In the future, I want a mandarin goby, should I buy copepods now?

kilofey

kilofey

Member
My hubby "needs" a mandarin goby... For MY tank that in the beginning he "didnt want anything to do with" lol... Anyhoo, I really like mandarins too and id like to have one in the hopefully not so distant future. Ive so far seen 2 of what looks to be copepods of some sort (look like itty bitty clear shrimp with tails tucked under) so im pretty sure I have some, just not nearly enough to sustain a mandarin.
I found a site where I can buy them. Should I buy them now eventhough I dont have the fish who will eat them yet? Will they breed like crazy or basically replace ones that die off?
 
fishmaster78

fishmaster78

Member
i'm looking to buy a red mandarin also...so i'll be watching to see what the experts say...i've had my 40 gal hex set up for 4 months now with a well established live rock and have some pods crawling around but have heard that i need to have it up and running for up to a year before purchasing this amazing fish.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
What size is your tank?
And yes, I would stock the tank with Copepods (you can buy them at Saltwaterfish.com). Stocking the tank is not enough though. You need to have a place, such as a refugium for them to reproduce without being disturbed by the mandarin.
 
kilofey

kilofey

Member
I have a 75 gal with 30 gal sump, will they breed in the sump? Its divided into 2 parts with baffles (its a diy, made by the person I bought the tank from)
 
kilofey

kilofey

Member
Yaayy! I started a good thread lol. Anyhoo, my tank is still new, I only have 2 fish at the moment so my biofilter isnt super strong yet, should I wait till its more established or will the copepods be good to help establish my biofilter?
Also, so far, I have two 2" tall kenya trees, 9 mushrooms, 1" frag green star polyps, a 3" wide feather duster, fire fish goby, false perc clown, purple urchin, pincushion urchin, 2 brittle stars, 5 tiny hermit crabs, 5 cerith snails, 1 turbo snail, 1 nassarius snail, and 3 astrea snails.... I feed fish food and brine shrimp daily, and 1/2 tsp oyster feast 5x per week. Is this enough for what I have?
I ask about the copepod bioload because this is a new tank and I have quite a few things already and ive been lucky enough to not have my ammonia spike at all (bought well established LS & LR from a persons tank, not a circulating bucket at a lfs). I know everything except the fish (and possibly urchins?) Put off a light bioload... Im just so worried about crashing my tank, cause of how happy it makes me :)
 
kilofey

kilofey

Member

They can. I'd place a few chunks of rubble down there to give them something to live/breed in.
 
Thanks BTLD, I wonder if they would be ok going through the pump or if the impeller would turn them into a copepod smoothee
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kilofey http:///forum/thread/386624/in-the-future-i-want-a-mandarin-goby-should-i-buy-copepods-now#post_3397118
Thanks BTLD, I wonder if they would be ok going through the pump or if the impeller would turn them into a copepod smoothee
Mine make it through.
Think about it this way: many of us have in sump refugiums, or refugiums that dump into a sump, that water still has to then get pumped back into the main tank. They're small enough that 1 in maybe thousands actually gets harmed.
 
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