self sustaining fish?

[Sesom]

Trying to see if I could have a small tank with just 1 or 2 small fish that could live off of a self sustaining copepod population, so basically no maintenance. Would this be a viable option, and if so, what fish would be the best options? also, the copepods i have spend a lot more time on the substrate than in the water column. Would fish even be able to catch/see them on the ground?

 

[Andy Sager]

How small of a tank and what kind of copepods?

 

[Sesom]

probably nothing bigger than 5 gallons. I am not sure what kind of copepods they are, they hitched along on the plants or something else. They mainly stay on the substrate but sometimes they will swim up for a bit. They have fairly long antenae and their tail isn't split, which from my research means that they could be part of the harpaticoid family, but this could be way off as I got this information from a saltwater tank website, and mine are in freshwater, not sure if that matters.

 

[Andy Sager]

probably nothing bigger than 5 gallons. I am not sure what kind of copepods they are, they hitched along on the plants or something else. They mainly stay on the substrate but sometimes they will swim up for a bit. They have fairly long antenae and their tail isn't split, which from my research means that they could be part of the harpaticoid family, but this could be way off as I got this information from a saltwater tank website, and mine are in freshwater, not sure if that matters.

Yes, that does matter. Look up pictures of a freshwater SCUD to see if they match.
If the tank is that small, I doubt there is much that would be " self sustaining" since anything that eats those will probably eat them faster than they can repopulate.

 

[Sesom]

I looked them up, and they dont look super similar. the ones in my tank have a long skinny tail which it doesnt look like the scuds have. Also, it said scuds were generally 5 to 20 milimeters in length, which seem a lot bigger than mine. Mine are way smaller than that. They are probably between 1-3 milimeters if that. However I am sure that there are different species of scuds. Mine are to small to get a picture of. Also, as for the tank size, it can be bigger if that helps the population of the copepods/scuds.

 

[Andy Sager]

I looked them up, and they dont look super similar. the ones in my tank have a long skinny tail which it doesnt look like the scuds have. Also, it said scuds were generally 5 to 20 milimeters in length, which seem a lot bigger than mine. Mine are way smaller than that. They are probably between 1-3 milimeters if that. However I am sure that there are different species of scuds. Mine are to small to get a picture of. Also, as for the tank size, it can be bigger if that helps the population of the copepods/scuds.

We need to figure out what these are in order to know what can feed on them as some fish that eats scuds for example, would not handle being in a small tank. Some small fish that would fit in a small tank would prefer to be in a school so a really small tank is out. So I suggest you keep searching for freshwater " bugs" that will match yours.

 

[Sesom]

I am 99 percent sure that they are copepods. Do we need to find out what species they are? also, Im happy to do it with a bigger tank if necessary. Thanks

 

[Andy Sager]

Try and post a picture please.