over population

[Eva1313]

We put live copepods that regenerate....

 

[Eva1313]

I have tons of live rock. I have a 75 gallon tank with at least 45 lbs of live rock. This fish belonged to the previous owner and has been living in this same tank for over a year. He is fat and healthy.

 

[Eva1313]

Ok so i checked and we have exactly 56 lbs of live rock. Is that really not enough?

 

[MINItron]

Ok so i checked and we have exactly 56 lbs of live rock. Is that really not enough?

It depends on how many copepods and amphipods are reproducing in your tank. You can often see if his stomach is always sunken, and never fills out. If he is eating enough it will usually look flat or even rounded.

If he is a long term captive he may have learned to eat prepared food. Contrary to popular theory, if you can keep them well fed and happy long enough they will often start eating what you are feeding the other fish. They are very inquisitive fish that watch every thing that is going on around them. Eventually they notice that everyone around them is eating this strange stuff you dump in the tank, and will give it a taste. I think their inquisitive nature comes from their natural diet, and the way that they live their life. They spend their whole life looking for the tiniest possible food source in every tiny nook and cranny.

 

[Eva1313]

Im going to go out and buy more copepods tomorrow. I really love my fish and want them all to be happy. I think i have seen him eat little bits of live worm that drop from my cow when he eats. The fish guy sold me my copepods and said they would multiply but now im concerned.... i am new to this. Iv had a tank before but not anywhere as beautiful as this one.

 

[Eva1313]

You guys are helping me so much. M so grateful for this site.

 

[MINItron]

That's a good sign if you are seeing him eat the worms that you are feeding the cowfish. It means that he knows there are other sources of food. if you are adding a bag of live pods it is a good idea to add them after lights out so they have a chance to disperse, and establish themselves.

I know with my tank when I first turn my lights on I can see pods all over the glass. My toby detaches himself from his rock sleeping spot when the lights come on and has himself a little breakfast before they all disappear back into the sand and rocks. I only have about 30 pounds of rock in my tank, and most of that was dry rock when I put it in. So, the pods that are in there all came from about 10 pounds of rock.

 

[Eva1313]

The person before who had this tank established it well. The rock has all been live for over a year. He sold me this tank just a few months ago. I will go but some tomorrow to be safe. Thank you so much for the advice. I will put them in the tank at night. I havent seen any on the glass and have no idea what they would even look like. He looks very healthy though.

 

[MINItron]

When I turn on the lights they look like tiny white specks crawling on glass. They are smaller than a pin head so you have to look closely to see them. I have them on my glass at night because I have a bit of an algae problem I have been fighting. They come out onto the glass at night to eat the algae. There are often tiny worms that are barely a mm long as well. Between the rock in my tank and the refugium I'm sure my tank could easily feed a mandarin.

 

[mr_X]

Those tiny specks on the glass are a type of isopods. I'm assuming these are the ones you speak of-

See the asterina starfish for size reference-

I don't understand how people say they "train" dragonets to eat prepared foods, when all you can do is toss in food and hope for the best. I've sold a lot of mandarins and I've never seen them mimic the behavior of other tank mates. This is most certainly rare.
Folks used to say 100 pounds of rock per mandarin, to be sure they will not run out of food. As I said earlier, It could take months for them to starve.

 

[CleverBs]

Those tiny specks on the glass are a type of isopods. I'm assuming these are the ones you speak of-

See the asterina starfish for size reference-

I don't understand how people say they "train" dragonets to eat prepared foods, when all you can do is toss in food and hope for the best. I've sold a lot of mandarins and I've never seen them mimic the behavior of other tank mates. This is most certainly rare.
Folks used to say 100 pounds of rock per mandarin, to be sure they will not run out of food. As I said earlier, It could take months for them to starve.

You are right in the fact that you cant trian a dragonet to eat in a large tank but I have trained 4 to eat frozen food. You dont get them to eat by just tossing food it. You have to set up feeding stations and get them eating live food out of that, then you start mixing in frozen food slowly and then convert it to just frozen food. then you start spot feeding them in the tank and slowly start feeding like you feed other fish. They are very smart and will learn it just takes time. I have always done this in a 5g tank

 

[Eva1313]

Hmmmm yeah i dont have any of those on the glass. I do have tons of the tiny worms on the rocks though. I will definitly go buy some more copepods. He does come out when i feed the rest of the fish and i have seen him eat little scraps of the live worms i feed my cow that fall. But i dont want to starve my fish so i will buy more.

 

[MINItron]

I have tons of pods in my tank of all different sizes and shapes. There are isopods and amphipods and worms cruising the walls from top to bottom by the time I turn the lights on. Some of them might even be copepods. It is hard to tell without some strong magnification.

I had a mandarin years ago. The tank I had back then had almost as much rock as water. He was a very curious fish that inspected everything that came into the tank. It didn't take very long before he was tasting, and eating, the food that I was feeding the other fish.

 

[Eva1313]

Well i went to 3 fish stores today and bought every product i could get that they said he would eat just in case. But thanx for all your help.

 

[Eva1313]

GREAT NEWS he is DEFINITELY eating the prawn roe by nutramar ova!!!!! Im watching him eat it now. Im so darn happy...

 

[Eva1313]

 

[Eva1313]

 

[Eva1313]

 

[Ronin77]

The prawn roe is good stuff, I feed my fish and corals with it.

 

[Eva1313]

Dang nice dog! Im a pit bull lover myself. Where did you get him?