Mandarin Goby

[LongLostLOTRelf]

Hello guys,
I haven't been on here in a long time due to the fact that my tank has been running very smoothly besides a little pick up in hair algae.

Anyway....my tank has been running since October of 2008. It is a 33 gallon cube. At the moment I am working on getting a 40 Gallon Breeder set up.
I have just a few questions.

But here is the tank status:
33 Gallon Cube
Sand/Crushed Coral
6 Large pieces of live rock
Rubble
Grapevine Macro Algae
3 Pajama Cardinals
1 Coris Wrasse
1 Coral Banded Shrimp
1 Mandarin Goby
Filtered No Sump


Okay....so I figured 3 years should have been okay for the Mandarin? The tank has been established. 2 weeks ago I did a 50% water change with RO water (I had been using tap before) and have been doing my top offs with RO water. Is this okay?

How do I know that there are pods for the mandarin?

If I buy live ones can I add them directly to my tank?

and

Will the Mandarin be okay with the tank switch if I use most of the water from the old tank? The new tank will have a sump where I plan to put the pods in to breed in the refugium area of it.

Does this sound okay?

 

[Lynnmw1208]

are you using some sand from the old system for the new one? I find most of my pods live in the sand. I would add some of the sand if you are not planning on adding all. Some cheato in the sump will also help and more than likely will come with pods already in it. After I added my cheato I started seeing all different types of pods.

 

[LongLostLOTRelf]

I was going to use a handful of sand only because the white sand in my tank has caused nothing but problems with me for the new tank I put completely crushed coral down as the bed.

 

[dunning3075]

I had problems with my sand for a while in the 55 i had but didnt get rid of it. the sand bed is too benificial especially if you want to keep a mandarin. i would suggest keeping just a thicker grain of sand in there. The pods really need to be able to live in the sand for your mandarin to be able to get enough to eat. also the sand serves a vital role in denitrification. crushed coral just cant do the same job. Just an opinion hope you do some research before you get rid of the sand.

 

[LongLostLOTRelf]

Do you think with three years of running the tank that there are enough pods for him? Or do you think I need to add some?

 

[nanshaw2001]

Following along...I need to know this, too!

 

[snorvich]

Do you think with three years of running the tank that there are enough pods for him? Or do you think I need to add some?

I think that a mandarin will go through the copepods in your sized tank quickly. Adding pods i very expensive in the long run but you could breed them if you are so inclined and willing to do the work. Your choice.

 

[LongLostLOTRelf]

I had been told that if I bought a bottle (which I just did) that if I poured them into the tank with the lights off that they would most likely start to breed. Also when I get the 40 gallon breeder going I was told that I could get them to breed in the refugium...is that correct?

 

[C0rp]

I bet those cardinals are doing a number on the pod population at night.