Do any of these eat copepods?

[Ryand63]

So I'm long term looking to get a mandarin (8-12 months) down the road but want to make sure that my current fish and intended fish don't also feed on the pods.

Currently have: 1 misbar clown, 1 cleanr shrimp, 1 bangaii cardinal, 1 flame angel

Adding: 1 Butterflyfish, 1 squareback anthias or bartletts anthias

 

[rssjsb]

How big is your tank?

 

[Ryand63]

standard 55 gallon

 

[rssjsb]

I think a lot of fish will eat pods opportunistically, but none of the fish you list should be serious competition for a mandarin. Unless the butterfly you're planning to add (and I think 55 gallons is borderline for even the smallest butterflies) is a copperband, that is.

 

[Ryand63]

yeah I've been searching for a very small butterfly. I was looking into the racoon vs. the latticus I believe it's called from memory. I'm looking for a very vibrant yellow like a tang but being responsible by not getting the tang lol cuz I probably WONT upgrade like most say they will for another few years.

 

[o2manyfish]

My experience with flame angels is that they are hunters and pickers and will definitely be competing with the Mandarin for food.

Dave B

 

[humaguy]

the clown might not welcome the mandarin...same with the flame...I think the flame will decimate your pod pop quite quickly...

 

[Ambition]

Virtually every fish will eat pods if they see them. Maybe not like a halichoeres wrasse or mandarin would, but still eating them. With the flame angels rock grazing tendencies, there is a a good chance that it will eat up a lot of pods. A butterfly may do the same as well.

Will you have a refugium as a part of your filtration?

 

[Ryand63]

No plan for a fuge at the moment

 

[Orm Embar]

I would strongly recommend a refugium if you want to keep a mandarin - they need to eat tons of pods. You can also make "pod piles," or little piles of live rock in the display tank that have protected space from fish so the copepod population has another place to grow. You can also culture copepods in jars quite easily from what I've read.

 

[humaguy]

and i would keep the mandarins in the fuge so they don't have any competition when it comes to feeding...they are very slow...the flame will swim circles around them and eat all the pods in the dt...mandarins need a lot of pods per day to sustain them..

 

[GPB]

I had pods till my Bangaii Cardinal went in. Then no more pods. Don't know if the population crashed or if he ate them but the crash happened within weeks of adding Cardinal.