Reef aquarium keepers are always looking for that one oddball “piece” of coral that will really make their aquarium display shine.
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Copepods
Copepods make up the crustacean arthropod subclass Copepoda. It is one of the most ecologically important groups of animals on the planet. This isn’t just because they are the most abundant animal species, nor just because they collectively make up the most biomass (which they do!). Rather, it is because most all freshwater and marine food chains ultimately lead back to them; this is because they are primary consumers, heavily grazing algae both from open waters and seafloors. In so doing, copepods transfer nutrients and biomass created by primary producers to predators higher up in the food chain. Just as these activities are so essential to the wellbeing of natural marine ecosystems, they are important in one’s saltwater aquarium.
Copepods benefit marine aquaria of all kinds in all sorts of ways. Most species, for example, make a great foundation for the clean-up crew. Their capacity for controlling detritus and nuisance algae is certainly impressive. As they grow and multiply, they become a highly nutritious live food source for an astoundingly broad range of aquarium animals. For example, as benthic types grow to adults, they are picked off of the bottom by small fishes such as green mandarins, six-line wrasses, etc. Larger planktonic types get picked off by zooplanktivores such as anthias. Tiny copepod larvae, which are almost universally free-living in the water column, serve as an excellent food source for many types of corals.
In this section, you will learn which type of copepod best suits your needs, how to add “pods” to your tank and how to keep a resident pod population flourishing indefinitely.
77 Posts
Keeping and Feeding the Mandarin Fishes
Mandarins are undoubtedly among the most popular of all marine aquarium fishes. Conspicuous for their small size, they have an
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A Closer Look at the Harpacticoid Copepod Tigriopus californicus
The supralittoral zone—the area comprising the uppermost reaches of the intertidal zone—is not a particularly easy place for marine
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Going Green: Installing and Operating a Planted Refugium
Many aquarists strive to build and maintain aquarium systems that replicate, as faithfully as possible, the natural environments
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Pods on a Plane: Receiving & Inspecting a Shipment of Live Copepods
Good news for your entire marine aquarium community: your shipment of live pods has arrived! After carefully opening your package
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A Primer on the Different Characteristics and Uses of the Major Copepod Groups
Put simply, copepods are everywhere, and there are all kinds of them. We’re talking about somewhere from seven or eight thousand
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A Closer Look at the Cyclopoid Copepod Apocyclops Panamensis
Marine aquarium hobbyists are increasingly coming to understand what professional aquaculturists have known for decades— copepods are a
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Aquariums: The New Medicine
Aquariums: The New Medicine
You enter the waiting room of your doctor’s office and you know she’s not going to be happy about your
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The Mighty Copepod
When thinking about crustaceans many creatures come to mind like shrimp or lobster. And while your mind may be wandering toward an all
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Sustainable Aquariums
What are Sustainable Aquariums?
An aquarium is a cornerstone of many homes and apartments, but how often have you come home to find
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Feeding Fish Copepods
Feeding Fish Copepods
If you are buying aquarium phytoplankton or copepods, consider why you’re making that choice. Why that over more
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Schedule Copepod Deliveries
Will you be regularly ordering copepods and phytoplankton?
As an aquarium owner, you need to be thinking about what’s best for the
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Wholesale Copepods
Buying Copepod Fish Food
If you’ve made the decision to start selling copepods in stores, the question becomes where you can buy them
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Selling copepods and phytoplankton in your store
Selling Copepods and Phytoplankton in Your Store
Few realize how beneficial copepods and phytoplankton are for their fish tanks.
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Live Copepod Delivery
Get live fish food
If you are carefully cultivating a saltwater aquarium, you’ll want to make sure you are giving its inhabitants the
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Feeding your Fish Fresh Copepods and Amphipods
Copepods and Amphipods
Fresh copepods and amphipods are a terrific alternative to the flakes or pellets that normally come to mind
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Using Live Copepods to Feed Your Fish
It’s important to get live food for fish if you want them to live longer, healthier lives—particularly if they are carnivorous fish.
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