christmas fish problem

jeckyl

jeckyl

New Member
ok, little story here, my sisters boyfriend got her a mandarin goby
for her nano tank, from a online supplier, for christmas.
there is no way that the little fella is going to get enough food out of that setup, and I have got him in my tank right now.
my stats: 29g tank, 3 gal h.o.t. refuge, 25lb live rock, 15 lb crushed coral/small shell substrate, 6in dsb in refuge, small culture of culpera, 100g rated charcoal canister filter, 100g rated protein skimmer, 400w pc lighting, small full spectrum light on refuge ( I bought refuge/canister filter/skimmer with intention of upgrading tank size soon )
current population of 10 small hermit crabs, 2 or 3 narcissus snails, some small clam type thing I found on beach and lived, and another odd snail I found on beach and also lived
I moved the tank about a year ago now, I kept water on the live rock and substrate during the move, gave all my old livestock away before the move and just havent gotten around to restocking, but the aquarium has been up with chemistry correct and cycled for about a year now with no inhabitants other than hermits/snails.
I live about 30 minutes north of jacksonville, fl. Is there a way that I can culture copepods from the local water for the mandarin? Or does anyone know of a fairly local supplier I can get a new starter culture from?
I just havent been seeing all that many in my tank, at least not enough to support a mandarin, but, before I moved, I had one alive and quite happy for over 2 years with this setup. I just need to reseed my refuge, and quickly, then I hope they will have enough overflow to mt again to support the mandarin :help:
 
reefkprz

reefkprz

Active Member
you can try feeding the mandarin sushi roe (flying fish eggs) you can buy it at most asian food stores or maybe a local sushi resturant will sell you some, I have read a couple articles about some success using roe to feed mandarins. Its just an Idea if you cant get your hands on pods.
 
greenwolf52

greenwolf52

Member
don't know if you mind driving at all but there is an excellent lfs in altamonte, fl(near orlando) that sells copepods in a jar. you may be able to call them and have them mail or maybe you'd have to drive there. it's called "ernie's seven seas aquariums".
may be some place closer that has them too but this place i know for sure.
very nice store by the way. would definitely be worth the drive. check out some other places over there. "Pet Bizarre", or "Fishy Business". make a day out of it.
 
jeckyl

jeckyl

New Member
thanks for all the response guys and gals
I went to one of my lfs and got some sand from their invert tanks, it had been up for many years, thou, not much was visible as far as pods. I dont think that I acomplished much, but, dont guess I harmed anything either.
reefkpr, Ill certainly give that a shot if all else fails
train, Im pretty comfortable with my current setup, with the charcoal canister filter, rubble/porous substrate, overkill skimmer, small dsb, macro algae stocked refuge, and powerheads I have, it seems to work well for me.
I dont think that my new mandarin would live long enough to benefit from the increased grazing area, thou I would certianly have more lr, if I wasnt using many other supplemental filtration methods, If I am missing something fundamental in this line of thought, please correct me.
Im checking directions to that store now, green
 
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