how to encourage copepods

J

jeeperrs

New member
I am setting up a 75 gallon aquarium that will have around 100 lbs of live rock when it is all said and done. I know I want to get a Mandarin (yes I know they are difficult) but I want to know how to encourage copepods to grow so they will be abundant when the time comes to add the Mandarin. When I am cycling my tank is there something I can do that will cause them to start to multiply? What exactly do copepods eat since my aquarium will be pretty empty to start with? Ok, I think I asked enough questions for now ha-ha.

I don't have a sump or a ref so those would not be feasible options for me. Thanks!
 
Rubble piles and chaeto in the fuge. Get a HOB fuge if you want to successfully keep a mandarin long term.

EDIT: pods -->> They eat phytoplankton. You can dose a phyto like DT's but be careful it can hurt your water quality. I would start by dosing lower than recommended and increase the dosage as your pod population increases.
 
What I did was I took some plastic gutter guard from Home depot, formed a cylinder with it holding it together with plastic zip ties, than make a top for it with the same material and process. I then filled the cylinder with Macro Algae and they breed like crazy, I take it out of my sump once a week and shake it around in different displays and the pods fall out in mass'. The whole thing with the macro cost me like $15. My little version of a pod farm.
 
Yes, breed them in your fuge, thats what i do, then give them the old shake from time to time in the main.....and i try to play some barry white for them a few hrs a day.
 
Ha ha, I guess it is a good thing I have HOURS of Berry White on CD huh?! I will look into the HOB style Refugium. Maybe I could do something like PhilOlsen mentioned but in the DT....Thanks for the ideas!
 
For a Mandarin a refugium is almost a must. I have cheato and LR in mine. I also dose the refugium and display with Reef Nutritions phytofeast live. My Mandarin has been in my tank 4 weeks now and the pods are still very plentiful. I really think they get pumped into my tank at night from the fuge. I see hundreds on the glass in the morning and much less in the early evening. Without somewhere for the pods to reproduce safely your Mandarin won't have a chance.
 
I have a mandarin and two blennies and my pod population is still increasing. I have sand, chaeto, caulerpa, and live rock rubble in my sump. For some reason I never have had to feed dt's or chromamax heavy at all. Although I have feed frozen foods pretty heavy several times maybe thats what they're eatin!
 
Two words to add to the suggestions above:

Dose Phyto.

Pods need food too, and this is the stuff they thrive on. Not that imitation stuff either... get live culture.
 
What do you think about the use of the "in tank refugiums"? I know CPR makes one and it is probably easy to make one that is similar. If you put rock and sand in the in tank refugium do you think that would work just as well as an out of tank refugium if the main purpose is to grow copepods?
 
My personal opinion if your going to be purchasing a hob fuge go with a cheaper one because you can't screw up a hot fuge. Look at aquatraders, there like 50 bux instead of 150 like the cpr's. Good luck!
 
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