Copepods, Good Bad Or Indifferent?

[DarkSoul]

Well, I have figured out without a doubt that my tank contains copepods, as well as what is possibly also planaria.

I'm wondering, how did the copepods/planaria get in there? What should I do about it?
I looked at one of the pods on the glass under a 7x jewellers loupe and was able to determine that they look like this.
http://www.hudsonregional.org/mosquito/images/copepod.jpg

the planaria is what I'm most concerned about, because I've read that while they may not harm the fish, they are a sign of bad conditions. I've removed my hornwort which shed just about every needle it had, and I think was causing alot of problems due to all the rotting needles, Also I did 2 water changes yesterday to bring nitrite/nitrate levels (woohoo i think my tank is almost finished cycling... again...) and clean up the big mess of hornwort.

Hopefully this will help with the planaria as well as my bettas month long case of fin rot :(

So I'm really just looking for some info on the copepods and planaria if anyone has any. :)

[Hooked Newbie]

I could be way off here but from what I've read, planaria are carnivorous flatworms and are most likely feeding on the copepods and/or daphnia which are filter feeders that feed on water borne algae. As to where they possibly came from, no clue. I might try to blackout for a couple days ( or some Seachem Excel or API Algaefix) to cure the root problem. No algae, no copepods, no copepods, no planaria...
I don't think either are necessarily indicators of poor water quality, but removing all the debris can't hurt. Good luck! (It does get easy once stable btw, hang in there).

[jm1212]

you'd probably be better without them, but the planaria and copeopods probably arent going to hurt the fish. as you said though, they are a sign of deteriorating water conitions. make sure to do plenty of gravel vacs and large water changes. not only will it get the water quality back into check, but it will also help with the fin rot.

[DarkSoul]

well, after the massive cleaning yesterday, I imagine the water must be pretty clean. I should probably do a test tonight and check params, but hopefully with the hornwort gone, it will keep alot of the rotting mess out of the tank. The betta is fed every other day, and usually eats everything I give him, with maybe only one or two tiny flakes or pieces of bloodworm left floating.

I have been using excel for a couple of weeks, and dont see the algae growing on my glass anymore, also most of the hairy algae on my plants is gone as well, thank you excel :) but there are a few strands left.

When I last checked(lastnight before 50%, 25% WCs), my nitrites were about 0.50, and nitrates were around 5 .... Ive seen the 5ppm nitrate reading before, but didnt think much of it because the colours are so close, but with a noticible nitrite spike, I can assume my cycle is moving along?

odd though, only one week prior I was getting nothing, no ammo, rites or rates, nothing, even after leaving the water sit for a week before changing... now after the massive overload of ammonium chloride last week, and the WCs to correct it, I see nitrites :)

[Nolapete]

planaria and copepods are the result of poor maintenance in my experience

[pinkertd]

Planaria are specifically from too much leftover food in the tank and not siphoning it out. High nitrates won't bring em, high TDS won't bring em, but repeated overfeeding and leftover food in the tank will.

[DarkSoul]

like i mentioned above, the tank isnt overfed. The betta only gets 2 or 3 bloodworms, and a couple little flakes, every other day. And he is very good about eating it all. There are only maybe one or two little flake pieces, or bloodworm leftover...... and he even comes back later and picks those off the bottom.

He also nibbles on the copepods and worms.... I watched him grabbing pods out of the water as they dart by, and even pick them off the glass.
Its really cool to see, because there are water bubbles in the water column that are no bigger than the pods, and he is easily able to determine which ones are the food :)

[pinkertd]

Hi Dark Soul. I came across an article yesterday that stated that copepods were from overfeeding as well. Have you found any more info on them?

[DarkSoul]

no not really, but ive been wondering if having an algae eater might help, by consuming the algae and starving the copepods.

maybe just a couple of cory cats or something?

[pinkertd]

Some cories just might be a great answer! I have a few albinos in my tanks because I have to feed heavy and they get the excess flake and pellets that settles in amongst the plants. In my bristlenose breeding tank which is really thick with plants I also have ramshorn snails in addition to the cories.

[DarkSoul]

I have a juvenile snail in the tank, but he's much to small right now to make a difference with the algae.

[Star_Rider]

Pods(copepods) are actualy not a bad sign. many of the 'pods ' feed on algae. as you see the fish in your tank is feeding on them..

planaria are a sign of over feeding..but they could be the result of plant matter decaying from the live plants the pods feed. and the planaria may be feeding on pods.

[ct-death]

Typically planaria and other "nuisance" pests are associated with over-feeding, but this is NOT the only cause! Your horn-wort could easily have created a nitrogen rich environment with plenty of available matter for them to consum as it decayed.

As anyone who has ever had hornwort will attest to, it constantly is growing just so it can break off it seems!

Anyways, removing the plant will certainly help, and to be honest, although this may be unrelated, not feeding for 2-3 days can't hurt either.

I would be curious what your nitrAtes and TDS were prior to cleaning the tank...?

How ot get rid of them -- You've already started this by removing the plant. I would continue this by reducing the other sources fo rotting matter (ie. unwanted and/or shedding plants although not required and daily deep gravel vacs). Another suggestion, as mentioned above would be to feed them the same daily amount as you do now, but only feed them 1x every other day as opposed to the 1 a day now. It takes a while, but with enough patience they will go away.

[DarkSoul]

I didnt take a TDS reading before the cleaning and plant removal, but the test results werent as bad as I had expected. ammo=0, nitrites=0.50, nitrates 0, ph=7.8, GH/KH=8/4(GH is normally 7, and KH has never moved)

my other plants are doing extremely well, they are all healthy and growing nicely. I still have some bits of hairy algae on the sword, but the rest, including the sword, are vibrant and beautiful. They could be doing better, but at this point I'm only dosing Excel. 5ml every other day.

I am noticing some slight algae growth on my glass again though. I clean it off every week.

[Hooked Newbie]

I could be way off here but from what I've read, planaria are carnivorous flatworms and are most likely feeding on the copepods and/or daphnia which are filter feeders that feed on water borne algae. As to where they possibly came from, no clue. I might try to blackout for a couple days ( or some Seachem Excel or API Algaefix) to cure the root problem. No algae, no copepods, no copepods, no planaria...
I don't think either are necessarily indicators of poor water quality, but removing all the debris can't hurt. Good luck! (It does get easy once stable btw, hang in there).

:iagree: ;)

Can you add a filter feeding shrimp to your stock without risk of it being eaten?

[DarkSoul]

:iagree: ;)

Can you add a filter feeding shrimp to your stock without risk of it being eaten?

I dont know, could I add shrimp? I use excel, and do plan on eventually dosing other ferts (pmdd).

I would love to have shrimp, so would my daughter.... but I'd like to know they aren't going to die.

I dont think my betta would eat the shrimp would he? how small are they?

[Hooked Newbie]

I dont know, could I add shrimp? I use excel, and do plan on eventually dosing other ferts (pmdd).

I would love to have shrimp, so would my daughter.... but I'd like to know they aren't going to die.

I dont think my betta would eat the shrimp would he? how small are they?

Copper can harm inverts. Some say any will. Others dose with Excel and claim no ill effects (I think it's .0001 PPM). A wood shrimp might be the best option. http://www.azgardens.com/shrimpfactory.php, info here, but based on some reviews I've read you probably would want to find them elsewhere.

[ct-death]

Most ferts can be problomatic, but more to the point, shrimps will work however they will do extremely poor in a tank with measurable nitrItes (or ammonia).

I have a betta with Ghosts and Red Cherrys (bu the RCS seem to keep disappearing...)