Copepods!

[dobber1111]

I think I saw copepods! My 90g has been up for approximately 6 or 7 months. I have been eyeing and loving the little Mandarins and I have read that they only do well in well established tanks with an excellent population of copepods. So my question is:
How do you know when your copepod population is good enough for a Mandarin?
Other tank mates are a Yellow tang, Coral Beauty, Eibli, Marine Betta (who will be gone before I get said Mandarin), Emerald crab, Sally Lightfoot, turbo snails, and hermits. I also have a torch coral, mushrooms, leathers, green starburst and zoos. Would like to be able to add others also, particularly 2 clowns.
Any help or insight will be much appreciated.

 

[9supratt4]

I've also wanted a manadrin forever!! But sadly when you think you have enough copepods, you really don't. The mandarin will wipe out the pods in the course of a few months. Then you would have to supplement your pods with store bought pods and that gets expensive.
I'm sure you will get a lot of other people to say the same thing. Unfortunately the mandarin is a species best left in the ocean.

 

[1990jpyj]

i was able to keep one in my 55g for over 2 years until he bit the bullit monday night. he jump out of the tank at feeding time and fryed himself on the light fixture. i waited alomst a year before i put him in. after 6 months of a cycled tank i knew he was my last fish to buy so i started buying copepods once a month from here and then watched the population grow fast. then after 6 months of waiting i ordered 1 and he did fine. i was even able to get him to eat frozen foods. now idk what to do, buy another mandrian or just wait until my 125 upgrade in the summer(leaning that direction)
good luck. imo i would buy a few bags from here and then wait

 

[mr_x]

i kept a mandarin in a 125 for a year, and then transferred him to my 195, where he did fine until the power outage. i would go with the smaller spotted variety, and wait a full year just to be safe. you have nothing else that eats pods.
btw- how much rock do you have in your 90?

 

[dobber1111]

Originally Posted by Mr_X
http:///forum/post/2932545
i kept a mandarin in a 125 for a year, and then transferred him to my 195, where he did fine until the power outage. i would go with the smaller spotted variety, and wait a full year just to be safe. you have nothing else that eats pods.
btw- how much rock do you have in your 90?
Between the rock in the display and sump, I probably have 90-100 lbs. I was considering getting more rock, especially if it will help the copepods. And of course I like Green Mandarin the best. Is size the only difference in the two varieties, Green and Spotted? Thanks Mr. X.

 

[dobber1111]

Originally Posted by 9supratt4
http:///forum/post/2932465
I've also wanted a manadrin forever!! But sadly when you think you have enough copepods, you really don't. The mandarin will wipe out the pods in the course of a few months. Then you would have to supplement your pods with store bought pods and that gets expensive.
I'm sure you will get a lot of other people to say the same thing. Unfortunately the mandarin is a species best left in the ocean.

You really think they are species that should not be kept in an aquarium? But I know so many people who have kept them sucessfully?

I will say this: Those who I know who have kept them SUCESSFULLY have been into saltwater for a while and are quite experienced in keeping many different types of saltwater fish. And they always tell me you MUST have a good copepod population. No, not just good, excellent.

 

[dobber1111]

Originally Posted by 1990jpyj
http:///forum/post/2932476
i was able to keep one in my 55g for over 2 years until he bit the bullit monday night. he jump out of the tank at feeding time and fryed himself on the light fixture. i waited alomst a year before i put him in. after 6 months of a cycled tank i knew he was my last fish to buy so i started buying copepods once a month from here and then watched the population grow fast. then after 6 months of waiting i ordered 1 and he did fine. i was even able to get him to eat frozen foods. now idk what to do, buy another mandrian or just wait until my 125 upgrade in the summer(leaning that direction)
good luck. imo i would buy a few bags from here and then wait
So, do you think buying pods are the only way to maintain enough of them for a mandarin? I have heard that mandarins can eat frozen foods, but there is no guarantee they will and you shouldn't rely on that. But that would be fabulous if I could get it eat other things than just pods. What did you feed him and how did you do it?

 

[1990jpyj]

when i first got mine i QTed him for almost a month and i just bought some frozen brine and mysis and would give him some everyday. he never ate it until i was getting ready to move him and i had fed him just before the move and the whole "shot" of food was gone. i knew this cuz i have a bar bottem QT and a min fuge that was growing pods for him. and it was super clean. so after the move i would always shoot him some frozen stuff and he/she would go crazy.
if it were me and i was starting all over agian and i was at the point you are i would start putting in the pods just so you know that in 6 months time you have added 6 batchs of pods and they will take off quickly. that way you know you have enought pods to support the lil guy/gal.
good luck

 

[mr_x]

Originally Posted by Dobber1111
http:///forum/post/2932665
Between the rock in the display and sump, I probably have 90-100 lbs. I was considering getting more rock, especially if it will help the copepods. And of course I like Green Mandarin the best. Is size the only difference in the two varieties, Green and Spotted? Thanks Mr. X.
i've heard from a couple people that the smaller spotted ones are easier to get to eat prepared foods.
again, that's no guarantee.
you should have enough live rock to sustain a mandarin when the time comes.
btw- purchasing bottles of pods is super expensive. did you ever see how many pods are in a bottle of tigger pods? it looks like a days meal.

 

[1990jpyj]

no dont buy the bottles of pods buy the bags of them from SWF.com $10.00 per bag not to bad. compaired at $24.00 per bottle of the tigers.

 

[dobber1111]

Originally Posted by Mr_X
http:///forum/post/2932865
i've heard from a couple people that the smaller spotted ones are easier to get to eat prepared foods.
again, that's no guarantee.
you should have enough live rock to sustain a mandarin when the time comes.
btw- purchasing bottles of pods is super expensive. did you ever see how many pods are in a bottle of tigger pods? it looks like a days meal.
Yeah, I know they are expensive. That's why I was trying to get around having to buy them. Just one more expense I don't want to incur. It's not like I don't have anything else in the hobby to spend my money on, right? And I have heard these guys can throw down 100s of pods a day!
So although I'm seeing the pods, I know I can't possibly be ready yet. So what visual confirmation can I look for? Or any confirmation?

 

[donald]

The reason that "they" say to wait one year is not to build the numbers up so much as it is to make sure that the number of pods you have has stabilized. When you start a tank the numbers of pods will fluctuate wildly. There will be lots and then they eat all their avalible food and the pods die off. Then the food source grows back and the pod numbers come back and so on and so fourth untill it all equalizes. This equalization takes longer if you are constantly adding pods or LR. Dumping bags of pods sounds like a sure fire way to blow the natural cycle out of wack. Also the "one year" is after you add the last of your LR not when you first plug the tank in and start the cycle. Small pieces of LR dont count im talking about your big additions, say like 50- 100 lbs. If you have to constantly add pods I think you need more LR, a bigger tank or you need to wait longer, thats just my opinon. I think the more natural the food source and enviroment the better it is for the fish. I am also waiting to get a mandrin, its been one year since I added my LR but im taking my time. I dont want him to starve. I'll probably give it two more months then get one. I have tons of pods in my tank and fuge and it seems like the numbers are fairly stable to me. I hope this helps.

 

[nuro]

i dotn think its been touched on here, but settign up even a small refugium can be alot of help. its gives the pods a place to read out of reach of the mandarin.

 

[dobber1111]

Originally Posted by nuro
http:///forum/post/2933491
i dotn think its been touched on here, but settign up even a small refugium can be alot of help. its gives the pods a place to read out of reach of the mandarin.
Does a sump count?