Pods Size Question...

[SkinnyPete]

My fuge is crawling with worms, mini-stars, and pods of different kinds. I started to see tiny brown/reddish bugs on my sand and tiny white pods crawling around on the glass of the fuge during lights out, then during the day, and now recently on the glass in the main during lights out. I couldn't make out their shape - too small. I'm assuming if they are on the glass, they must be infesting my rocks, sand, and chaeto. I have 160-170lbs of live rock in the main and a few more lbs of rubble in the fuge. My question is - in the last week or so, I noticed larger pods. crawling around on my sand. Not white specks, but actual small ant sized pods that you can actually just see with the naked eye easily. I have no idea how long they've been there since I have been just checking for white specks on the glass. My question is - are they just adult versions of the white specks, or are THESE the pods I should be waiting to populate my tank? I've been preparing for a mandarin for 8 months now. I'm aware of their demands - trust me. I've been very patient and have asked alot of questions in the past few months. I think with all this rock, fuge, no competition for food, and a tank infested with pods - that I should be ready. But, when people say to wait for a good population of pods, are they refering to these bigger pods, or the tiny white specks on the glass? I've got tons of white specks, but have never seen these bigger ones in the main. Can these tiny specks, if kept populated sustain a mandarin or should I be waiting for these larger pods to reach a greater number?

Thanks all.

- Skins

 

[SkinnyPete]

Oh, did I just answer my own quesiton with minimal research?

Just got a close-up picture online of an amphipod and those are definitely the bigger buggers that I've been seeing. So, would that mean that the copepods are the white specks on the glass? If so, mandarins primarily eat copepods so I think I should be okay. It's just hard to see what these specks actually look like since they are so tiny.

Thanks.

 

[seaham358]

Sounds to me like your ready... There are many kinds of pods and it sounds like you have enough to go around. 8 months and 160 lbs of LR sounds like your all set for a mandarin. Good job waiting till you saw a large population.