copepods

[ropinfool]

I have a 30 gallon reef tank set up and i have a hang on refugium with miracle mud and grape calurpa in it. I bought a mandarin goby recently and i have read that they feed on live copepods. my refugium has been set up on my tank for well over a year. I am wondering how do you know if you have a copepod population in your tank?

 

[FishinInTheDark]

You should be able to see them. Look for tiny dots crawling on your glass.

BTW, isn't caulerpa illegal in CA? Try to get your hands on some chaetomorpha and freeze that caulerpa before wrapping it in plastic and throwing it away.

 

[Krish]

Welcome to RF ropinfool! About the copepods, I've just noticed I've got some yesterday. They seem to be living in my phosban reactor(LOL) I've heard some people say they see them best at night when all the lights have been off for a while and you shine a flashlight in the tank. I guess you can give that a shot...Welcome again

 

[wrightme43]

completely unrelated except as food for your manderin. I have gotten two in a row to eat new life spectum pellets. maybe give it a try. A 30 usually doesnt have a large enough supply to feed them long term anyway.

 

[fishcrazee]

They are attracted to light, so sometimes you will see them the most when your lights first come on. If you stare closely into you tank long enough, you can usually see them zipping around on your glass. They are extremely tiny, but visible to the naked eye. You could always use a magnifying glass too.

You have to have a good sized refugium with a good sized pod population, as a mandarin will pick off those buggars pretty quick, and many mandarins will slowly starve to death once your pod population is gone. Hence the need for a fuge full of them. Many mandarins will not take anything but pods, but you can try, although not sure if a pod-free diet is the best for them.