LF: copepod culture

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by Reefgoat

From what I understand Mandarins graze pretty much constantly. What you consider a lot will probably be mostly gone in the first week. If you want to have one you will probably need to culture pods in other containers and add them to the tank or it will slowly starve to death. Make sure to get Tisbe copepods as opposed to Tigriopus (Tigger) pods.

As an alternative you could get an ORA captive bred target Mandarin. They raise them to eat pellets and frozen food.

Thanks

I am actually going to try to train it at first and if not, I will keep on adding pods manually, depending on the need. Now I need to find pod :P

BTW any specific reason you are not suggesting tigger pods? Because online, I found people use tigger pods since that's more likely to be available.

[Reefgoat]

From what I understand Tisbe pods are Benthic and hide a lot so they aren't all immediately eaten. Tigger pods are primarily Pelagic and don't tend to hide. They will swim in the open and quickly be eaten by all your fish. Tisbe pods are a little more difficult to culture as they are tolerant of a relatively narrow range of temperature, salinity, and water quality whereas Tigger pods are much more hardy. Also this is not from personal experience, I have just been reading up on it as I have been planning to get a Mandarin for quite some time and want to be prepared.

I remember seeing a sponsor in Edmonton or Calgary who sells cultures of various live foods. If you do a search in the forums you could probably find it. I think it was Calgary.

[Kevany]

Mrhasan, last time I was at Blue World Edmonton they had copepods, and I'm pretty sure he ships as well. When I first got my mandarin I was worried about the pod population in my tank as well, so I bought a white worm culture from Blue World to suppliment feeding, and my mandarin loved them. What I did, is throw a few white worms in my tank along with a pinch of NLS pellets, and now after a few months my mandarin is trained to eat pellets as well.

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by Kevany

Mrhasan, last time I was at Blue World Edmonton they had copepods, and I'm pretty sure he ships as well. When I first got my mandarin I was worried about the pod population in my tank as well, so I bought a white worm culture from Blue World to suppliment feeding, and my mandarin loved them. What I did, is throw a few white worms in my tank along with a pinch of NLS pellets, and now after a few months my mandarin is trained to eat pellets as well.

Awesome. Thanks for the positive heads up

[regent2009]

sure thing i have my big n strong mandarin for over 2 yrs it eats NLS pellet too. buy the one with a blue tang label. altho mine eats all NLS now.

[jagermaier]

Golds usually have live tigger pods for sale, just make sure you check that they are still swimming around before you buy them.

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by regent2009

sure thing i have my big n strong mandarin for over 2 yrs it eats NLS pellet too. buy the one with a blue tang label. altho mine eats all NLS now.

Thanks for the heads up

Golds usually have live tigger pods for sale, just make sure you check that they are still swimming around before you buy them.

Thanks I will sure check that out. Any idea how long one bottle is going to last for my 20 gallon?

[Zoaelite]

Originally Posted by mrhasan

Yap well aware of that. As many would say, my tank is too small for mandarine. But I would love to take up this challenge and ofcourse I have back up plans if I can't keep up with it (which I am 90% confident that I won't). But this hobby is all about challenges Like you successfully used, what most would say, "snake oil" to cure ich.

Oh I totally forgot about the goby family thing :| But I really don't like YWG since they are just, STILLLLLLLLLLL! Even my banggai and firefish move around the whole tank :P Weird :P

Please save yourself the trouble and learn from other peoples mistakes, you have identified that this tank is too small & it contains goby predators.

Although I agree this hobby is about challenges and learning, its also about trying to be as environmentally responsible as possible. Put yourself in the Mandarines shoes, would you enjoy being put in an overly small tank with a lack of food and things that could kill you @ every turn?

I think not... But alas I have a feeling this fish will be added to your tank regardless.

[Nano]

Originally Posted by Zoaelite

Please save yourself the trouble and learn from other peoples mistakes, you have identified that this tank is too small & it contains goby predators.

Although I agree this hobby is about challenges and learning, its also about trying to be as environmentally responsible as possible. Put yourself in the Mandarines shoes, would you enjoy being put in an overly small tank with a lack of food and things that could kill you @ every turn?

I think not... But alas I have a feeling this fish will be added to your tank regardless.

+1

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by Zoaelite

Please save yourself the trouble and learn from other peoples mistakes, you have identified that this tank is too small & it contains goby predators.

Although I agree this hobby is about challenges and learning, its also about trying to be as environmentally responsible as possible. Put yourself in the Mandarines shoes, would you enjoy being put in an overly small tank with a lack of food and things that could kill you @ every turn?

I think not... But alas I have a feeling this fish will be added to your tank regardless.

+1.

I, in no way, will disagree or argue with what you said.