After adding a pair of Mandarin Dragonets along with several seahorses to my saltwater reef tank, I knew that it would be necessary to make a number of accommodations to ensure the health and well-being of my newest tank members. Keenly aware of the pickiness of seahorses when it comes to eating habits, I ordered amphipods and copepods from quite a few different online retailers in order to get a sense of the best quality and value each company would be able to provide while also determining if the seahorses had any particular preference.
While I was mostly content with the amphipods and copepods I received from each company, I felt that Aquarium Depot clearly provided the best value and the best quality in just about every respect. The medium in which the amphipods and copepods were delivered was teeming with life and, though I was not about to make any attempt to count them all, it was clear that there were well over the 1,000 I ordered.
When introduced into my 100-gallon tank, the amphipods and copepods seemed to go right to work on cleaning the tank until all of the algae was soon taken care of by the tiny crustaceans. This was something of a surprise to me, as I knew they would do some cleaning but had no idea just how effective they would be. This was certainly a nice bonus, and, though it may have been just the sheer numbers, the amphipods and copepods that came from Aquarium Depot seemed to be more active than any of the others I tried.
Of course, the main reason I chose to add amphipods and copepods to the tank was to provide my fish with some live food loaded with a variety of essential nutrients. The seahorses appeared entirely content to dine on the amphipods and copepods, and the Mandarin Dragonets seemed to be equally pleased. I was also pleasantly surprised to see the overall tank activity perk up with the introduction of live food, as many of the fish in my tank clearly relished the opportunity to hunt down their food rather than just waiting for it to slowly descend from the top to the bottom of the tank.
With a remarkably low price for such a high volume of amphipods and copepods, I simply could not be happier with my purchase. The shipping was incredibly quick and the amphipods and copepods have contributed a great deal to the biodiversity of my tank ever since the day they arrived from Aquarium Depot.