Copepod question

[hiltymj]

Can you establish a colony of copepods in a canister? Or just a refugium?

 

[Heera]

I never heard of in a canster. It will be too small IMO. But Refuseium for sure..

 

[Heera]

**Refugium. Auto
correct typo.

 

[carey]

Pods will colonize your live rock as well. I had a ton on my rocks before I went to the 125g. I now have a refugium as mentioned above, where you can grow out some pods. I tried raising them in a "pod tank" outside of the aquarium but had limited success.

 

[hiltymj]

So say I wanted a dragonet. Can I get a colony established enough in the tank before I get him so he can eat and eat and not starve to death cause he ate them all to fast lol. It would be in a 75 by the way

 

[carey]

Not recommended. Thats why i created a pod tank, to feed my scooter dragonet. To get enough pods to sustain a mandarin you need an excessive amount of rock for the pods to colonize and a refugium doesn't hurt either. It usually takes months and months to get a pod colony large enough for one dragonet.

If you don't have enough pods he will certainly starve. You might have a better shot at a mandarin if you get an ORA one. They are more expensive and are supposed to eat prepared foods. BUT it's not uncommon for them to go back to pods for absolutely no reason.

How long has your tank been up and how much lr do you have? Do you have a sump or refugium below?

 

[hiltymj]

Ya that's what I figured. I don't have it set up just seeing if I should get the thought out of my head about getting a dragonet but the plan is to use the eheim canister that the guy is giving me with the tank and stand so the refugium would be a later addition. I know I'm gonna do one just not at the moment. Im still learning about anything and everything

 

[carey]

Good move. Get it all together first and maybe you can get one in the future. Most people that don't have a plan end up with a starved fish. :-(

 

[Tomchong22]

Good move. Get it all together first and maybe you can get one in the future. Most people that don't have a plan end up with a starved fish. :-(

+1

My friend went and got a dragonet at the lfs. They said oh it will eat anything ... Not so much. Also be aware that when you do get them to eat they are very slow at eating. Ie other fish will take their food

 

[ChizerBunoi]

You could buy some cross stitching material (white plastic mesh with square holes), make a container out of it (sealed at the top and bottom) and throw in some live rock. The copepods will reproduce inside of the mesh without the dragonet getting to it. It could also easily hide behind your rock work.

 

[hiltymj]

Exactly once I get my plan together thats probably going to be the very last thing I do

 

[hiltymj]

Interesting I never thought if that

 

[Maya]

What a great idea chizer!

 

[Heera]

I have a 30 gallon setup for 7 months now. I been thinking of getting a Mandarin too. I have Lots of amphipods, not sure of Copepods. Do they eat amphipods???
How much do these guys eat anyways

 

[carey]

They eat an absolute boatload of food. LOL thats all they do all day is hunt for pods. I know they can eat like a thousand a day I've heard. I know my scooter is hunting all day long for pods as well, luckily he now eats prepared foods and it took a long while to get him on them.