.

Good to know. Does a bag of caribsea live sand help out at all? When I started the tank I added 1 10 lb bag of it along with the aragonite.

 

[Chrisv.]

Good to know. Does a bag of caribsea live sand help out at all? When I started the tank I added 1 10 lb bag of it along with the aragonite.

Not really.

 

[JNalley]

Good to know. Does a bag of caribsea live sand help out at all? When I started the tank I added 1 10 lb bag of it along with the aragonite.

CaribSea has 2 brands of "live sand". They have Arag-Alive, which is pre-sifted, dried, rinsed, packaged with water and bacterial spores put into the water.

Then they have OceanDirect, which is none of those things, it's bagged with enough oceanwater to keep it damp and keep the bacteria alive, it is in a plastic that allows gas exchange. OceanDirect is the better of the 2 products, but as far as I am aware doesn't come with any other biodiversity besides bacteria.

If you're looking for biodiversity and microfauna without using live rock, check out the stuff over at : www.ipsf.com

Unfortunately, there is not one store that "sells it all" that I've come across, so piece-mealing microfauna packages together is tedious work. Good Luck!

 

[Reef_prop88]

CaribSea has 2 brands of "live sand". They have Arag-Alive, which is pre-sifted, dried, rinsed, packaged with water and bacterial spores put into the water.

Then they have OceanDirect, which is none of those things, it's bagged with enough oceanwater to keep it damp and keep the bacteria alive, it is in a plastic that allows gas exchange. OceanDirect is the better of the 2 products, but as far as I am aware doesn't come with any other biodiversity besides bacteria.

If you're looking for biodiversity and microfauna without using live rock, check out the stuff over at : www.ipsf.com

Unfortunately, there is not one store that "sells it all" that I've come across, so piece-mealing microfauna packages together is tedious work. Good Luck!

Thank you for the reply! I am checking their page out right now and think I'm going to buy their live sand activator plus package. It says in the description that it comes with 6 snails, 6 micro hermits, amphipods, liquid n reducer (Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter bacteria) and wonder mud. Sounds like this is what the answer.

 

[Sump Crab]

I guess some of the "pests" are just rightful residents in the natural reef. Oh well.

Ppl refuse to understand that the "pests" are almost always completely beneficial. Just pieces of a complex ecosystem. Most tanks that have disasters when it comes to pests are those that did everything they could to keep pests out. Once that ONE pest gets in they have a monoculture on their hands that runs rampant. In reality if they had a little bit of everything not just one thing would take over. Checks and balances.

 

[Chrisv.]

Ppl refuse to understand that the "pests" are almost always completely beneficial. Just pieces of a complex ecosystem. Most tanks that have disasters when it comes to pests are those that did everything they could to keep pests out. Once that ONE pest gets in they have a monoculture on their hands that runs rampant. In reality if they had a little bit of everything not just one thing would take over. Checks and balances.

The problem comes when there is no good check to keep balance. If you have a few peppermint shrimp, then an aptasia or two isn't going to cause a problem. But then there are the organisms that don't have predators we keep in the hobby, like AEFW. Hard to think about them as anything but a pest, given that the destroy their share of tanks.

 

[damsels are not mean]

I guess some of the "pests" are just rightful residents in the natural reef. Oh well.

A glass box in my living room full of expensive colorful sticks is not a natural reef. These things have predators in the wild, first of all, and some "pests" will wipe out cubic meters of coral in a day. That isn't a problem when the reef is the size of an entire island but it is when it's 180 gallons or even less...

Ppl refuse to understand that the "pests" are almost always completely beneficial. Just pieces of a complex ecosystem. Most tanks that have disasters when it comes to pests are those that did everything they could to keep pests out. Once that ONE pest gets in they have a monoculture on their hands that runs rampant. In reality if they had a little bit of everything not just one thing would take over. Checks and balances.

I disagree. While pests on live rock are somewhat rare, there are some that can ruin a tank and might not be discovered until it's too late. Bobbit worms, fire worms, mantis shrimp, gorilla crabs, flatworms, vermetid snails, and so on are very annoying and it would be nice to have the peace of mind of a quarantined and controlled live rock available. Every coral I've ever gotten in the mail had 0 pests during dip and quarantine and introduced none into my tank because good aquaculture vendors are pretty tight with that stuff. I think it's totally possible to have a pest-free system if you QT new arrivals and start with dry rock. The disadvantage is a lack of little beneficial critters. Live rock from the ocean is still king with that.