What happened to the copepods

[coral_menagerie]

What could have happened to all the copepods that used to be in my system? Not to long ago you could look at the sand in my DT at night and looked like it was boiling from all the copepod activity. Now I cannot find any copepods. Recently I let my system go fallow because of a parasite problem I was having with the fish. You may have seen my thread "Problem with angels". I ended the treatment of my fish with a copper treatment, but this was in the quarantine tank. When transferring the fish back to the DT I netted them from the QT tank and dropped them directly into the DT. I did not rinse them off. Could the little bit of copper treated water that was on the fish and the net from 4 fish have killed the copepod population? Keep in mind my total system volume is a little over 600 gallons. Could this be the problem or could there be something else. What puzzles me is that I am still seeing the tiny white creatures that hang out on the glass, but no bigger pods in the sand or on the rocks.

And how do I reestablish the population??

 

[Anthony Wood]

I wouldn't worry about the copper treatment in the QT getting into the main system. I know certain type of fish will do a toll on the population. I may be wrong and someone can correct me but I believe the population goes in cycles like a sin wave based on where they are in their life cycle. Ive noticed my population follow this curve. Check your filter sock for them if your running one thatll give you an idea of how the population is. Or it might just be that your just not seeing them and they may be there after all. I wouldn't worry about re populating them they will be back given time.

 

[CastAway]

Tagging along.

I don't have near the volume you do @coral_menagerie, about half, but I too have seen a drop in copepods in my display, as well as what appears to be a fluctuating population in my refugium. After several discussions with my reef club members and local fish store expertise (yes, I'm lucky, my lfs guys are trained experts) I've concluded two things; one, that predation of the copepods in my DT is constant and even though I might not see it, it does not take much to take a toll on the population; and two, that the amount of detritus in the system is proportional to overall numbers.

Perhaps, and this is just a guess, running fallow has effected the numbers.
Perhaps a "little bit" of copper is very subjective, and indeed the copper has reduced the numbers.
Perhaps a combination of both.

I've read that feeding phytoplankton increases copepod numbers, but I have not experienced any observable success with this. I may be observing an increase in copepod numbers after having removed my filter socks however, and not cleaning my sump meticulously.

We'll see what the experts say.

 

[Anthony Wood]

I agree with Castaway it could be various reasons your not seeing any, but I think its safe to say to let the tank do its thing because a majority of the time owner intervention does more harm then good, and not worry about it unless you start seeing other live stock start to be harmed. Then you have a problem and try to find the source. I would suspect you don't have any real problem though.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

This is what happens. The populations wax and wane and it's very natural. It's not the copper. All is good.

 

[CastAway]

I bought a Ranfordi goby about a year ago (Capone). He was tiny, grew fast and was fat most of it's life. Then, he started to get that hollow sunken look that I think is so typical of the species in local fish stores. I suspect this little guy simply depleted the population of pods (or certain types of fauna) in my 150g DT and starved to death. Never once did I see it eat any food I introduced, but was continually picking here and there. Once he was gone, I started to notice more very tiny fauna myself. Who knows......

 

[coral_menagerie]

I hope this is the case. I typically always see copepods in at least most of my tanks. I have a 150 gal stock tank full of rock, a 100 gal stock tank with about 26" of sand in it, a 90 gal tank setup as a mixed Reef with no fish or crabs only snails and coral and a few inches of sand, plus the 180 gal DT as a fowlr with a few inches of sand. And like I said before only 4 fish. 3 angels and a goby. I have always seen copepods somewhere, but now I can't be see any when stirring the sand in the stock tank full of sand. As soon as I get my canister filter fixed I will run some carbon.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I "feed" my pods in the fuge by sprinkling the top of the chato with my favorite combo of dry flake/spirulina/coral frenzy mix. stays on top of chato dissolves slower. Seems to work.
I have some favorite rock I take back and forth from the sump to display. Ive also done chato in a floating ball/container with holes. Takes about a week to get em all out.
(now I have a chato tree in the DT)

 

[josh.j.avila]

I culture many different types of pods and I could sell you a relish pack for cheap if you're interested tisbe, tigger, tangerine and rotifers as well send me a message if you want coral.

 

[coral_menagerie]

I culture many different types of pods and I could sell you a relish pack for cheap if you're interested tisbe, tigger, tangerine and rotifers as well send me a message if you want coral.

Hey dude, haven't heard from you in a while. Did you ever get all your cultures back up to par? I never did buy any. What you got going now, for how much?

 

[josh.j.avila]

Yup I did, funny that you asked, they have bounced back. We got hit hard here in Texas with the hail, but everything is back up let me send you a PM.