How to put in copepods?

[FlopNewsom]

Had a very skinny Lawnmower blenny and was advised that they eat pods in addition to algae. I bought 3 bottles of Zooplanktos-M for him but now I'm not sure it's the right thing. The bottle says its copepods but recommends target feeding. I wanted them to grow in my tank. Can someone tell me specifically what I need? I hope he's still alive. I have a 210 gal with a 50 gal sump. The sump has live rock in it too.

 

[JustinKBreen]

You can add directly to the main tank or the sump. Probably best to put in at night, kill the lights and power heads. That gives them a chance to settle into the rock where they should be able to reproduce.

 

[FlopNewsom]

Ok, thanks. On the bottle, it advised to add smaller quantities and give your biological filter a chance to adjust. If these are animals? Then why will they affect the filtration?

 

[JustinKBreen]

Yes copepods are tiny invertabrates.. I cannot imagine they would have any major effect on your system. If anything I suppose they could be considered part of the clean up crew in addition to a food source.

 

[Crabs]

Everyone seems to think they lack in copepods just because they don't c any. The truth is u probably have tons unless u don't have any LR in ur tank or sump. U can increase the number of pods by simply creating small piles of LR rubble where the pods can multiply without any predators disturbing them. If u would take a flashlight and cover it with a blue lens, u would b amazed at the amount of pods that come out after dark. I have a Psychedelic Dragonet that is getting fat on the copepods in my 30 Gal. tank. I Don't feed him or my tank anything. I use to give the tank Phyto Feast but learned its a waste of money. I also target fed my corals with Oyster feast and Arctic Pods. Not any more. My dragonets waste seems to supply enough nutrients to keep my corals happy

 

[FlopNewsom]

If I do have them, then my Lawnmower Blenny has other problems. I am going to so the flashlight thing and see.

 

[Jlsardina]

Not 100% sure. But don't think those are live copepods. You need live ones to start or build on a population. Do you have anything else in the tank picking off your population?

 

[FlopNewsom]

How can I buy live ones?

 

[Jlsardina]

There's a few companies out there. ALAGEN and dr. G's are two that I use. They both sell online and ship overnight.

 

[Convict2161]

How can I buy live ones?

I've had great success using Reefs2go, ask for Nikki.

I turn the lights, power heads and pump off for about an hour covering the tank with a blanket to block the light from the tv. The. After about an hour I'll turn the power heads on and then pump and skimmer.

 

[Crabs]

Another thing that people don't realize, myself included. I thought my Dragonet was starving because I was looking at him the wrong way. His belly wasn't getting bigger and I thought that was how to judge his intake. Come to find out its not his belly I should b looking at. It's the hump on his back, just forward of his dorsal fin. I don't know anything about the Lawnmower Blenny but looks might b deceiving

 

[Crabs]

1 more thing before I give it a break. Adding copepods is a waste of money. It might increase their number initially but the number will settle to the sustainable number that your tank is able to maintain. I purchased pods, including the expensive Tiger Pods. I even bred Tiger Pods (very easy) but in the end there aren't any Tiger Pods to b seen in my tank. They're easier to c than the normal size copepod. The pod thing is mostly hype. Any healthy tank with plenty of LR has pods. The tank would have to b awfully sterile if it didn't have pods. OK, enough said. I won't bore u any further

 

[FlopNewsom]

I found them. Thank you.

 

[JustinKBreen]

Not 100% sure. But don't think those are live copepods. You need live ones to start or build on a population. Do you have anything else in the tank picking off your population?

Good point, my advice was under the assumption we were talking about live pods.