Pods?

[Guest WoodstockReefer]

Hey yall. My biocube recently about 4 weeks ago was destroyed by a peroxide overdose. I took everything out started with new everything. And used bacteria in a bottle. Now im seeing these little white specks running on the glass. Wondering what copapods mean to a reef tank. Important detail to note is to say i did put a live rock(toncha branch) from lfs LR section.

[Donny41]

They will thrive in new tanks without predators. Once you add something that will eat them the population will quickly diminish. 

 

[Guest WoodstockReefer]

Just now, Donny41 said:

They will thrive in new tanks without predators. Once you add something that will eat them the population will quickly diminish. 

 

I wonder if there would be a way to keep them producing in the BC16 to be able to have a mandarin goby?

[WV Reefer]

16 minutes ago, WoodstockReefer said:

Hey yall. My biocube recently about 4 weeks ago was destroyed by a peroxide overdose. I took everything out started with new everything. And used bacteria in a bottle. Now im seeing these little white specks running on the glass. Wondering what copapods mean to a reef tank. Important detail to note is to say i did put a live rock(toncha branch) from lfs LR section.

It’s normal. They will come and go as the tank ages. 

Just now, WoodstockReefer said:

I wonder if there would be a way to keep them producing in the BC16 to be able to have a mandarin goby?

A mandarin would decimate the population in a tank that size in a day. 

[Guest WoodstockReefer]

1 hour ago, WV Reefer said:

It’s normal. They will come and go as the tank ages. 

A mandarin would decimate the population in a tank that size in a day. 

Well that figures the prettier looking fish like Mandarin gobies have strict diet requirements LOL

[WV Reefer]

30 minutes ago, WoodstockReefer said:

Well that figures the prettier looking fish like Mandarin gobies have strict diet requirements LOL

It’s possible to get them to eat frozen food but they are listed as “difficult” or “expert” for a reason ......they usually starve in smaller tanks. 

 

[Tamberav]

3 hours ago, WoodstockReefer said:

I wonder if there would be a way to keep them producing in the BC16 to be able to have a mandarin goby?

The pods bloom in a new tank and then crash.

 

All too often someone buys a mandy for a new tank because wow all these pods! Then the population crashes once the tank stabilizes and oops...

 

They can be kept in small tanks but really need a very specific set up for their needs. 

[Guest WoodstockReefer]

2 hours ago, WV Reefer said:

It’s possible to get them to eat frozen food but they are listed as “difficult” or “expert” for a reason ......they usually starve in smaller tanks. 

 

Yeah I've definitely heard they were kind of difficult to raise problem is don't have much room for a big huge tank but I just love the way those gobies look

1 hour ago, Tamberav said:

The pods bloom in a new tank and then crash.

 

All too often someone buys a mandy for a new tank because wow all these pods! Then the population crashes once the tank stabilizes and oops...

 

They can be kept in small tanks but really need a very specific set up for their needs. 

I guess the key to raising them would be understanding the high cost and constantly buying pods

[Tamberav]

6 hours ago, WoodstockReefer said:

Yeah I've definitely heard they were kind of difficult to raise problem is don't have much room for a big huge tank but I just love the way those gobies look

I guess the key to raising them would be understanding the high cost and constantly buying pods

A 30g planted with a 20g fudge heavily fed would make keeping them fairly easy.

 

Buying pods isn't even enough...you need to breed them imo.

[banasophia]

6 hours ago, WoodstockReefer said:

Yeah I've definitely heard they were kind of difficult to raise problem is don't have much room for a big huge tank but I just love the way those gobies look

I guess the key to raising them would be understanding the high cost and constantly buying pods

I have a Biota mandarin in my Biocube 16... it is possible in my opinion and experience, but you have to work really hard (and spend lots of time/money/attention) to keep it well fed.

 

My mandarin is my baby; I devote lots of attention to its care. If you think you may want one in the future, you can start planning ahead for it, and make sure you stock your other fish appropriately so there are no other fish to compete for pods once your tank is ready for a mandarin. The initial pod population will decline in your tank and will not be enough to sustain a mandarin, but you can culture pods. Also, getting a captive bred Biota mandarin can increase your chances for success. 

 

 

 

 

[Jesterrace]

On 1/22/2019 at 9:36 AM, WoodstockReefer said:

Hey yall. My biocube recently about 4 weeks ago was destroyed by a peroxide overdose. I took everything out started with new everything. And used bacteria in a bottle. Now im seeing these little white specks running on the glass. Wondering what copapods mean to a reef tank. Important detail to note is to say i did put a live rock(toncha branch) from lfs LR section.

Copepods are good for waste, excess nutrient removal, but if they are overstocked a small wrasse (ie Pink Streaked) might help reduce the population a bit without having a fish that will be very difficult to keep up with.  As mentioned above Mandarins are pod vacuums and by nature have very short digestive tracts and have to feed nearly constantly during the waking hours.  I generally don't recommend them for small tanks, not because of the space factor but because it's virtually impossible to have enough live rock, etc to support a large breeding population of them long term.  A Mandarin could probably wipe out your entire pod population in a week or two and then it would start starving to death.