Growing copepods/Mandarin.

[hamiltonguy]

First of all what exactly would one need to start growing pods? I don't have a sump so I'm thinking of growing them in a separate tank. Also, I've read that the return pump usually destroys the pods anyway.

That being said, would a mandarin thrive in any size tank as long as it's provided with pods? Or is the larger tank required for swimming or just for a greater pod production?

 

[ice cream jones]

The simple answer is no. It requires pods, lots and lots of pods, and of course to succeed in having that many pods, you would need A LOT of live rock and live sand, and a well established ecosystem. Sure if you want to supplement pods in a 20g nano, sure it may live for a while, but you would need to supplement a lot of pods, and very frequently, as they spend their entire day searching for food.

On the rare occurance that you get one that eats brine, then it becomes a little more easy.

 

[hamiltonguy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14725786#post14725786 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ice cream jones
The simple answer is no. It requires pods, lots and lots of pods, and of course to succeed in having that many pods, you would need A LOT of live rock and live sand, and a well established ecosystem. Sure if you want to supplement pods in a 20g nano, sure it may live for a while, but you would need to supplement a lot of pods, and very frequently, as they spend their entire day searching for food.

On the rare occurance that you get one that eats brine, then it becomes a little more easy.

Well in that case, I guess I'll just stick with my two clownfish and twinspot goby until I get a bigger tank.

I know this has probably been asked before, but how would I go about growing copepods? I have two 20g tanks just sitting around that I would like to put to use.

Oh and if this is the wrong place to ask this question, please direct me to the proper forum.

Thanks.

 

[drparker]

I have a 75g that's over a year old with plenty of rocks and I think a Mandarin will decimate my pod population within a few days. I'm planning to have a 10g tank divided into two, growing two separate pod cultures that I will be constantly added to the 75g.

 

[lockekeyy]

Started a 72g and a month after the cycle finished, I got a scooter blenny (pretty much the same as a mandarin). He's doing really well. I have a fuge, and a good amount of LR. I supplement with a new colony of pods almost every other week just to make sure he's getting enough. A fuge will really help increase the pod population along with LR where the pods can hide and reproduce in.

 

[tcmfish]

Train it to eat frozen foods, its not that hard.

 

[paraletho]

I've had my mandy in a 58 for 10 months and was doing well till I added a phosphate reactor and changed the sand bed. The pod production dropped dramatically and I've had to start supplementing. I grow them in the sump and a spare 20 with some dirty water change water. Maybe just until the sandbed gets cranking. When the pods decrease you will see it quickly the mandys stomach will start sinking in and you better do something fast.

 

[hamiltonguy]

So exactly how would you introduce pods into a tank or refugium? Buy from other reefers or retailers?

 

[lockekeyy]

my LFS sells a reef stew with copepods, amphipods, phyto, oyster eggs, and brine shrimp for a penny a mL. It's good stuff.

 

[Reef'in Colorado]

you can get pods from live rock, live sand, a clump of chaeto from an established tank etc...

 

[Jova]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14726638#post14726638 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by drparker
I have a 75g that's over a year old with plenty of rocks and I think a Mandarin will decimate my pod population within a few days. I'm planning to have a 10g tank divided into two, growing two separate pod cultures that I will be constantly added to the 75g.

I have a 75g with 15g sump that's a few years old. I added a mandarin a couple months ago, and he was a bit thin when I got him, but now he's as fat as could be, and is doing very well. So you might be suprised... I'd say if you've got a nice sump/refugium that's loaded with pods, as mine is, you'd probably be able to add a mandarin without any issues. But then again, different people always have different experiences. Just my 2 cents!

 

[bubbly]

I bought the pseudocyclops copepods from Zoo2 to seed my 55 -- now it's swarming with them.

I would agree that the best thing to do is to train it to eat frozen -- there are many guides and techniques on the web to do it, then you can always use the copepods as a back-up.

I have read of people doing tests with the pumps and how they affect the pods, and they have said that the pumps don't hurt the copepods.

 

[hamiltonguy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14728429#post14728429 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Jova
I have a 75g with 15g sump that's a few years old. I added a mandarin a couple months ago, and he was a bit thin when I got him, but now he's as fat as could be, and is doing very well. So you might be suprised... I'd say if you've got a nice sump/refugium that's loaded with pods, as mine is, you'd probably be able to add a mandarin without any issues. But then again, different people always have different experiences. Just my 2 cents!

Train it to eat frozen foods, its not that hard.

So does this mean with sufficient pod production and/or training, a mandarin can not only live in but thrive in a 20g tank?

As for growing pods, I'm assuming if growing in a separate tank they would need to be fed as well?

 

[ser_renely]

Not a good idea imo, too beautiful a fish to risk. I am still waiting for my tank to be able to handle one....almost a year, probably take another year before ready. 55g plus 20g fuge

 

[hamiltonguy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14729069#post14729069 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ser_renely
Not a good idea imo, too beautiful a fish to risk. I am still waiting for my tank to be able to handle one....almost a year, probably take another year before ready. 55g plus 20g fuge

Yeah that's exactly what I was thinking. There's no way I'm going to risk such a fish, was just curious is all.