Too early to add copepods/amphipods?

booth2010 · Jul 28, 2015

So my tank is nearing the end of its cycle, I see that SeasickAquatics is having a bogo sale on theirs and was thinking it would be good to grab some now. Since I will be going slow on stocking and the mandarin I plan on adding will be months down the road do yall think it would be a good idea to seed the tank now with them? I have pukani rock so plenty of places to hid and I will be putting chaeto in the sump whenever I buy a light for it.

Russ265 · Jul 28, 2015

I added mine during the cycle period when i started seeing diatoms. Helped me a ton.

xroads · Jul 29, 2015

Plankton should be the first thing you add IMO. Add the plankton, get it well established, then think about fish. Your system will thank you for it.

leptang · Jul 29, 2015

Only add the little buggers with the chaeto because its a food source, your new tank may not have a food source yet to support a large population of pods

xroads · Jul 30, 2015

leptang said:
Only add the little buggers with the chaeto because its a food source, your new tank may not have a food source yet to support a large population of pods

They DO NOT eat cheato! They mostly eat uneaten food & detritus (the harpacticoids anyway which is what is mostly in aquariums). So just feed the tank like you would if there was fish in there and they will multiply and prosper.

reef4beer · Jul 30, 2015

Just blast your tank with some phytoplankton and pods after you see some diatoms and your good to go.

Remember pods also eat themselves lol

Bubbles_B · Jul 30, 2015

I never used that type of practice of speeding up the process.

"Patience is virtue" the more you can wait to establish a perfect setting for your new tank the greater the return in the long run. As the saying goes, "Rome wasn't built in a day!" And most certainly in the case of your tank take time to do it. That's just my honest opinion.

Mark426 · Jul 30, 2015

I wouldnt add amphipods... copepods are good though. Remember, they have to have something to eat or will die out quickly.

xroads · Jul 30, 2015

Mark426 said:
I wouldnt add copepods...amphipods are good though. Remember, they have to have something to eat or will die out quickly.

I dont understand why? Copepods are the building blocks of the marine world. Very easy to culture and provide a variety of benefits to an aquarium.

Mark426 · Jul 30, 2015

xroads said:
I dont understand why? Copepods are the building blocks of the marine world. Very easy to culture and provide a variety of benefits to an aquarium.

Whoops... typo, fixed it in my post. Add the copepods but not amphipods. I believe that some amphipods are not reef friendly. There's not much you can do about it as they will show up anyway. But..I dont see much benefit in adding them, unless of course you have some fish that eat them.

xroads · Jul 30, 2015

Here is an excellent read on amphipods.

They are great if you have wrasses, basslets, etc.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rs/index.htm

Russ265 · Jul 30, 2015

copepods eat phyto, diatoms, detritus, etc they are basically mini trash compactors.

if you start out with dry rock. you will have to seed eventually, and although im sure some copepods died during the cycle period, they came out blooming when it was over and diatoms covered stuff. (free food)

booth2010 · Jul 30, 2015

Wow lots of activity today.

Bubbles_B said:
I never used that type of practice of speeding up the process.

"Patience is virtue" the more you can wait to establish a perfect setting for your new tank the greater the return in the long run. As the saying goes, "Rome wasn't built in a day!" And most certainly in the case of your tank take time to do it. That's just my honest opinion.

Im not using it to speed up the process I am just wanting to seed the tank with them as early as I can. Believe me I am being patient.

Russ265 said:
copepods eat phyto, diatoms, detritus, etc they are basically mini trash compactors.

Would they eat any decaying matter in the rock itself? I know they are really small and Pukani rock is super pourus so im sure they could get in the crevices if they do.

reef4beer · Jul 30, 2015

They literally eat anything, eventually you'll notice them crawling all over your dirty sponges.

booth2010 · Jul 30, 2015

jmanyoma said:
They literally eat anything, eventually you'll notice them crawling all over your dirty sponges.

Sounds good to me.

yaridong · Jul 30, 2015

Is there ever a bad time to add copepods? I feel like you can always have more in your tank.

reef4beer · Jul 30, 2015

About once a month I go to a local vendor that breeds clowns and buy a nice soup from him. The soup is just a gallon of phytoplankton and rotifers.

monozok · Jul 30, 2015

Sounds like there's no downside (except for spending the money). Everything else is upside so I say go for it.

My mandarin is the one fish I really wanted so I did it like you and planned my tank around it from the beginning (including accepting the chance that I might have to constantly buy copepods). But it worked out great. I hope it's the same for you!

Cleo642 · Jul 30, 2015

jmanyoma said:
About once a month I go to a local vendor that breeds clowns and buy a nice soup from him. The soup is just a gallon of phytoplankton and rotifers.

You just pour that into your tank?