copepod removal?

[JULIE J]

Hi all,
I bought some live plants a few months ago for Bitzy's tank and some unwanted critters hitch-hiked on them. I got some snails - which i dont really mind, some planaria worms (which im manually removing and nearly on top of), and some copepods (look like cyclops copepods).
Ive been reading about the copepods and most things say theyre not really harmful - but i dont want them in the tank (i hand feed and not really liking putting my hand in at the mo). I want to move Bitzy into a 3ft tank (hes currently in a 2ft tank) and i want to move him with most of his water, plants, house and substrate but i dont want the copepods moving with him so unless i can get rid of them im going to have to cycle the new tank from scratch.
Does anyone have any ideas how to remove them cos im pretty certain chemicals would hurt Bitzy too and theyre so fast i cant catch them. Caught a few with a turkey baster but i only get one or two at a time and there are hundreds of them. (
Thanks, Julie J.

 

[peterj]

Cyclops are unlikely to be a problem, most eat algae or other microbes. Unfortunately you're no likely to get rid of them without emptying the tank and starting again. If you're really woried about the numbers you could put your axy in alternative accomodation and put some fish in the tank to eat most of them, but I don't think it's worth the hassle.

Good luck .

 

[Daniel]

I agree with Peter, cyclops are not a problem (I'd be more concerned about the planaria...).
I am not sure if you will be able to remove them completely, but I you could do the following:

- filter the water through an artemia-net / sieve
- boil all your substrate and decoration (thereby you will lose all helpful bacteria, too)
- try to wash the plants in flowing water (this might be the most insecure part...)

I like the idea with the fishes, so may be you should give this a try. With some luck they will also feed on the planaria (some fishes do; I think macropodes were on that list...)

By the way: with hand feeding you always have the risk of getting some bacteria and chemicals (soap, cream,...) from your hands into your tank so you should wash your hands carefully or try getting a large tweezer.

 

[oceanblue]

I too agree the simplest way by far is to live with the cyclops. They show an impressive turn of speed when chased by a fish. White cloud mountain minnows eat them: Platys do not. Neither will eliminate them and if you buy fish from a shop you risk introducing yet more problems. Juvenile axolotls at the 20-50mm range eat them as efficiently as anything. Why not regard them as food for the future and leave well alone?

 

[Abrahm]

I don't think you have anything to fear from the majority of tank critters. The majority of planaria you see in aquaria are free living animals that will eat bacteria, protozoa and algae. Same with cyclops and other copepods.

It will be a huge hassle to remove the cyclops and will be more of a net loss than any sort of gain as you will kill your beneficial bacteria in the process.

Yes, you can remove the cyclops if you boil the decorations and substrate, bleach the aquarium and bathe all the plants in potassium permanganate. Maybe. If the cyclops have left cysts they can be remarkably resilient.

I would also agree with Daniel about hand feeding. It is much better if you can use a set of tongs so that you don't accidentally add lotion/soap/natural skin oils to the aquarium.

 

[russell]

To manage my tank critter problem I gradually lowered the temp of my guppy tank and then when it was ambient took a pair and put them in with the axys the resulting baby guppies had the tank clear in a week or so.

You may want to give that a try