When thinking about crustaceans many creatures come to mind like shrimp or lobster. And while your mind may be wandering toward an all you can eat buffet, there is another type of crustacean that isn’t so tasty to humans, but boy do the fish love them. I speak of the mighty (and tiny) copepod.
Copepod is a blanket term to describe a subclass of the Crustacea family. There are many types of copepods and they are anywhere and everywhere there is water. Some species of marine pods are planktonic, or they drift in the currents like plankton do. Other species are benthic, or living and moving along the ocean floor like tiny little sea bugs.
The one thing all pods do have in common though is the same basic body type. Copepods are part of the crustacean family and because of this they all have exoskeletons or outer shells (though they vary widely by class). They are also very small with the largest variety measuring at 1 cm. Most copepods measure at around 1 to 2 mm. When using live pods in a saltwater aquarium, they may look like tiny bugs floating in the water or crawling on the glass.
Marine copepods feed off of phytoplankton and bacterioplankton, and in turn provide a food source for larger fish such as mandarins and gobies. Knowing that ornamental saltwater fish love and live off of pods, it only makes sense that a growing number of aquarium enthusiasts are switching to providing live copepods for their fish. Live aquarium copepods provide a wonderful food source for aquarium fish. The fish don’t have any; “I need to get used to this food” down time because live copepods are what they instinctively eat. And with the advantages of modern technology any aquarium hobbyist can buy pods online and have them delivered right to their door, with the next stop in the aquarium.
So there you have it. Copepods may seem tiny and insignificant to us, but their presence is irreplaceable to our favorite fish.
[Copepods]
Theresa Smith says
I recommend the copepods from Algae Barn.
Noah says
?
Jon Dimitri Andrianos says
Same. My fish love them
theresa360 says
I enjoy watching the copepods in my tank thrive. I’m happy to be able to feed my fish live food.
beck.blade says
Excited for my pods just got some
Chris Hedrick says
My fish love these guys
paula says
addictive! gotta have them!
Daryl Reid says
Algae Barns copepods are the best
paula says
addictive to watch
jeffreyfelter says
After reading this it reminded me I need some more pods.
robert vice says
getting ready to dump so.e in as we speak
Anthony says
Cool article!
Tony Mutti says
These are so neat. I love looking in the tank, after lights out, with a flash light, and seeing all the life.
esear14 says
these things are awesome
Josh hiltabiddle says
Pods rock
devon says
yummy
Terrence Harrison says
Love algae barn!
Martin Gundel says
Pods are a requirement for my gobies and health in my system.
artaa1988 says
love watching these guys in my tank
Mohamed Hassaan says
I enjoy watching the pods in my tank
James says
reading. Can never seem to get a colony established but would love to.
Allen Fagard says
Got pods
Carl Brown says
The Mandarin is my favorite fish.
mikerosa1965 says
I just ordered my first batch from you during your bogo sale
Andy says
I can’t wait to get my pod population thriving enough for a mandarin.
Tiffanie says
Love pods!!!
Stefan Bladen says
A great snack for my fish
Nicholas Pettit says
Copepods are chill
Alex says
Awesome little critters!
Brandi says
I love having copepods in my tank. If you turn off the lights and even cover LED’s and give you eyes about 10 minutes to adjust to the total darkness, you sill start to see some of them fluoresce. It’s really cool to see bioluminescence in your own home!
Christopher Burns says
Only place i go for pods
Tara says
Copepods are so cool to have in tank.
Hailey Weir says
Haileyweir46173@gmail.com
Sean Simkins says
I can never seem to sustain a good podpulation
professorcanswanky says
Amazing read
ANDREW WELSH says
Have an ok population in one tank but tons in another
Ross Bennett says
Def getting some on my next order
David says
My fish always love to snack on copepods. Just wish I could keep up with the demand.
Doug Smith says
you aint got no game unless you got pods!
darksorcerer0530 says
I struggled with setting up a copepod colony at first, but now they are pretty essential for me as my mandarins love them!
Angela Revell says
My mandarin is doing great
Marc Raupp says
pods are the best. they clean your tank and feed your fish. whats not to love?
Juan Gonzalez says
Love watching my population grow!
Anthony Ferrelli says
Delivery coming today?
George says
Never enough!
Michael Kessler says
I love having pods in my tank
Andrew Bilodeau says
Love it!!!!!!!!!!!!
Christopher says
Great article
Alexandra says
My Mandarin says he needs some of these!
Savoury Kem says
Whoa
Deborah Najm says
Our mandarin loves his copepods!
Tim Jones says
My goby loves the pods
Ricardo Munoz says
Love it
erik says
my fish love them!
Gino says
Copepods Rock!
James says
Very mighty
garethb9 says
Need to add more to my set up, a refugium would help massively
Robert Paniagua says
Just got my copepods
Brent Cox says
Mighty they are.
Max Williquette says
So many benefits to good pods, and AlgeaBarn is the best source I have found! My seahorses and mandarin love them!
Brent says
who doesn’t love mandarins!
anxsar says
Going to be setting up my own pod farm for my stuff.. Thanks for the information you provide, it is invaluable
Tom Giddens says
great product
John key says
I don’t think pods are emphasized enough in this hobby. I like to have a variety of different pods in my tank.
Kristoffer Hamann says
Need all kinds of life in there.
danieoue says
Great pods
Sean Beaver says
Definitely need more pods.
Itzel says
Copepods > AirPods
blk250r says
?rock on pods?
Ellen S Imbrie says
thanks for posting
Ellen S Imbrie says
thanks f
Ellen S Imbrie says
Love my pods
Ellen S Imbrie says
Love pods
Kristopher Kasarda says
My mandarin loves pods!
Derek says
One of the best parts of our tanks is watching the mandarins swim around hunting pods! Love it!
chrissyhexd says
Mighty indeed!
Justin says
Good info
Jeremy Hunsberger says
Sweet
Bennett Sheppard says
I love having Mandarins and strive to keep enough live copepods in the tank.
William Schimmel says
Excited for my pods just placed an order
btack206 says
We use both live and frozen copepods. One as a food source for our fish and the other to help keep the tank healthy.
Ryan M. Vaughan says
Helpful
Wendy says
You can trust what they tell you. (how refreshing) it’s not just a sales plug.
Branden Hess says
Love these. Are basically a must have for your tank.
Max says
Pods rock!
zadok jollie says
Having a good copepod population is great for fish and coral. Thanks algae barn for providing mine.
stoph70 says
The pods are the most underestimated item in terms of importance for the aquarium.
ian m mahoney says
I seeded my system with pods from Algae Barn 2.5 years ago and my tanks thrived, the so called expert level fish like the Mandarin have been the easiest fish pair I’ve ever owned. 2 years and have never had to feed or do anything as the pods reproduce in their millions in the refug, just need to seed heavy the first 6 months.
greg.chernoff says
Awesome to hear! Please when you get a chance post up a picture of your tank on our facebook or instagram pages! We love to see fat happy mandarins
glenzemke says
This is why they love to live in my algae scrubber
Frank says
I agree, copepods are the best
Logan Kreider says
Good read
Kyle Frame says
My mandarin relies on algae barn for their pods.
Nicholas says
Love seeing pods in my tank!
Jose Pacheco says
Copepods are so important in aquarium
Jesus says
Need more pods!
Jesus says
Great info.
Dylan says
My pods are keeping my copperband and leopard wrasses happy. Love them!
Ricardo Munoz says
Agreed, sometimes my clowns don’t seem to eat much but at random times I see them munching on pods.
Lisa says
Great article. Thanks for sharing this info.
castrommaritza says
Yes! Have a home in my fuge!
Josh Lassiter says
I just seeded my tank with copopods a week ago and already I see them thick on my tank glass.
Stacey says
Great read!