Apocyclops panamensis pods are opportunistic feeders eating phytoplankton, fish waste, and other detritus in your tank. This makes them a critical part of any clean-up crew. As juveniles, Apocyclops copepods are benthic meaning they stay hidden in the rockwork, macroalgae, and glass in your aquarium. As they progress through their life cycle they become pelagic meaning they are free swimming. These life cycle changes makes them an excellent addition to aquariums with “pod hunters” as Mandarins will hunt them from the rocks and wrasses and anthias will benefit from them in the water column. In sum, the cyclopoid copepod Apocyclops panamensis is an excellent addition to any population of microcrustaceans. Resilient and fast-growing, they are likely to colonize your aquarium and play an important role in removing unsightly algal films over the aquarium substrate and provide an constant food source. We highly recommend dosing Phyto Buffet to provide for their nutritional needs, and it aids in establishing colonization. BENEFITS OF PODS IN YOUR AQUARIUM: The primary benefits include FOOD SOURCE, CLEAN UP CREW (CUC) and BIOME DIVERSITY. Copepods aid in the husbandry of certain aquarium inhabitants which require an endless food source as their metabolism requires them to hunt non-stop. these include but not limited to Mandarin Dragonets like our beloved Rainbow Wish and Paisley, other dragonets such as HUSKER our Ruby Red Dragonet (Can’t live in the Cornhusker state and have a red and yellow fish and not name it after your team lol) plus pipefish, seahorses, anthias, various gobies such as sleeper, sand sifting, etc. Copepods also provide a consistent and viable food source for many different captive bred fry. Plus as an added bonus almost all if not all of your fish in your aquarium BENEFIT as they munch on these protein and fatty acid enriched treats. Copepods are a valuable member of your clean up crew. They aide in Algae control due to pods small size, they can get into the tiniest of crevices and clean the algae down to its roots and help reduce the formation by reducing nutrients in your aquarium. They aide nutrient export by consuming bacteria, detritus and uneaten food and converting it to protein and fatty acids for our fish. Copepods add to an increased biome when colonies of different species establish colonies with in our aquariums. PLEASE NOTE: Reef By Steele ships all pods in all life stages. Our Pods contains a range of juvenile to adult copepods. Some juvenile copepods are difficult-to-impossible to see with the naked eye upon arrival, but are ideal for establishing copepod Colonies. We recommend adding all copepods at least 1 hour after lights out to avoid a feeding frenzy! PHOTOS ARE REPRESENTATIVE AND NOT ACTUAL PRODUCTCurrent photos of Premium pods packaging and will be replaced when photographer provides them. For personal use only, not for commercial production for resale.
