Why you need to add copepods to your reef tank!

In today's episode I am talking about both why you should and how to add a healthy copepod population to your reef tank.
For Australian reefers, ask your local fish store to carry the Coral Creatures range. If you have no luck with them, check out www.coralcreatures.com.au for an incredible range of brine, phytoplankton, copepods (and more) that are all available to be delivered to your door.

[@Gabesafish]

It’s been almost 10 years since I broke down my last reef tank and here I am still watching KZbin reefing videos! My last tank had a very healthy, self sustaining pod population. I cultured them in my sump in my chaeto reactor and regularly cultured and dosed phyto as a food source for them. Harvesting was a simple matter of grabbing a chunk of chaeto about once a week and before tossing it. I’d float it in the main display for a few hours. My mandarin had plenty to keep him busy until the next time.

[@ParkersReef]

Sensational!

[@joeassi7090]

Wish this channel was around when I started my reef tank with dry rock. Great info.

[@ParkersReef]

ah cheers mate, looking forward to seeing your tank in a few days!!

[@joeassi7090]

@@ParkersReef likewise 😎

[@RogueAquariums]

Agreed Sam that copepods play an important role in your reef tank. I also started my tank with dry rock and added 300,000 copepods with in a 5 month time frame. I purposely haven’t added any wrasses so the population has a chance to multiply. My mandarin has a great food source now. 😁

[@ParkersReef]

nicely done!

[@BodgieFromStraya]

Love this video! im a big fan for having as many critters as possible in my aquarium hahaha! its cool as to see these little guys and super interesting to see how important their role is!

[@ParkersReef]

Cheers mate!

[@bubblebaath7840]

Building a tank like yours is the sole thing that drives me to make good money in life

[@ParkersReef]

Hahaha fair enough!! It is good motivation, but you can definitely build it for a lot less

[@wallacepretorius7785]

This video came just at the right time! In the process of starting my 700L tank and 200L cube🙌🏾🙌🏾 Much love from South Africa🇿🇦

[@ParkersReef]

Ah perfect! Thanks for watching and enjoy that new tank of yours!!

[@jason7520]

Hey Sam, keep the great vids coming! I was curious if you knew how many mm your sand grains are

[@ParkersReef]

Thanks Jason! Yeah the sand is caribsea special grade which I think is 1.25-2mm

[@killajames101]

In Canada we get copepods from reef nutrition and they also are teaming with life and love the vids

[@ParkersReef]

awesome! That is what you want, I've seen too many videos of bottles with next to no life!

[@aarondus]

Short yet sweet. The states has a lot of room to (still) go when it comes to pods.

[@ParkersReef]

super lucky to have access to such quality of these guys available to us here

[@TheBousal]

Well explained

[@ParkersReef]

Thanks, I learnt whilst putting this video together!!

[@daltonhardin5682]

OH MAN you sound like Thor lol 😆 ( Chris Hemsworth) 😄 love it lol! Bro Love the info on copepods too thanks Thor!!!!

[@ParkersReef]

Look just like him too 😂😅😆

[@CC-ts2se]

Nice tank buddy! Subscribed!

[@ParkersReef]

Thank you!

[@CC-ts2se]

I'm about to get back into a reef tank. Probably pretty small. A 40 breeder. I had to promise the wife I would not buy any more Audiophile gear for my sound system if she let me get back into a aquarium.

[@CC-ts2se]

I want a Green Mandarin so Copepods are a must.

[@ParkersReef]

Hahaha audiophile gear is as expensive as Reed keeping!!

[@CC-ts2se]

@@ParkersReef shhh... she does not know that yet!

[@sunnygoold9449]

Crucial! Totally agree - biodiversity is totally underrated - it should be up there with lighting, flow and water quality IMO ;)

[@ParkersReef]

Agreed!!!

[@i2eef]

Another way to get critters is to get cheato/algea in your sump from different reliable sources to build up your biodiversity. Really dig how you did your cabinets! Can you make a video on how you proceed?

[@ParkersReef]

You bet, I’m focussed on getting as much biodiversity in this tank as I can! What would you like to see a video on? Further diversity or the cabinets?

[@i2ik]

@@ParkersReef on the cabinets please! I got my 80/20 frames and I will need to make cabinets eventually :)

[@ParkersReef]

Here is one I prepared earlier mate :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/f3aWZZWVgMubidk

[@CLINNYY_1]

Just what we were talking about today XD next trip

[@ParkersReef]

you bet man, amazing little creatures, highly recommend!

[@CLINNYY_1]

@@ParkersReef is it worth putting them in the aio back to hopefully set up breeders?

[@ParkersReef]

yeah I would highly recommend it. They'll soon move throughout the tank (not just the back section) but that's not a bad thing!

[@freakygoblin3068]

Short and sharp. Couple of points.. should have poured the "rinse" down the pipe as well. The second point is to ask about how necessary is addition of phytoplankton to sustain a healthy copepod population, especially for a tank which is not well established?

[@ParkersReef]

Yeah fair points! Phyto is needed (and will be added) but the rinse isn’t too important to go down the pipe :p

[@ragingcalmness7815]

Funny how there is a lot of stuff for freshwater tanks here in Canada, but it's impossible to find someone selling packs of copepods for freshwater aquarium specifically, it's like no1 cares unless it s for a marine aquarium 😂

[@ParkersReef]

Yeah that is odd?!

[@johnbernier1025]

Thanks for the informative video. How often would you recommend adding them? I have a 20 gallon Waterbox cube and I add every 6 months.

[@ParkersReef]

If they are well seeded and aren’t getting picked off by fish too often you shouldn’t need to re-add all that often. That being said, they are so important, very cheap and super easy to add - so I’ll add a bottle every 6 months just to ensure their numbers are up 👍🏻

[@johnbernier1025]

@@ParkersReef thank you, enjoy your channel! Love the Dream Tank!!!

[@edstar81]

Recommend for all tank sizes?? Thanks for upload 😀

[@ParkersReef]

Absolutely, all marine tanks

[@nicolesworld6751]

I wish I grew my own using my water. I think I introduced spores of sponges. Which is a good thing. But there in my PVC and I got a lot of them. When I shut the main pump I see them. They gray hopefully they die off. That was the only thing I added to a sterile tank. I added dry rock and no sand.. good luck. .

[@ParkersReef]

Yeah likely some bacterial film on the pipes, happens to all of us when you switch off that return pump :p

[@EGYPT_REEF]

nice man

[@ParkersReef]

thank you!

[@patdudley7635]

Just moved to New Zealand. 5yrs since I’ve had my reef up and running. Last time I added these most got taken up in the skimmer in the sump . Not sure if they sell these in NZ

[@ParkersReef]

Not sure either sorry mate, surely someone is breeding them!?

[@kidnormano]

I usually shut return pump for 30-40 minutes and just pour it in at nite

[@ParkersReef]

that gets the job done too!

[@LauraFunFunFloweries]

I don't have fish/tanks, but was searching up, copepods, on, Google (cause, I was giggling to myself like a dork, about, "cocoa pods...cocopods..... copepods, lol). Anyway, decided to sub

[@ParkersReef]

hahaha thanks :P

[@cheveburkinshaw860]

First 😀 thanks great info

[@ParkersReef]

quick on it today!!!

[@aussied723]

🙌

[@ParkersReef]

👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻

[@victoriaditty8441]

I added live rock and sand to my tank last night. I woke up this morning to hundreds of pods!! I’m going to get some phytoplankton today for them to eat on. Do you have any tips on how to get them to multiply? Or should I just buy a bottle of pods to add?

[@ParkersReef]

sounds like you should be good for pods for a little while, some phyto to keep them fed is a good idea though :)

[@marcusfessler7082]

Do you think there is any benefit to continually adding pods. Say once every few months? I havn't added any in a year and this made me think about it...

[@ParkersReef]

I think perhaps once a year wouldn’t hurt. Really depends on your pod population and how many fish you have eating them

[@nanocpx]

I'm new to keeping a reef tank, and have been wondering about adding copopods to my tank but been concerned about adding the water they come in to my system as everyone seems to say dont add lfs water to our tanks but you appear to add it to your tank. Is the water they ship in safe to do so?

[@ParkersReef]

pods come supplied in a completely safe salt water mix. No harm in adding to your tank at all (but yes, don't add fish shop water to your tank :) )

[@antmk2dreaming614]

I would have thought that the fact you live in Australia near the sea you would have tried filling up your tank natures way using NSW . A lot of reefers here in the uk are using it now and see massive results and improvements, and I am sure your costal waters are a lot better than British waters .

[@ParkersReef]

That’s because I do use NSW 😅

[@ParkersReef]

I used artificial rock and dry sand, but I’m a long time fan of natural salt water :)

[@antmk2dreaming614]

Lol! Sorry I thought you used a salt mix in your new awesome tank . Do you collect your own or do you get it supplied?

[@ParkersReef]

@@antmk2dreaming614 I have it supplied. A local here has done it for years with a very high quality process. Best NSW on the planet in my eyes and most certainly a contributing factor to the success of my last tank. That being said, I always have a bucket of salt on hand in case of unavailability or emergency :)

[@ilgrilluss]

Sorry to bother you Mr Parker, What lights are you using pls? Steve Malta :)

[@ParkersReef]

Philips coral care :)

[@ilgrilluss]

@@ParkersReef thank you so much sir.

[@debbyw1640]

Hi guys I'm new to copepods, can I add these to my tropical tank ? Thanks for any advice

[@ParkersReef]

when you say tropical, are you meaning freshwater or seawater? I don't know if they will work in freshwater

[@UTUBESTEVED]

Doesn’t it bother you that your sandbed is being pushed back by your mp40 such a nice tank it’s a shame that it looks like that any thoughts on if or when you’re gonna fix it

[@ParkersReef]

Mp60's :P Yeah, will be addressed when my tunze's go in shortly :)

[@theamjadjamousable]

Do you think that they can survive in the main display ? I want to start my first reef , and i am gonna do a dry start . Thanks for the videos

[@ParkersReef]

you bet they can

[@Helveteshit]

Aww, no Brine shrimp? Thought it would be cool.

[@ParkersReef]

Perhaps in the near future :)

[@rbak2009]

Just ordered some from coral creatures. Do you feed phytoplankton to keep them alive or let the natural buildup of food and waste feed them? (Is that even a good source for copepods? 😅)

[@ParkersReef]

I do feed the whole tank Live Photo - will do a video on that soon :)

[@rbak2009]

@@ParkersReef awesome. Looking forward to it👍🏾

[@markkus1134]

I have a refugium in my back chamber loaded with pods I have a mandarin so pods are a gotta have

[@ParkersReef]

Very nice 👌🏻

[@markkus1134]

@@ParkersReef here’s a video I’ve had my clown 13 years Pygmy angel 4-5 kzbin.info0r50gc3hzvw

[@goldengirl81]

How you add them from the refugium to your tank?

[@markkus1134]

@@goldengirl81 they actually go through the pump

[@delikedi524]

How They collect them? My pots come with rocks

[@ParkersReef]

I have no idea! I believe they grow cultures of them and can then basically sieve them out. But that could be totally fabricated in my mind!

[@joshrichmond6108]

How often do I add this?

[@ParkersReef]

depends on the fish in your system. Once every few months is a good idea though

[@x189philthethrill]

I have a cherry shrimp tank fulll of them

[@x189philthethrill]

Not sure how they got in there but they fooled me I thought they where baby shrimp

[@ParkersReef]

Yeah fair enough!

[@gonefishing5536]

Dosing live phytoplankton will help boom the population of these guys to

[@ParkersReef]

you bet, all coming very soon!

[@WhiteBloggerBlackSpecs]

They went to college

[@ParkersReef]

smart little buggers!

[@martijnvanbeek4387]

Why not grow your own pods and phytoplankton?

[@ParkersReef]

If you have the space, time and energy - absolutely!!! Lucky for me, whilst not having those options - I have ready access to people who do :)

[@masonmclean1573]

You don’t have to acclimate copepods?

[@ParkersReef]

great question, I am led to believe not - but would be interested to hear if others think it is necessary!

[@masonmclean1573]

@@ParkersReef I’m not sure either, I was just curious, but I figure that since there are thousands of them being introduced at one time most of them will be able to handle the change so any die off wouldn’t matter. Your videos motivated me to buy my first saltwater tank so keep the good content coming. I am learning a lot from you!

[@gonefishing5536]

Temperature acclimation would possibly help just float the bottle in the sump for half hour.

[@ParkersReef]

I'll touch base with Coral Creatures (where I bought this bottle from) and see what they say about acclimating!

[@ParkersReef]

Ok, heard back from the breeder and this is what they had to say: “Only if the temp of the bottle is substantially different. When shipping overnight it can help but prob wouldn’t matter for your scenario”

[@ryandixon6428]

Just turn off the filter and flow so they can settle

[@ParkersReef]

I wouldn’t bother to be honest, they settle in just fine

[@aliceholbert1246]

I'm fallow right, they have taken over. Everything is covered. My crap on sand gone now. Lol. Feed them they will work. Lol

[@ParkersReef]

Hahaha nice!!

[@spicymeatballs2thespicening]

Can copepods get diabetes 🥺

[@ParkersReef]

I wouldn't think so, but hey, perhaps?

[@John_Doe_6996]

IMO you don’t need to intentionally add them, they will end up in your tank one way or another over time…I’ve got thousands or more in a tank that’s only a couple months old.

[@ParkersReef]

they certainly will, but for new tanks or tanks with fish that like to eat them - it certainly won't hurt to add them

[@markm266]

I like to add them to a new tank to help with the ugly stage.

[@alexvids9232]

raw d? you dirty bruh

[@ParkersReef]

Lolz

[@Elev8minh]

GREAT videos as always Sam!!!! QUICK QUESTION. when do you think it would be an appropriate time to add to a newly cycled tank?

[@ParkersReef]

As soon as there is no ammonia or nitrite and nitrate levels are below 20, you should be right to go 👍🏻

[@Elev8minh]

@@ParkersReef thank you my friend!!!