are copepods nocturnal?

[craqerjaq]

the numbers I have been seeing swimming around have diminished to almost nothing...either they died or are hiding...trying to figure out which.

[Ninong]

They hide. That's their job. They hide so that they won't be eaten. Just check out your tank an hour or two after all lights are out, including lights in the room. It's better if you use a red flashlight but you can use a regular white flashlight, just be prepared to look fast because they will scurry back into their hiding places as soon as the light hits them.

When using a white flashlight, try to look at just one side (or area) of the tank for several seconds and then turn off the light, or point it down at the floor for a minute or two. Then look at the other side of the tank. You should see copepods on the sand bed and the live rock. When the white light hits them, they will run away and get back in their holes in the live rock or under any rubble on the sand bed.

You aren't going to see copepods in the daytime, just at night.

[craqerjaq]

well for the past couple days after I added them...I did see them during the day...all over the place. this morning I saw like 3-5 lol

there's nothing in there they need to hide from yet so maybe that explains it. I'll have to wait till tonight and see what comes out.

[craqerjaq]

should I feed them at night then?

[Doodaa]

Why are you so concerned with your pods? Are you trying to raise them for food for something else like a Mandarine Dragonette? Just curious and it may direct your responses differently. The pods pretty much just balance out with the system. I think you'd have a hard time getting rid of them if you didn't want them there, but if you want extras for some reason, that's a different story.

[Ninong]

should I feed them at night then?

In the natural environment phytoplankton density doesn't vary too much. If anything it may be denser during the daytime. Zooplankton density is heaviest at night, especially just after dusk and just before dawn. That's when the zooplankton is rising up from the substrate and then settling back down before the dawn.

Most corals feed on zooplankton and they feed at night in their natural environment. Most of the animals that feed on phytoplankton feed during the daytime or around the clock. Both zooplankton and phytoplankton are available around the clock but zooplankton is much, much denser at night than during the day.

Hobbyists who go all out for doing all the right things, will feed their tank just after dark if they're feeding their corals. On the other hand, if you feed your corals during the daytime, they will learn to eat during the day.

I fed phyto to my tank during the day because it was intended mainly for my tridacnid clams. I realized the phyto would also benefit the copepods but to tell you the truth, I never really worried about running out of copepods because every time I checked out the tank at night, there were zillions of them.

[craqerjaq]

well I paid 20 bucks for the bottle of pods and I don't want money to be wasted...that's all. that and I really have nothing else besides a few snails and bristleworms in my tank...I want my life forms to survive haha