Is there a secret to getting Copapods to take?

[Al.B]

I’ve dosed twice, a month apart but I’m not seeing and pods, now two weeks after the second attempt. I have plenty algae in the tank. Parameters are about where I want them. I’m dosing Live Phyto daily. Not sure if there’s anything else that can improve my chances of success. I don’t have a refuge, so dosing to the display after lights out with everything off. I have substrate and plenty of rock.

 

[mjw011689]

What kind of fish are in there and how old is the tank? Have you been at least temp acclimating them to the tank?

chances are they are there and will eventually start to rise in population given there is diatoms or other algae

 

[killer2001]

There's only two things I know of that can wipe out pods entirely and thats a team of mandarins or copper dosing.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

they are there, they are almost invisible, they are mainly in the rock and on the sand.

 

[Koleswrath]

I'd bet they're in there. Turn your flow off after lights out and shine your phone light at different angles until the particulate matter in your water shines. Then watch to see which particles are moving themselves.

 

[Pistondog]

I’ve dosed twice, a month apart but I’m not seeing and pods, now two weeks after the second attempt. I have plenty algae in the tank. Parameters are about where I want them. I’m dosing Live Phyto daily. Not sure if there’s anything else that can improve my chances of success. I don’t have a refuge, so dosing to the display after lights out with everything off. I have substrate and plenty of rock.

What type copepods did you dose? Some are meant for immediate food and some are better at maintaining populations. How much phyto are you dosing. Maybe think about growing phyto.

 

[Al.B]

What kind of fish are in there and how old is the tank? Have you been at least temp acclimating them to the tank?

chances are they are there and will eventually start to rise in population given there is diatoms or other algae

3 month old 30G tank, Blenny, clown, YWG,Damsel.

 

[Al.B]

What type copepods did you dose? Some are meant for immediate food and some are better at maintaining populations. How much phyto are you dosing. Maybe think about growing phyto.

5280 pods, 5mls/day of algae barn live phyto for a 30G

 

[GarrettT]

Easy. Dose silica and don’t scrape the diatoms off the glass.

 

[Pistondog]

5280 pods, 5mls/day of algae barn live phyto for a 30G

Doesnt sound like much phyto.
Imagine you are a pod, and the giant dumps 5ml into 30 gallons. How many phyto are floating by?
Maybe augment with something like marine snow.
Although i think in a mature tank theres lots of detritus to help feed pods.

 

[Aspect]

Doesnt sound like much phyto.
Imagine you are a pod, and the giant dumps 5ml into 30 gallons. How many phyto are floating by?
Maybe augment with something like marine snow.
Although i think in a mature tank theres lots of detritus to help feed pods.

You know I never thought about being a pod like that. Now that you say it, it makes perfect sense. He really should be dosing at least 3 gallons of phyto daily.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I’ve dosed twice, a month apart but I’m not seeing and pods, now two weeks after the second attempt. I have plenty algae in the tank. Parameters are about where I want them. I’m dosing Live Phyto daily. Not sure if there’s anything else that can improve my chances of success. I don’t have a refuge, so dosing to the display after lights out with everything off. I have substrate and plenty of rock.

They are hard to see at times but when lights go out, give it an hour and shine a flashlight at rock and you are likely to see them

 

[NewReefAdventure]

Algae Barn phyto says 5ml/20 gal for first 2 weeks then you can up gradually as needed... mandarins will certainly eat a bit of them so if not already well established, I'd guess pods could be tricky. That said, I never see mine in the main tank - only the refugium. I may not spy well enough at night. But the mandarin is still very active so I know he's getting plenty. The only other spots I've noticed the pods is when swapping out RowaPhos (bag and now reactor) and in filter pads.

 

[PotatoPig]

5280 pods, 5mls/day of algae barn live phyto for a 30G

The tigger pods will be wiped out almost immediately. These are highly vulnerable to predation and don’t reproduce well in reef tanks. You could add them every day for a month and they’ll be gone from your tank within a few days of stopping. These are direct feed only, if you want to keep adding them then best bet is to culture them.

The Tisbe and Acoplypse pods do much better. But they’re tiny. Your best bet to see them is to turn the lights in the room off and put a flashlight direct against the glass then view the lit area from the reverse side looking through a corner. You’ll eventually see tiny little dots moving around. If you have a sump you can try the same with lighting up the side of a filter sock.

If you have space you could make a pod hotel - just a small pile of rubble, either in the tank or sump, they live and reproduce in there safe from the fish.

 

[Pistondog]

You know I never thought about being a pod like that. Now that you say it, it makes perfect sense. He really should be dosing at least 3 gallons of phyto daily.

Might be a bit much.
I use 1/3 strength live phyto for awcs, 250 ml every 2 hours.
120 gallons total volume.
Easy to grow, hate to throw it out.

 

[Jay'sReefBugs]

More then likely you have them copepods are almost impossible to see on sand and rock work . Let some film algea build up on your glass and see if any come out . Keep in mind that only represents a fraction of a percent of what you acutaly have

 

[vlangel]

I have a tank and fuge coming on 7 years old with a lot of live rock that has been transferred from previous tanks. Most of my fish are not pod eaters except perhaps my 2 masked gobies and yet I did not see a large amount of pods on the glass. I recently added 2 areas with rubble rock and macro algae on top of the rubble. Immediately I began seeing a greater population of pods in those areas. So I have been determining that my tank has a lot of pods but I just could not see them.

 

[vlangel]

The area in the front left is where I added the rubble rock. You can see red titan, red moss ball and cheato, the macroalgae that is on top of the rubble rock. I also add a capful of zooplankton everyday but my tank is full of detritus so I suspect the pods are not going hungry, LOL.