Copepods?

[Heather M holder]

How many copepods should I buy for 65 gallon tank? The tank has been running for 11 months. I have live rock and the lfs told me I should already have them. I've looked at night with a flashlight and don't see any. Am I missing them? Thanks

 

[DaveK]

If you have had the tank going for 11 month, it most likely has plenty of pods in there already.

They can be difficult to see in a tank that contains fish. Fish will hunt them so the population will tend to be kept down, and any pods you have are likely to be deep in the rocks.

More to the point, why do you want to add pods?

 

[Uncle99]

The only way I can see them is when my mandarin pecks them from the rock. Since that's all he eats, must be pods....

 

[Heather M holder]

I bought a mandarin goby. I want to be sure he has enough to eat.

 

[Pat24601]

I bought a mandarin goby. I want to be sure he has enough to eat.

I’m definitely not an expert here, but my advice would be that you are doing the right thing to be on the safe side to add more. My tank was teaming with copepods when I bought my mandarin. Then it wasn’t. Then he was dead with fairly little forewarning. The only fish I ever lost in 3 years. I didn’t even try again.

Play it safe and keep your copepods up. Maybe look into baby brine shrimp like @Paul B does even.

 

[DaveK]

I bought a mandarin goby. I want to be sure he has enough to eat.

This in an entirely different sort of thing. You need about 50 gal of water for each mandarin you want to keep. You easily meet that requirement. The other requirement is that you can not put un other fish or livestock that will compete for pods. Wrasses, scooter blenies, some butterfly fish and many other will do this.

All that being said you can sometimes train a mandarin to eat frozen blood worms, live black worms and some other foods. Don't count on it though.

One other thing about mandarins, despite their bright coloration, they often blend right into live rock. Even though it's right there in front of you, it may be hard to spot. All those unusual colors and shapes blend right in.

 

[subsea]

As a as a back up food source of live food, including pods, set up largest HOB box that you can get as a refugium. No light necessary. Just throw in rubble and seed with live pods to quick start.

 

[Uncle99]

With no other competition like DaveK points out above and if your rock is very porous (aka places for them to reproduce) you should be fine. This fish can be a challenge to keep for some and not for others, I had them for years and some for months....no clue....and I can see no reason why when the environment is the same. Part of this hobby as we all know is no guarantees, it's all about learning and sharing our experiences with others...that's what makes us stronger and capable of more demanding things as we go forward. So go for it and do your best.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

to RS ! Start a thank thread & share your tank with us, we love pics !

 

[DaveK]

As a as a back up food source of live food, including pods, set up largest HOB box that you can get as a refugium. No light necessary. Just throw in rubble and seed with live pods to quick start.

I'm not trying to beat up on you, but in my opinion this is an almost complete waste of time, money and effort.

Even the largest HOB refugiums would only hold about 5 gal of water, less once you add rock. They also tend to become major dirt traps, unless you feed them pre filtered water. Their small size and narrow width also makes them a pain in the neck to clean. Bottom line a typical one that is a gallon or two isn't going to produce much in the way of pods.

If you want a refugium, and this is a good idea, get a second tank and set that up as the refugium. Even a modest 10 gal tank is double the size of the largest HOB refugiums. If you used a 20 gal tank you'd have 4 times the space. That would easily fit under a 65 gal tank, or you could set it up to one side, if you have the space. There are usually lots of interesting things to watch in a refugium.