Pods for a Mandarin

[rlablan]

So. I kept a mandarin for sometime (almost a year) with some success. It died of a bacterial infection on it's tail fin, but he was very fat.
I am embarking on a new setup that is 150 gallons with a 30 gallon combo sump/fuge.
I am planning on keeping a mandarin.
I was always told the tigger pods were the right choice to seed the tank. While the numbers always grew in my tank, they would eventually die off, and this is because (I just kearned this) tigger pods only survive in cold waters. I do not run my tanks cold enough to keep these guys.
What type of pods are actually the right pods to seed a tank with, in order to keep a mandarin properly fed and happy.
I know there are people here who keep mandies and I would like to know what you seed your tank with.
Thanks,
Rae

 

[carlos413]

I used the reef pods from swf.com my refugem is loaded with them. You will likely get some from live rock rubble.

 

[rlablan]

And these pods don't die off like the tigger pods do?? I don't wnt to have to re seed like every month. I have Ronald rubble and lr and still couldn't get this guys to stay in the tank for more than 2 months but that was due to temps like k said before

 

[rotifer]

Tigger-Pods (Tigriopus californicus) thrive in temperatures ranging from 42 to 92 F
(http://journals.cambridge.org/action...line&aid=70713).
Tigger-Pods is a specific brand name of live copepods produced by Reed Mariculture (my company) in California.
The two most common reasons for copepods to not thrive in reef systems is they are eaten too quickly, or starve.
Tigger-Pods live in tide pools (not the open ocean) where there are no predators so they don't have the instincts to hide in the rocks when fish come by. They typically get eaten pretty quickly in display tanks. We recommend they be culture in a sump or refugium where there are no predators. They can also be easily cultured in a separate system like a 9x13 cake pan.
The population of copepods in a reef system is often food limited by the amount of natural microalgae that the reef system produces each day. If you supplement with microalgae you increase the amount of available food, and hence the population that can be supported. When additional pods are added the amount of food required immediately goes up, especially when feeding very large copepods like Tigger-Pods. Unfortunately many people don't add additional microalgae so both the Tigger-Pods and the existing copepod population end up with a food shortage and quickly starve.

 

[rlablan]

So if I have a sump that has a substantial amount of lr rubble and I have sand there too and have a 2 in mandarin... Will that be enough of a predator free sump to allow them to grow?
Can you explain what microalgea is... Like where I can get that? Are you talking about phytoplankton?
I have also heard the peppermint shrimp will go through a pod population like nothingbelse.
So... I still haven't had my original question answered. What pods work best? What pods are hardiest? I know someone on here is keeping a mandarin.