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Pods in Reef Tank

Are There Copepods in Your Reef?

by Sean Tadjeran

Are There Pods in Your Reef?

Copepod Culture
Considering that they are an integral component of pretty much all natural marine ecosystems, it is likely that a large, stable population of copepods could benefit any reef aquarium. The surest means of establishing a lasting supply of copepods in your reef is to seed the aquarium system with a healthy, mixed-species starter culture.

But the benefits of adding pods does not end there. It is of clear benefit to boost an established population from time to time with supplementary cultures. Each addition of a quality mixed-species and mixed-life stage product such as 5280 Pods will provide a surge of food energy to varied filter-feeding invertebrates (e.g. corals) and microcrustacean-eating fishes (e.g. mandarin fish and seahorses). Even more importantly, the few individual new pods that escape predation will contribute both biomass and genetic diversity to the established population.

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How to Start a Population of Copepods in Your Reef Tank

Given the normally short lifespan of a copepod, a few dead individuals in each bag is to be expected and is totally acceptable. There should be some evidence of movement by adults in the bag. Holding the bag up to a bright light source will aid the eye in locating these tiny animals as well as glimpsing their movement. Noting just a few healthy adults will be good assurance that the culture is strong. This is particularly so with products such as Poseidon’s Feast, which include individual copepods of all life stages. They not only include the larger adults (which you might be able to see) but also smaller individuals from the younger life stages (which you almost certainly cannot see). These mixed-life stage products will help to promote the rapid establishment of large, stable and long-lasting pod populations.

So, you have just released the fresh, new pod culture into your reef. Now is the time to take a deep breath of relief. Give these little creatures some time to adjust to their new home. A few are sure to picked off by some aquarium animal just after introduction to the tank. But just as certain, there will be a few that settle onto the aquarium rock or substrate and hide out. There, they might spend the rest of their days (and maybe nights too) feeding on detritus and hiding from would-be predators. They will likely breed, though the miniscule young copepods in your reef will remain undetected by your naked eye as they drift through the open waters. It takes 4-6 weeks for the pioneer pods to generate progeny that grow up to the point when they can be seen with the unaided eye. It might take a couple of months or longer before the growing population becomes dense enough to spill out into openly lit bottoms of the tank in search of new food sources.

So, what should an established copepod population should look like in your tank? The best place to start is by looking for evidence of their benefits. Corals should be healthy and expanding their feeding tentacles out at night. A wide range of small fishes from flame wrasses to scooter blennies will be plump and seemingly always on the prowl for the next bite. Nuisance benthic microalgae will be under tight control. There will be a significant reduction in the accumulation of detritus. Live rock and live sand will have an overall cleaner appearance. But where will you see the pods?

It is not always easy to quickly spot pods in your reef. Even the adults are miniscule. And the adults tend to be more active at night and under the cover of darkness. This is for good reason; copepods are a preferred food source for a good many fishes and invertebrates. Those few individuals that might wander out during the day (that is, while they are much more easily seen) are far more likely to be quickly snatched up by a hungry zooplanktivorous fish. To be sure, a pod on the glass is basically asking to be eaten.

eFinding pods in your reef will take a little bit of eye scrunching and extra lighting. The best time to look, of course, will be at night. Using a flashlight, cast a beam through the open water column. Then scan the area just at the sand surface line along the tank panel. Take time to allow your eyes to train in on the finer details of the illuminated area. You might see some beige to reddish little dots that scoot about. They will resemble what you saw in the bag when receiving your concentrated starter culture.

Those home aquarists who have a microscope have a distinct advantage in that they can find copepods of all life stages. They may even distinguish one species from another. The best time to collect your reef pods for observation on a slide is to set aside a small sample of water drawn from the detritus while performing routine tank cleaning. The microscope might also be a great tool for evaluating the vitality of newly received shipments of booster cultures.

Copepod Starter Cultures: A Growing Investment

A mature reef aquarium surely has thousands upon thousands of copepods! The rate at which a starter culture can build a reproductive population in a reef tank depends upon a lot of things. First, one must consider the effect of predation on the starter culture just after introduction to the system. To minimize these effects, add the culture in the dark and (if present) to the refugium. From there, growth will depend greatly upon the amount and quality of food sources.

Do you want your resident population of copepods in your reef to really thrive? Feed them. Undoubtedly, they will make good use of the detritus and microalgal growths in the tank. But the vast majority of copepod species live through a planktonic life stage and rely upon phytoplankton as a primary food source. Supplementing their diet with a quality live phytoplankton can greatly increase their productivity. For this purpose, a live multispecies blend with a balanced nutritional profile (such as OceanMagik) is ideal. Many essential vitamins and fatty acids are synthesized by these planktonic algae, and are transferred down the food chain from the phyto to the pods to animals that consume the pods.

It is actually pretty easy to add copepods to your reef. Just acquire a quality live copepod product, add it to your system in the best spot at the best time and… wait a while. If you have any detritus or film algae, and there are places for the new pods to hide, you will almost certainly establish a solid population of pods over the next couple of months. Particularly with regular boosts, this population will continue to clean the aquascape, provide a nutritious food source for many creatures and last as long as you keep your tank running.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. steve4 says

    If you get the copepods and the phytoplankton, should you combine them separately for a while before adding to the aquarium, to give the copepods time to eat?

    If you want to look at them under a microscope, will sucking up some water into a pipette pick them up, or are they too big to fit in?

    How do copepods do in brackish water (15 ppm salt)?

    Reply

  4. Compy Ginorio says

    Since the beginning of the setting I seed pods, I still see some at the refugium. And once I don’t see them I add more to the display and the refugium. They are great scavengers and my corals and fishes love them. It’s part of my biodiversity.

    Reply

  9. Cole Presley says

    I feel like the 2 times I have added pods, they all just disappear lol I haven’t seen any but there has to be some in there somewhere

    Reply

  14. sally says

    Oh man! This is great! I can see an army of little ant-like creatures swarming in the dark! Ocean Majik is the greatest too!

    !

    Reply

  15. John key says

    This will be my next step for my tank. I need to get a good pod population going. Thanks Algae Barn!

    Reply

  16. Steven Lombardi says

    I hardly see pods out in my tank. I am pretty sure I have a healthy population the big ones are just picked off by my fish.

    Reply

  18. Robert says

    Can I send you a media brick have you cut it open so I can see the bactira and pod life I have in refugium I do not have a microscope but so bad want to see

    Reply

    • Karen Johnston Nation says

      does dosing this cause higher nitrates and phosphates? i know that happened once I got corals and started feeding reef roids and occasionally mysis shrimp! do you think they could stay alive on reefroids which is zooplankton? I dont have a skimmer so some of it stays in my tank! Small 10 gallon’ I have a yellow clown goby that wont eat and I have noticed i am getting pods just from tank maturing but probably not enough to keep him norised. I dont want to spoil him though, prefer no pods and him eatting pllets like the 2 clowns do but i defiently want pods in my bigger system that has a sump and is almost cycled!

      Reply

    • Karen Johnston Nation says

      does dosing this cause higher nitrates and phosphates? i know that happened once I got corals and started feeding reef roids and occasionally mysis shrimp! do you think they could stay alive on reefroids which is zooplankton? I dont have a skimmer so some of it stays in my tank! Small 10 gallon’ I have a yellow clown goby that wont eat and I have noticed i am getting pods just from tank maturing but probably not enough to keep him norised. I dont want to spoil him though, prefer no pods and him eatting pllets like the 2 clowns do but i defiently want pods in my bigger system that has a sump and is almost cycled!

      Reply

  39. Tyler.gore.90 says

    I wish I had more of the knowledge that is in these articles when I started out in the hobby.

    Reply

  41. Adam says

    Never really noticed a strong population outside of my refugium until I up-sized my tank. Kinda took me by surprise when I noticed my DT walls crawling with them.

    Reply

  42. sdemarco62 says

    Recently seeded my tank and will do so for the next three months. Hopefully that will give me a great starting off point.

    Reply

  44. ReeferReefer says

    Not sure if I need to reseed. Seems like my population is doing great. I think that adding phyto would help a lot though.

    Reply

  60. David says

    I have some in my tank that came in on rocks. They took a few months to populate, but I seem to have a lot now. I do wonder if adding one of your mixes would still be a good idea since I don’t know what kinds I have.

    Reply

  67. james says

    Mine is very busy with all sorts of things swimming around don’t know if it would help or hurt my tank

    Reply

  79. Kelly Tompkins says

    I have all types of pods, I have pods that eat pods. This article helped me to really understand them at a deeper level!

    Reply

  81. Stacey says

    I dropped 2 jars of posd in my fuge months ago and have a booming population. It’s awesome. I actually got into reefkeeping because of pods, I was raising them for betta fry and just decided to add more to the pod tank. Now I’ve got multiple tanks and fuges going. Pods are my gateway critter ?

    Reply

  82. Brett says

    I used to have so many copepods they were all over my glass, now I only see my isopods. I might have to dose more

    Reply

  88. Melanie says

    Interesting watching them move around in the rocks. You can also see them at night if you shine a flashlight on the rocks.

    Reply

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