Pod ID needed please and advice for mandarin

[AboutToBeReefin]

im working towards a mandarin. I have these two types of pods in my fuge. I am guessing the smaller ones are tisbe pods and the two large ones are amphipods? I have only the small ones in my display that i have seen(i'm guessing my filter sponge has kept out the larger ones miraculously so far. So i'm trying to figure out if i should take a few of my marine pure blocks/ clumps of chaeto and throw it in my display to further seed my tank with more pods?

My concerns are if the big ones are amphipods then I have read much conflicting information that mandarins wont touch amphipods and some people say they only eat certain types. Can anyone tell by the picture what type of amphipod this is so I can get a better idea of what I'm dealing with please? My other concern is that i read amphipods will eat copepods.. so should I totally wash out the fuge and start over from scratch in it to rid myself of the amphipods while I can?

video of my pods in my fuge i zoomed in so the size scale is a bit off. normally the smaller ones look even tinier.

 

[AboutToBeReefin]

I should also mention i do not want a 6-line or any other aggressive/semi aggressive fish in my display at any point

 

[mcgyvr]

I'm going to have to assume here that you posted an external link in your first post.. We can't see it yet due to a spam protection feature of this website (new user + external link/image = jailed post)..
All we can currently see now is your second post (starting with "I should also mention...") until the moderators approve/unjail your first one..

That typically happens in 24 hours or less around here..
Just letting you know since the site doesn't..

 

[AboutToBeReefin]

ah, thanks so much. i wasn't aware of that. makes sense though to cut down on spam/bots/trolling etc. I will just wait it out i guess. i have some decent pics but the vid shows both pods a lot better and in movement

 

[mndfreeze]

The big ones are indeed amphipods and the smaller ones do look like copepods, but they also could be baby amphipods. It's hard to tell from the video for me on the small ones.

I bought local reef stew (mix of multiple copepods and phytoplankton species thats alive) and used it to seed my aquarium and fuge. If you look up a picture of copepods mine look just like that, but are ULTRA small little white specs but sometimes when they are running around in the surface film in the slow water in my back chambers I can see their outline and its obvious.

You don't need to worry about amphipods eating copepods. They will all populate fast regardless as long as they have a stable environment and a food supply, which in a reef tank you do. Plus you have macro so you're good to go.

As for your questions about mandarins, I can't help with that as I don't keep them.

 

[mcgyvr]

https://www.lionfishlair.com/hitchhikers-guide/
no need to "start over again"... you are just fine... and that eating stuff is just nonsense..
Those are munnid isopods that you are showing there.. beneficial and harmless..

 

[mndfreeze]

Neat, learn something new every day here. I figured it was just an amphipod from the top down streched out instead of bent like they usually are.

 

[mcgyvr]

Neat, learn something new every day here. I figured it was just an amphipod from the top down streched out instead of bent like they usually are.

Its a common mistake.. :beer:

 

[AboutToBeReefin]

wow thank you so much! what a huge relief! they are starting to multipy and bloom up now. going to seed them into the display now, yey! They look like something mandarins would tear up. maybe not the full grown ones unless it was an adult mandarin, i dunno. I'm surprised algae barn doesnt cultivate and sell those munid isopods. They seem great for a reef tank as i read up on them

 

[AboutToBeReefin]

just read this on another forum post here about them. "The eggs hatch and the larvae develop in the relative safety of the mothers brood pouch to emerge finally as fully functioning Isopods. Since there is no planktonic period they are not subject to the sweeping/filtering/pecking that free floating Zooplankton are normally subjected to." so not as good for feeding corals but if you are trying to culture them i guess its better you dont lose as many to things eating them as zooplankton