Copepod explosion! Couple of questions

scoopsthedog · Jan 21, 2017

My 50 gallon with sump tank went full cycle I had dry rock and dry sand. Waited about five weeks. I then transferred some of the live rock from my 25 gallon which was up and running for over five months. I have a refugium and have been using Bacto Balls for two weeks. Every square inch of my sand bed is crawling with copepods. I am assuming that at a certain point whatever they are feeding off of will start to be consumed and the population will stabilize. However I would love to get a Mandarin but want to make sure that there will be enough food here for him. I can very easily purchase copepods from my lfs and replenish if necessary. I know most people say to wait six months to a year any thoughts?

scoopsthedog · Jan 21, 2017

One other question - I am using reef roids to feed my coral every few days would that be a food supply for them?

Lionfish Lair · Jan 21, 2017

When tanks are new, they have a lot of food for copepods. These die back, however, so wait until your tank stabilizes more.

scoopsthedog · Jan 21, 2017

Lionfish Lair said:
When tanks are new, they have a lot of food for copepods. These die back, however, so wait until your tank stabilizes more.

Thanks for the reply. If there are still a bunch after another 4 weeks is it safe to say they have stabilized in population?

ahiggins · Jan 23, 2017

scoopsthedog said:
Thanks for the reply. If there are still a bunch after another 4 weeks is it safe to say they have stabilized in population?

Stabilize as in 6 months+
A tank isnt stable after cycling. The balance comes after the alk/calcium reach a nice equilibrium. As a rule I use for myself...a tank isnt stable until it starts growing its own corraline algae. For two of my tanks, it was 5 months. For the other it was 8 months.
The problem with pods is that the initial bacteria/algae bloom will give them TONS of food but when your tank "stabilizes" theyre will be little algae for them to consume and there will be die off. This is assuming you dont have a refugium connected to the tank. If you do, I assume you could keep the colony you have as long as the fuge is big enough.

colonelgreen92 · Feb 16, 2020

scoopsthedog said:
One other question - I am using reef roids to feed my coral every few days would that be a food supply for them?

I am also wondering this. I have a good amount and want to continue to have s good population of pods. I made a mandarin and a red ruby. They are always eating.