Cycling/copepods/confusion

[FaRico]

Ok so I'm in the process of cycling my tank, it's been 3.5 weeks since it got set up. My levels are doing good, ammonia has spiked and has leveled off to 0-0.5 my nitrate is at 5 ppm. Lately I've noticed that the amount of copepods is increasing, they're everywhere. When is it too early to add something to gobble these guys up? I'd love a mandarin, but I think it might be to soon. Thoughts?

[monocus]

they will run out of food and disappear-most other fish will eat them

[marie]

Copepods are a sign of a healthy tank and the longer you can hold off getting fish the better. It gives the copepods time to properly colonize and established multiple generations..... to better withstand the grazing on them that fish do.

As stated by monocus, all fish will snack on pods

[DOMINATOR]

ive seen my fair share in my tank so dont worry, its definately a good thing....before you know it, youll be staring at something else:lol: as long as your levels are good, go for it and put your first fish in.....

[daniella3d]

A mandarin will eat all of your pods in a day or 2 and starve to death. YOU need at least 70 lbs of liverock and a very well established tank, minimum of 6 months, unless the mandarin is accepting frozen food.

Any trace of ammonia is a no go for any fish. Even 0.5 will kill a fish in few hours to a day. At high PH any trace of ammonia is extremely toxic.

Also to have a thriving mandarin, you must not have other fish in the aquarium that compete with it for pods. Anything that eats pods will make your mandarin starve.

Ok so I'm in the process of cycling my tank, it's been 3.5 weeks since it got set up. My levels are doing good, ammonia has spiked and has leveled off to 0-0.5 my nitrate is at 5 ppm. Lately I've noticed that the amount of copepods is increasing, they're everywhere. When is it too early to add something to gobble these guys up? I'd love a mandarin, but I think it might be to soon. Thoughts?

[toytech]

Mandarins are hard to keep, but not imposible. You can train them to eat frozen and they can do quite well . Ive got mine in a 15 gal ( no fuge /sump ) and she has been eating frozen blood worms since day 1 . They eat slow so you cant have agressive feeding fish , and competion for pods isnt good either.

[naesco]

A mandarin will eat all of your pods in a day or 2 and starve to death. YOU need at least 70 lbs of liverock and a very well established tank, minimum of 6 months, unless the mandarin is accepting frozen food.

Any trace of ammonia is a no go for any fish. Even 0.5 will kill a fish in few hours to a day. At high PH any trace of ammonia is extremely toxic.

Also to have a thriving mandarin, you must not have other fish in the aquarium that compete with it for pods. Anything that eats pods will make your mandarin starve.

Absolutely correct. A well established tank is essential to long term survival as is a constant supply of pods.

Toytech, your mandarin is doomed unless you are successful in switching her to marine food. Bloodworms are not marine food.

[Snaz]

Toytech, your mandarin is doomed unless you are successful in switching her to marine food. Bloodworms are not marine food.

Umm why would say this? Do you have a source or reason to back it up?

[naesco]

Umm why would say this? Do you have a source or reason to back it up?

Because it is not marine food and cannot sustain mandarins.
Tangs eat lettuce, broccoli and many land vegetable foods but require marine algae to sustain themselves.

[Snaz]

Because it is not marine food and cannot sustain mandarins.
Tangs eat lettuce, broccoli and many land vegetable foods but require marine algae to sustain themselves.

Ok well I can see how you came to this conclusion, bloodworms don't exist in a marine environment and thus they are not suitable food for marine life. But the logic is flawed.. If we take this line of reasoning and extend it say to.. Our lights, salt in a bucket, electric heaters and recirculating water pumps which have no place in a traditional natural marine environment but do a rather good job of keeping our glass boxes of life alive.

My point is don't advise someone that bloodworms are not suitable marine food because they don't exist in the ocean. If you have a proper reason to eliminate what is a great source of live protein, minerals and nutrition to any animal willing to eat them I would like to hear it.

[StirCrazy]

Ok well I can see how you came to this conclusion, bloodworms don't exist in a marine environment and thus they are not suitable food for marine life. But the logic is flawed.. If we take this line of reasoning and extend it say to.. Our lights, salt in a bucket, electric heaters and recirculating water pumps which have no place in a traditional natural marine environment but do a rather good job of keeping our glass boxes of life alive.

My point is don't advise someone that bloodworms are not suitable marine food because they don't exist in the ocean. If you have a proper reason to eliminate what is a great source of live protein, minerals and nutrition to any animal willing to eat them I would like to hear it.

actualy there is a lot of discussion going on about feeding bloodworms to mandrins. while it is ok for a supplament once and a while it should not be used for the main staple of food for them as it is extreamly high in fat and proteen which is not natural to them and bungs them up and has caused some serious problems. now this is based off observations and not a medical study so take it as you will.

personaly I would not have another mandrin unless my set up was simular to my old tank which was a 90 gal with 210 lbs of live rock with several pod piles. I had two mandrins and there were always tones of pods about.

I would not add any fish to your tank yet, instead I would try build several pod piles behind your rock work to encourage more pods, also with any amonia or nitrite your tank is not done cycling. you could probab ly add some hermit crabs if you want to see something move around as they are pretty bullit proof. also befor concidering mandrins let us know what size your tank is and how much rock is in it, then you can get accurate recomendations on weather you could support one in the long run.

Steve

[fishytime]

What size is the tank?.....How many pounds of live rock do you have?..... I would agree with others.... Mandarines can be tricky at the best of times so it probably shouldn't be the first fish in a freshly cycled tank:wink:

[FaRico]

It's a 28 gal nanocube, with about 25 lbs of live rock. From the sounds of it, that isn't enough for a mandarin fish. This patience thing is killing me, I guess seeing copepods got me excited on that fact I can finally have a fish in the tank. I'll wait till all the levels are where they are suppose to be.

[toytech]

Dunno why everyone thinks mandarins can nuke a whole tank clean of pods in hours , they kinda hide everywhere ( live rock has a tendency to be porous ) . Funny to how the tang police and the mandarine police are one in the same , oh well guess everyone is entitled to there opinion . I digress there are lost of great nanofish that arnt as finicky as mandarins some of my favorites are blue gold blenny , wheelers shrimp goby , hectors goby ( need some hair algae and established sand bed but not too difficult) , and do yourself a favor and cover your tank so you can get a wrasse because by far they are my favorite fish great colors and very active.