Is there a way to evaluate your Copepod population?

[Freakaccident]

Is there a way to evaluate your Copepod population? I am just trying to make sure I have a healthy population. I don't have a refugium. I added copepods a while back but I am not sure if they multiplied or not. I do see a little bit of slime on my glass with tiny specs caught in it. Are these copepods? I am not sure where to look for them I guess.

Thank You
Aaron

 

[killer2001]

Clean your glass, scrape off any algae. Dose some silica to promote diatom growth on the glass, then in a few days you should see pods all over your glass, at least that is how my tank operates.

 

[Freakaccident]

Clean your glass, scrape off any algae. Dose some silica to promote diatom growth on the glass, then in a few days you should see pods all over your glass, at least that is how my tank operates.

I have never added silica. I had never thought of silica being something I need for diatoms. I am researching this.

 

[Freakaccident]

Ok, so this tank is a 10g Nano. I am not going to dose silica. I read up on it and the solution I would need to dose would be dosed at .13 grams.

After some research, I now see that I probably don't have any copepods in my tank because I run a UV sterilizer and I am not giving that up.

Thank You for your advice. I learned a lot.

 

[killer2001]

Plenty of folks who run UV who have a healthy population of pods.

 

[MarsReefer]

I ran UV for over a year and my pods do great.

I look right above the sand bed about an hour before lights out. Stare at the little white specs and see how many of them move.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

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[Freakaccident]

I ran UV for over a year and my pods do great.

I look right above the sand bed about an hour before lights out. Stare at the little white specs and see how many of them move.

I will try that out.

 

[GrimReefer51]

Here is my 10 gallon.

I run a UV sterilizer 24/7 and have a self sustaining population of tiger pods. They live in the AIO rear chamber during the day and then come out at night. I added them a few months ago after breeding them in a separate container to see if they would self populate, its been a success and I now have 10x more than what I originally added. Corals have exploded in growth and color. I don't dose live phyto but I have a special mix that I make which feeds the corals and makes my pod population explode. Here's a video