New mandy tank

[rickster]

As you know I have a 65 with 40 sump. I only have your live rock (thank you so much), a beginner damsel(1 in), a coral banded shrimp, and a constantly-crapping healthy feather duster. I have been trying to grow the sand with the hopes of hosting and possibly mating mandarins. At this time, the copepods dont seem to be able to hold their own. One week I see them teeming around a fallen snail, and the next week nothing. I think something is predating upon them. Certainly not the damsel or the feather duster...but the shrimp is new and is not even capable of exiting the rocks yet. It can only be the bristleworms, whom seem to own the tank at night...or the chemistry/food for the pods. I have fed the sand two thawed shrimp. The first was completely consumed in 2 weeks by an animal that I am unaware of. It has very long (2+ inches) tentacles that has the strength to move the shrimp-morsel inches. The second shrimp was taken more than 12 inches into a hidden rock alcove, and the only thing I see in the tank that can do that is a bristle worm. Will keep an eye on it the next time. I am in the market now for another fish that will increase the ammonia load in the tank but not disrupt the copepod population.
Tonite I noticed green algae growing on top of the red algae ( red algae already growing on top of brown diatoms). This I love! Finally the complex algae is showing signs of growth...I should have introduced 2 fish early.
Remember the purpose of my tank is to try for 2 mandarins. I need the Copepod population extremely high. I need to balance things in the tank so cope predation will only be done by the forth-coming mandies.
Sorry to disappoint you about corals....they are nice, expensive and boring.

 

[harlequin]

Pods just kind of happen, they are not something you can grow. Damsels by the way are big munchers of them along with clowns as they are just the right size. I had a crapload in my 55 until I added a pair of Pink Skunk Clowns, now I cant find any as well. CBS usually stalk the tank at night. I have a huge one in my 65 and it never leaves the back of the rockwork except when I feed the tank. By the way usual rule of thumb is 100 pounds of LR per manderin so unless you manage to get hold of a pair that eats prepared food, it is not going to work no matter how many pods you have in the tank, they will disappear quickly. I would not be feeding the pods chunks of anything, pods will do quite well just eating leftovers, detritus, and algae.
The best thing you can do about the Mandys' is to test them at the store and make sure they eat prepared foods first such as cyclopseze or mysis. It might take a few months to find a specimen that will but that will save you in the long run. Since that seems to be the point of your tank then, that definately is the way to go.

 

[aquafox]

Harlequin I agree wholeheartedly!! I have a 220 gallon reef tank and about 450 lbs of live rock and 300 lbs of live sand - I support a mated pair or mandarin gobies and a scooter dragonet - and I still keep a close eye on my pod population. As a matter of fact, I am running a 46 gallon fuge just to keep the population steady. Sometimes it's up - sometimes it's down - and my Mandarins do supplement their pod diet with an ocassional blood worm or brine shrimp - but that's all it is for them - a supplement. They have got to have loads of pods to stay healthy. Mine are fatties but I know that can change very rapidly if the pods dissappear.....not really anything I can do but keep the tank in good shape and keep a close watch. And maintain lots and lots of live rock!
Rickster, I wish you the best of luck - Mandarins are an amazing fish - but IMO you are going to have to have a huge pile of live rock/sand to maintain any gobies at all for the long term. I had my first mandarin in a 75 gallon with 150 lbs of rock - he alone was the pod predator in that tank....yet he still soon cleaned it out and was starving to death....it took the bigger tank with it's much bigger pile of rock and sand to create an environment for him to recover and thrive in.