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Mits

Copepod question

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by
Mits
, 06-02-2011 at 01:28 AM (5805 Views)
I have tons of copepods in my refugium, it's to the point that there are little clouds of them swarming all over the place. It's pretty amazing, I can just stare at them and all of the other stuff in there as much as the display tank. I just don't see them in the display. I'm trying to figure out if they are numerous enough to add a mandarin. The tank was upgraded from a 2 year old 55 to the current 120 last summer, and the only other place I've seen copepods as dense as mine is at Inland Aquatics. I think I may be ok, I have a frag tank plumbed in that had a red flatworm outbreak after about one month of the 120 being up and a little sixline took care of them and has not accepted prepared food since. He's been growing and healthy even though I haven't seen much in there with him. I also have a sixline in the DT. With the crazy population density in the fuge, is it a safe bet to say that there should be enough in the DT for a mandarin?

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‎ Feeding , ‎ Questions - Need some input

Comments

  1. DJ in WV's Avatar
    There is probably more that you dont see than the ones swarming. Any rock close to the glass check with a magnifying glass in the dt if you see any your probably ok plus you can always net some from the fug once a week to put in the dt.
  2. melev's Avatar
    I would think a Mandarin would be fine in a 120g tank, but you are wise to consider other pod-eating fish in the system like your Six Line. Keep that in mind with future fish purchases to avoid adding too much competition for the mandarin.

    And you might try the Mandarin Diner idea I posted about years ago, as a way to supplement its diet.
  3. glue slinger's Avatar
    Hey i have a mandarin that was tank raised and i was concerned aboutb it starving... but it greedily snaps up most food (not flakes) and bloodworm/shrimp. It will even take it from my long tweezers as a target feed. It spends its day poking around the tank kind of foraging. It pays no attention to any other fish, nor them to it. I have caught it being cleaned by my shrimp. It is one of my favs. Very peaceful.