What happened to my copepods

[reefcoralclam]

When I started my tank I had copepods every where I only had a clown fish and some cuc then. added a shark nose goby and the copepods where still there then I added a big cuc and it had two peppermint shrimp then my pod population went down and know I can’t find the pods and I have no mandarin goby

 

[Tiki Reef Joshua]

Some died off, some were eaten, some are hiding. You will see them come and go until a predator is introduced, then you will never see them : )

 

[reefcoralclam]

Some died off, some were eaten, some are hiding. You will see them come and go until a predator is introduced, then you will never see them : )

Thank you I was wondering what happened to them.

 

[Phycodurus]

you can tuck a portion of chaeto macroalgae here and there in your tank, and it will serve as a refuge (or place the chaeto in your sump if there's one in your set-up, but you'll need a good grow light). light feedings of phytoplankton will also help boost the population.

 

[ZoWhat]

If you don't have the correct parameters in place for them to lay eggs and keep the population going... i believe their life cycle is about 45 days.

If 1 pod is laying eggs to produce 5 pods...then your colony will explode.

If 2 pods are only successfully producing 1 offspring.... then over months your population will die off

 

[ca1ore]

Pods will also wax and wane for no obviously apparent reason. i had a huge population for years, and a fat mandarin; then, the pods all died off followed a few weeks alter by the then not-so-fat mandarin. Had the same thing happen with those white micro stars. One day they appeared in massive numbers .... a few weeks later, not one to be found. Who knows!

 

[living_tribunal]

When I started my tank I had copepods every where I only had a clown fish and some cuc then. added a shark nose goby and the copepods where still there then I added a big cuc and it had two peppermint shrimp then my pod population went down and know I can’t find the pods and I have no mandarin goby

What kind of pods? Did you feed them?

 

[reefcoralclam]

What kind of pods? Did you feed them?

Copepods came on the live rock and I just find the fish and corals

 

[living_tribunal]

Copepods came on the live rock and I just find the fish and corals

But what kinds are they?

Some pods (apocyclops) do much better at breeding under normal conditions/feeding of a reef tank. Species like tisbe and apex will primarily consume detritus and sustain themselves/grow their populations just fine in the absence of pod eating critters/tank changes.

Tigre pods which primarily consume phyto do not breed well in tanks for a plethora of reasons.

Any rotifer based food will substantially help your apex/tisbe populations . Phyto would also be helpful but to a lesser degree.