copepods Q's

[burrows14]

just wondering how to establish copepods in my tank. my tank has been running for 2 months(was well established when i bought it) Eveything is going well! plenty of coraline growth and everone is healthy. My goal is to buy a mandarin dragonet for my system and have done my research and have seen that they need copepods to feed on. I do not have a fuge and am wondering if there is anyway to speed up the copepod process with out a fuge? are tigger pods a good idea?

cheers
Ray

[BlueAbyss]

Tigger pods are probably okay for a feeding option, but they are temperate creatures and don't survive overly long at higher tropical temperatures. Do you have any algae growth in your tank? I've noticed that where there's bare rock, the 'pods in my tank avoid, but the algae patches are literally crawling with them.

Try to get a mandarin that eats frozen for your best chance of success.

[naesco]

Mandarins have a couple of requirements one of which are pods. You cannot depend thant they will turn to dead food for
A larger tank is also needed so they do not devour them quickly and than starve.
Lastly they require a mature tank that has been going for 6 months and up.\
I would recommend your setting up a small 10 gallon tank with some sand and fresh rock which is likely to have pods in them.
Than feed phytoplankton heavily


After heavy feeding and a couple of months transfer everything to main tank to jump start pod production in the main tank.
You can than use the 10 gallon as a QT.
Tiggers IME are a waste of money.
Thanks for asking before you bought the mandarins

[Zoaelite]

Originally Posted by naesco

Mandarins have a couple of requirements one of which are pods. You cannot depend thant they will turn to dead food for
A larger tank is also needed so they do not devour them quickly and than starve.
Lastly they require a mature tank that has been going for 6 months and up.\
I would recommend your setting up a small 10 gallon tank with some sand and fresh rock which is likely to have pods in them.
Than feed phytoplankton heavily


After heavy feeding and a couple of months transfer everything to main tank to jump start pod production in the main tank.
You can than use the 10 gallon as a QT.
Tiggers IME are a waste of money.
Thanks for asking before you bought the mandarins

Agreed, I purchased a bottle of live tiger pods and tried to culture them. It worked amazing for about a week and then the culture crashed, it seems that adding tank water to the culture killed them all. You will be amazed at what you see if you just set up a 10g with some macro/ phyto, there will be a pods-losion!
Levi

[burrows14]

If I set up a 10gal what would I need in it? Rock sand owerhead? What kind if lighting would I need? Also would I need a filter? I'm going to my lfs on Sunday to pick up my new tangs . Last time I was in my lfs the had a lil 10 gal package for 50 bucks so maybe I'll pick that up.

Cheers
Ray

[naesco]

Originally Posted by burrows14

If I set up a 10gal what would I need in it? Rock sand owerhead? What kind if lighting would I need? Also would I need a filter? I'm going to my lfs on Sunday to pick up my new tangs . Last time I was in my lfs the had a lil 10 gal package for 50 bucks so maybe I'll pick that up.

Cheers
Ray

Ray all you need is some live sand from your main tank, buy a new fresh rock that appears to have a lot of life in it, a simple bulb will suffice and a small power head,an unexpired small bottle of live phytoplankton and a small heater.
You may find a cheap 10 gallon combo that does the trick
If you see at night a rock in your main tank that has pods on it you can transfer that too.

[burrows14]

That sounds easy enough! I'm tearing down my tank tommorow morning to catch a couple of tangs and I have a ton of extra rock in my sump! So this should be a peice of cake! How much sand should I use? Make a sand bed or just enough to seed the tank?

Cheers
Ray

[naesco]

Originally Posted by burrows14

That sounds easy enough! I'm tearing down my tank tommorow morning to catch a couple of tangs and I have a ton of extra rock in my sump! So this should be a peice of cake! How much sand should I use? Make a sand bed or just enough to seed the tank?

Cheers
Ray

I would add 2 inches. The added phyto will also supercharge the critters in your sand and when you empty the 10 gallon stuff to your main tank the sand bed in your main tank will also benefit.
When you are at the LFS if they have a fresh live rock with an abundance of life on it, buy it and put it in your 10gallon as well.

[burrows14]

would the rock in my sump not do the job? i have a few decent sized peices that have lots of spots for copepods to hide. sorry for all the Q's lol

cheers
Ray

[naesco]

Originally Posted by burrows14

would the rock in my sump not do the job? i have a few decent sized peices that have lots of spots for copepods to hide. sorry for all the Q's lol

cheers
Ray

Look tonight when it is dark. If the sump rock is crawling with copepods it will be ok. If not invest in a fresh alive new rock (even if it is smallish) to seed your Copepodium.