copapods: how to kill them off permanently

[crystal4]

my fresh water tank is infested with these creatures..this is the second infestation in the same tank does anyone know how to kill copapods. i have already broke this tank all the way down to hopefully get rid of these creatures and they lived through chlorine,gravel filtered and cleaned then i set the tank back up again and i noticed they were back again is there anything i can use to kill them off i was thinking maybe dumping alot of sea salt into the tank

 

[justDIY]

try a catfish or some mollies

I'm not sure what a freshwater pod is, I thought they were just something sw tanks had.

how long did you bleach for? nothing can survive more than an hour ot so in a chlorine bleach solution - something must be introducing them into your tank, a contaminated net, an unwashed forearm, spores in the air.

do you have any pictures?

 

[crystal4]

i totally changed out my tank i kept all the plants and everything for a couple of days they are too small for a photo i looked at them under a microscope because they were so tiny i took in a sample to the fish store they lived in a glass for three days without any air at my hose just to see what i could do to rid my tank of them none of my other freshwater tanks have them just this one and im stumped

 

[crystal4]

i totally changed out my tank i kept all the plants and everything for a couple of days they are too small for a photo i looked at them under a microscope because they were so tiny i took in a sample to the fish store they lived in a glass for three days without any air at my hose just to see what i could do to rid my tank of them none of my other freshwater tanks have them just this one and im stumped

i am now experimenting with sea salt with the copapods i put alot of salt in their water.. i vaccuumed some out and put them in a glass added the sea salt and im now watching to see if they can overcome the salt i just added i am using the bottom of a lava lamp light to see what happens if it kills them im making a salt tank out of my fresh tank

 

[Fruitbat]

How did you determine they are copepods? Do they look like they have little shells? The salt should kill them pretty well....however....I recommend you replace your gravel completely. If you simply rinse the gravel then you're leaving a lot of the little critters in it so that they simply repopulate as soon as you put the gravel back in the tank with water.

 

[crystal4]

i took a sample of my water in to an all fish store where i live they put them under a microscope to see what they were it took about a week to find out because they get busy sometimes so far the glass with the salt that i added i havent seen any swimming yet and they have been in it for about 4 hours now im also wondering if i take out my male betta and not feed that tank anymore if they will just die since they are scavengers that feed off the uneaten food

 

[Fruitbat]

Depends on how long the tank has been set up. If it has been operational for a while and has cycled completely then there will be enough food in the gravel to keep the copepods going for quite some time.

Just FYI, unless these are parasitic copepods then they really aren't doing any harm in your tank. In fact...a lot of smaller fish will happily eat them, including your betta.

 

[crystal4]

they are making the tank very cloudy and its been back up for almost two weeks now before that your guess is as good as mine at least a year or so this is the first time i have ever encountered them ive had fish tanks as long as i can remember im 32 and i always have atleast one tank going since iwas 5 years old

 

[Fruitbat]

There are enough copepods to make the tank cloudy?? Gadzooks!! I've never seen THAT before!!!! There has got to be a LOT of food in that tank to support a population like that! I hate to say it but you might want to consider tearing that tank down one more time...once it is empty then scrub it thorougly with a 10% bleach solution (1 part Clorox to 9 parts tap water). Make sure you rinse the tank very thorougly after the bleach bath. Personally...I'd also toss the gravel and put new stuff in. Also...depending on what kind of filter you have I'd consider replacing the filter pads (if appropriate) with new ones.

Of course all this means that you'll have to cycle your tank again but if you really have a copepod infestation like that then it might be worth the effort.

 

[crystal4]

yep im going to take out my betta whenever i figure out where i can put him i have 2 29gal tanks up now but im kinda skitish about putting him in with the my clown knifes or the fantail goldfish/guppy tank i put a male betta with the fantails and they tore the betta to pieces and my clown knifes are at least 3 to 5 inches each i know all bout cycling the tanks when i set up a tank i like let it at least 5 to 7 days before i add any fish and then i only add a maxium of 2 to three fish i also use bioenzyme to start the bacteria going for my biological filter

 

[crystal4]

alll my tanks have undergravel filtration i hate the waterfall filter sometimes i will use both at the same time

 

[mattrox]

I hear tetras love eating copepods and will feast on them.

 

[An t-iasg]

You can put the betta in a 1 gallon bowl or jar and he will be fine in there for now. Since you live in Florida, the water temp. shouldn't get too cold. That would be better than putting the betta in one of the other tanks. You could even put him in a smaller bowl than one gallon as long as you watch the water parameters closely.

 

[Barnesa]

My 3 gal tank of Cherry Shrimp was full of these little things. They were creeping me out. I stopped feeding the shrimp because I read copepods were caused by over feeding.
I also noticed that on the surface of the water, were what I could only imagine were their eggs. For a couple weeks I would skim off these surface things and add some water. It has been two weeks and when I went to skim the surface there were no eggs.

I have read that guppies and bettas love eating these things and they are harmless little alge eaters but, I only have shrimp and snails and was glad to be rid of them.