What are people's thoughts on copepods in reef tanks

@chadcole26 21d

My thoughts are that I’m getting my first shipment tomorrow and hoping I can get a self sustaining population going so that I can ultimately add a mandarin dragonette to my tank. 😃 in general, I haven’t heard of any downsides to having them, but I’m new to this and still learning.

@slater 21d

I'm new as well! Really thinking about getting copepod and phytoplankton farming going.

2 Reply

@billy 21d

I think they are essential to keeping a balanced biological ecosystem in your tank

@brother5of5 21d

I added some to my refugium. How do I know if they are still in there?

2 Reply

@billy 21d

They are extremely hard to see. If you’ve added them you essentially have them forever. Though the numbers can lessen if your tank is super clean. You can dose phyto every once in awhile to bring the population up.

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@brother5of5 21d

I see lots of creepy crawlers in the refugium but they don’t look how pods are described.

1 Reply

@brokereefer 21d

Definitely a need helps a lot to keep the tank clean

@MikesReefWorld 19d

What do copepods do for reef aquariums, I’ve had aquarium for 15 years but just now working the reef idea.

@slater 19d

From the research I've done, they are a good CUC (clean up crew) and a food source.

1 Reply

@singwithmylife 19d

Absolutely love them! It’s hard to keep my clown fish from gobbling up every single one of them that’s in the display portion of the tank, but the ones in the in the back of my all-in-one tend to do great. I have a cuppa pot hotel for them in the middle chamber and they go bananas. They keep the diatoms way down and are Self replacing food for your fish once established.