my tank is becoming overwhelmed by copepods.they came with my live rock and seem to love my 0-0-0 8.3 ph tank any easy or not so easy ways to thin em out a bit without hurting my other inverts..water changes help but they come right back and are getting out of control.I keep my iodine up for my cleaner shrimp will letting it fall off a bit help ??
Scratching my head over this one....oh boy they are out of control...lol thanks
2007-11-26 10:50:43 · 3 answers · asked by stvc1961 2 in Pets ➔ Fish
My first thought was to make sure you've identified what you're seeing correctly - that these are copepods (look like saltwater versions of the freshwater invert cyclops) and not an amphipod (gammarid shrimp). These links have some photos you can use for comparison: http://home2.pacific.net.ph/~sweetyummy42/hitchpods.html , http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-08/reefslides/index.php .
Despite your nice water parameters, these can't reproduce to "infestation" levels without a food source. If you cut back on what's available for them to eat, their numbers will thin out. Of course, having a fish that will eat small food items can help as well. I'd advise against dragonets (mandarins) since this is about the only thing they'll eat, and if you don't have a large enough tank to continue producing them in abundance, the fish will starve once the supply runs out. Depending on what other fish you might have and the size of the tank, consider getting a clown goby, firefish/dartfish, or small carnivorous blenny that will also eat other foods if the pod supply runs out.
2007-11-26 11:34:03 · answer #1 · answered by copperhead 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
copepod infestation tank harmful
2016-05-26 01:20:10 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Small wrasses and dragonettes will thin those out for you. Of course with the dragonette, make sure you have at least 50 pounds of liverock to sustain it.
2007-11-26 10:55:42 · answer #3 · answered by evassj4 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋