Is there such a thing as too many pods?

My tank is becoming overrun with pods. I noticed the population jump from about 500 to thousands(too many to count for a estimate). Normally I would consider this a good thing(free fish food) but I'm not sure if too large a population could be a sign of something im doing wrong...

For example: I just added a 10gal tank to the system, the only thing I have in there is a couple nass snails.. So since there is no detrius/food in there yet for the snails, I added some frozen mixed food for them. Then I immediately noticed pods swarming the food and comsuming it well within a hour(I don't even think the snails got a bite)... My glass looks dirty all the time too because there are literally thousands of pods on my DT glass alone, kind of a eye sore when it looks like I never clean my glass :-/ lol

Do the pods increase the bioload? Will there be a crash when the pods consume everything they can and die off? Forgive the noob questions, just never experienced this many pods before.

 

I think you're referring to amphipods and not copepods? They can get annoying and multiply very quickly, try adding a fish that will eat them perhaps.

 

Well thats what I thought at first too... but these are much smaller than the amphipods I've seen before.

Plus I just confirmed it with photos from online. They look like this..




Also I have seen the larger amphipods in my system, they are just far and few compared to the pods.

Ill see if I can get a quality camera to shoot a vid/pics of just how many are swimming around everywhere

 

that is a calanoid copepod....but come on here lol = P

I study Isopods, Amphipods, and Copepods under microscopes at school all week long and it is (IMO) impossible to tell what you have with the naked eye.

Isopods are the easiest to distinguish by eye because the are laterally flattened and are typically bigger

 

either way, I'd buy a fish that will enjoy all that free tasty food !!!

 

well... actually I used a magnifying glass. I could really see pretty good to know thats pretty close to whats in my tank. I could could see a difference between copepods, amphipods and isopods. Their swimming motion is very distinct between all three. Then again I was always told I have perfect vision ;D

@vizzle Do you perhaps have any good links on all the different kind of pods and how to properly identify the different copepods? Also the Isopods I have are these guys...



I really wish I had a decent camera

Any good suggestions on fish that eat these up fast? Currently I have a chromis, jester goby, 2 clowns and mandarin eating these all day long. The basslet eats them sometimes but really hold out for the mysis and krill lol

 

Too many could be a sign of overfeeding or something. Do you have algae issues? Otherwise no worries. They are unlikely to last though as they have lots of predators, which are probably not too far behind (including some amphipods).

 

Hmmm...I was going to suggest obviously the Mandarin fish...but you have one already. Scooter Blenny will also chomp on all kinds of pods !!!

Good to see you are using at least a magnifying glass...and as far as websites go I could suggest some later. I use most of the Marine Bio books I've collected along the path of my degree

 

You could pair them up

 

i wouldn't in a 65g even with that pod population, it'll settle out soon enough. ya may be overfeeding IMO. but heres a link to pods

And I kinda disagree with others, I can identify alot of my little pod critters with eyesight alone, at least the bigger guys. The fast buggers may be mysid shrimp, look them up, but heres a good guide;

Hitch Hiking Copepods, Isopods and Amphipods

EDIt, as well as gobies, alot of wrasse love pods