mandarin Diet??

[pogiboy67]

hi there i know everyone says mandarins eat copepods. But do do they eat amphipods as well? my tank has copepods here and there from observing the walls of my tank. But i have a huge abudance of amphipods everywhere (size of the black ants in the bay area)....just wondering as i plan on having a mandarin later. WILL Phytoplankton increase my pods as well? I have a sump btw

 

[rudeanduncouth]

IME they won't eat amphipods. If I had to make a guess I would say it is because they are too big. If you look at the size of there mouths, they are small.

If you want to get a mandarin later what I would suggest is turning your sump in a refugium. You will also want to make sure you do not have anything else that will compete for pods as well. As to whether phyto will increase pods I don't know. To feed my pods I just put a little bit of food in my refugium every so often.