Copepods

[bg3489]

I just got a green mandarin and wasn't sure if I had enough copepods in my 115 gallon reef tank to sustain him. I ordered a jar of them, I think it came with 500-700, to add to the tank. How many should I put in and will this harm my set up? Also hwo can i store the extras and what else will eat these copepods? I do not have a refrigerium by the way. Thanks!

 

[returnofsid]

How long has your tank been set up? How much live rock do you have and how established is it? You can get an idea of your pod population by shining a flashlight in the tank after lights out. IMO, you'd be safe dumping them all in there. I don't think you can have too big of a population of pods. There are several other fish that will also eat pods and most of them are much more aggressive eaters than Mandarins so it's not a good idea to put them in a tank together. That's why I moved my 6 line Wrasse to another tank when I got my Mandarin.

 

[bg3489]

Alright sounds good. I got the live rock from a previously established tank which I'm pretty sure has been set up for a good while (at least a year most likely more).

 

[aquariumdebacle]

where did you order them from? and how much$ including shipping?

 

[bg3489]

I ordered them from premium aquatics and the jar of 500-700 live ones was 19.99 I believe. The shipping was around $8.95 and then another $7 for the optional insulated live boxing that came with a live guarentee.

 

[bg3489]

Good deal? It's the only place I really found who had em.

 

[mungus]

There is a lot of great info on this site. Oceanpods is also an RF sponsor.

http://www.essentiallivefeeds.com/

Brian

 

[bripen]

How long has your tank been set up? How much live rock do you have and how established is it? You can get an idea of your pod population by shining a flashlight in the tank after lights out. IMO, you'd be safe dumping them all in there. I don't think you can have too big of a population of pods. There are several other fish that will also eat pods and most of them are much more aggressive eaters than Mandarins so it's not a good idea to put them in a tank together. That's why I moved my 6 line Wrasse to another tank when I got my Mandarin.

Are there any fish that eat the Pyramelid snails that plague clams that won't compete with a Mandarin's food source?