What pods for Mandarins
- Thread starter ethompson
- Start date
garvin90
New member
Both of those pods are what your mandarin will be hunting for. Do you have of can you attach a refugium to your system? That is what will keep a nice healthy supply into the main display. If you can't, you can seperate a small(but lighted) area of the main tank with egg grate and put your chaeto algae in there. Or you could try using those strawberry baskets from the grocery store. What your trying for is a pod sanctuary.
I do have a 15 gallon tall refugium. Ive got a deep sand bed, some liverock rubble and caulerpa in there (as well as a couple of mean hermits). I see lots both types of pods in there.
Should I try to get some more pod diversity get a Mandarin with what I've got, 2 types? I know you can by different pods on the web and in LFS's
ethompson
Should I try to get some more pod diversity get a Mandarin with what I've got, 2 types? I know you can by different pods on the web and in LFS's
ethompson
I don't know for sure - but it couldn't hurt to also get a bottle of the OceanPods that have 3 varieties and let them build up for another month or so (feed Phyto every day). I only know that the Mandarins eat more than you think - I am nursing a female back to health from malnutrition now in the refugium (not normally smart because I know it will wipe out the little copepods in there- but necessary until she gets her weight back). I have 2 bottles of OceanPods ordered and a culture tank set up to ensure I can keep her well fed and replenish the refugium when she is ready to move to the big tank - expensive and possible overkill, but we are really attached to her now! The male was fatter and more active when we got them - he is healthy and eating like crazy in the 180 gallon tank (I think it is big enough that I won't have to worry about him as long as I keep the bugs fed with Phyto
Make sure you get a healthy fat one to start with (or are prepared to nurse it back... which I don't think works all the time, very sad how these fish are treated:-(
Also, if you ever do end up having to supplement in the short term, get some good quality brine eggs and vitamins to soak the hatchlings in. It isn't the right nutrition to sustain them long term, but it really helped give my female some energy in the short term - she loves them (and I could turn off the pump and let them fall all around her when she was at her weakest point).
Best of luck!
Make sure you get a healthy fat one to start with (or are prepared to nurse it back... which I don't think works all the time, very sad how these fish are treated:-(Also, if you ever do end up having to supplement in the short term, get some good quality brine eggs and vitamins to soak the hatchlings in. It isn't the right nutrition to sustain them long term, but it really helped give my female some energy in the short term - she loves them (and I could turn off the pump and let them fall all around her when she was at her weakest point).
Best of luck!