Seeding tank with amphipods and copepods???

[whippetguy]

Diana, have you considered getting a mandarin that's eating frozen food? Then the pods would just be a back up source.

 

[ziggy]

I was thinking what Paul B said that the mandaring must eat all the time instead of the tipical frozen feeding every 2 or 3 days. If their system is not designed to store food I wonder if you have to feed them frozen several times a day in that case? Paul can you comment?

 

[DianaKay]

Diana, have you considered getting a mandarin that's eating frozen food? Then the pods would just be a back up source.

I saw a Mandarin @the LFS in Johnson, AR (where I get my fish/corals) and I ask if it was eating....the store owner says they've never kept one long enough to make sure they are eating. I guess by that he meant that they sell quickly after they get them in.
I will probably have them special order me a male/female pair or chance ordering them from an on-line source myself. I'm going to wait until I get a pod order in my refugium it is well stocked. I'll be working on making a feeder of some type.
Paul, I bet your wife does worry about you not having time to eat cause you get too busy inventing things.
I hope my tank lives 1/2 as long as yours has :fingerx: then I will be very old.

 

[Paul B]

You can go on vacation, I just came back from Hawaii for 2 weeks as long as the tank is mature enough to have a supply of pods. I suppliment them every day with new born brine but they will get along fine in my tank without that because my tank is very old. Mandarins should not be eating frozen food as it will not keep them alive for a long time if there are no pods. Here is a post I did about mandarins.
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/saltwater-fish/82986-some-thoughts-mandarins.html

 

[sixline]

I'm here to tell ya, those little BUGS are so much FUN to watch!!
My family thinks I'm bonkers cause I have several different strength magnifying lens that I sit and study the sand bed with during the late evening "when the bugs come out"

It's not just your family.

But, seriously, I'd love to get one of those stick on the glass magnifiers, since I also love pods and all of the smaller hitchhikers that make their way into our tanks.

I believe my pod population is too low, though, due to a completely efficient hunting and killing machine as pictured in my avatar.

I've got a RSM S-400, and am thinking of figuring out how to rig a refugium using an old gallon water jar or similar. I once ordered the 5000 pods kit from reefs2go, but it did not last long. I just ended up with a fat wrasse.

 

[DianaKay]

The reason I don't have any species of Wrasse is because I want a Mandarin when I feel like my tank is ready.
The Six-Line has always been one of my favorite fish to watch & I heard that they knock out pests fairly well also.

I have another QUESTION about getting an order of Amphipods & copepods:
Do we risk getting "bad bugs" like flat worms and such when we buy a bag of pods?
Anyone had this to happen? I'm thinking all those "bugs in a bag" are going to be hard to sort

 

[Paul B]

I don't know Diana, I never ordered anything alive online. I know in Oklahoma it is hard to collect pods.

 

[DianaKay]

I don't know Diana, I never ordered anything alive online. I know in Oklahoma it is hard to collect pods.

Yep Paul, we don't collect near as many pods here are we do ticks & chiggers
I saw a young couple walking from the Holiday Inn Express across a weedy field to Wal-Mart and instantly I knew..."they ain't from around here" and by the next day, I'm pretty sure they thought they were allergic to something in Oklahoma :LOL:
I can catch crawdads out of any creek here tho

 

[Paul B]

Ok, crawdads are good

 

[Mr.Reeefer]

Hi Paul,

how do you collect them from the ocean?

I go fishing allot so if this doesn't involve me swimming in the water, I could do this also.

Thanks

 

[ziggy]

And Paul, When you put the "Mud" into your tank, where do you put it? Sump? I would think not the display tank.

 

[Paul B]

I collect them in a bay specifically in a muddy tide pool at low tide. Here in the northern US the tide varies about 8' from high to low. At low tide I walk through a tide pool and lift rocks in the mud. They are loaded with amphipods.

 

[Paul B]

I don't have a sump, they were not invented when I started the tank. I put the mud in a tray and place it on the gravel. In a few days I remove it as I just need the bacteria. I do squirt some in the UG filter though.
5 gallon bucket of amphipods.



Here is the tide pool I collect in.



Here is a video of the amphipods doing the Electric Slide.

 

[ziggy]

Paul

What a great initiative. You sure are creative in getting the pods and bacterial into your tank.

Love the Pics

 

[Mr.Reeefer]

Very interesting, I'll do some research on how to do this in australia, we have tidal sand flats and mud flats also.

Talking of mud flats makes me think of chilli mud crab, mmmmmmmm.

 

[Mr.Reeefer]

Also, do they need to be fed?

 

[Paul B]

Paul

What a great initiative. You sure are creative in getting the pods and bacterial into your tank.

Love the Pics

It's not creative, the pods want to go.