Copepods without a fuge?

[MelbaToasty]

Can you culture copepods without a refugium? I have a 72G bow with a 15G sump which does not have a refugium chamber. Can I add copepods directly to the tank or sump?

Also, how do you QT mandarins? Do you add copepods to the QT tank or is there a product that can feed them on the QT without copepods?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[RcToners]

Dont even bother with a mandarin if you dont have a fuge. Yes you can add pods to your tank but they will dissapear very fast and not have time to multiply with fish in your tank that eat them.

[MelbaToasty]

Thanks. Are these hang on style fuges worth looking into and/or sufficient to culture enough copepods to keep a mandarin healthy? I was thinking of adding one to my sump, but I am cramped for space in my sump closet.

[muttley000]

I read somewhere about breeding them using a bunch of 10 gallon tanks. I'm sure it can be done. Why not just pay the extra 10 bucks for a captive bred mandarin thats already trained to eat pellets?

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...bred+mandarins

[JMartin104]

Originally Posted by RcToners

Dont even bother with a mandarin if you dont have a fuge. Yes you can add pods to your tank but they will dissapear very fast and not have time to multiply with fish in your tank that eat them.

What if you have a skimmer and pump after the fuge? Will it kill them?

Also, what if you added pods to your DT before adding any animals and allow a colony to build. Will it be able to sustain? I realize that depends on the number of pod eating animals. I too plan on a Mandarin so I'm just doing me research now and this was a good question.

[bbprinting]

Mandarins or scotter blennies will decimate any pod population eventually without a Fuge for them to breed in.

[Jstdv8]

Actually if you have a little room in that 15g you could make a turf scrubber to put in there and that will grow more pods than 6 mandarins could eat. it also works like cheato in that it will eliminate your nitrates and phosphates for you in the process.
I use one on my 120g and I have a zillion little pods that are the size of dust running everywhere. these are the pods that the mandarin eats. I also have quite a few of the larger ones, but eitehr way my mandarin sixline and scooter will never go hungry.
Possibly something to look into. you make them yourself and they cost about 50 bucks (including the pump) which is almost nothing for everything it does.

[ssantac]

My mandarins are doing great (fat and mating), and I dont have a sump or fuge. I have a 60 gal DT. When I 1st got them I tried to build up my pods but they ate tru that like nothing, so I had to start supplementing reef stew at least 1x a week. I dont know if they are ORA or not, but they started picking at and eating frozen within a about a month of having them. I target feed my seahorses and the male will actually get in that action and eat the mysis straight from the baster, which can be a nusance sometimes. I still add around every other week or so about 500-600mls of reef stew since everything eats it and so the mandarins will have something to pick at between feedings. Between the skimmer, clowns, and horses, they seem to go away pretty quick. I only buy it when I notice them not picking anymore.

Thats just my experience FWIW.

[MelbaToasty]

Originally Posted by Jstdv8

Actually if you have a little room in that 15g you could make a turf scrubber

Thanks for this reccomendation. Can you post or PM some additional details? Is this a DIY device or something you can buy? Thanks.

[JTL]

Originally Posted by muttley000

I read somewhere about breeding them using a bunch of 10 gallon tanks. I'm sure it can be done. Why not just pay the extra 10 bucks for a captive bred mandarin thats already trained to eat pellets?

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...bred+mandarins

I thought I read recently that the ORA tank raised mandarins are not eating prepared foods like was expected. Anyone hear anything like this.

[jeff@zina.com]

My LFS routinely has mandarins that will eat frozen mysis, though I don't know where they come from. Unfortunately, they also have mandarins that won't eat anything. Ever.

Jeff

[aquaman05]

Where is the best place to buy pods to put into your fuge to start this process?

[lordofthereef]

Originally Posted by aquaman05

Where is the best place to buy pods to put into your fuge to start this process?

Your LFS will probably carry them. Also just about any website that sells marine fish will have them. I have had great luck just asking for a chaeto ball from a local reefer. Pod explosion in the display too.

[aquaman05]

My LFS is petco. im guessing no for them to carry this

[lordofthereef]

Originally Posted by aquaman05

My LFS is petco. im guessing no for them to carry this

reefs2go, reefcleaners, liveaquaria, just a few online sources.

On a side note, you seriously don't have anything other than a petco anywhere within driving distance? I mean my "local" fish store is an hour away, but still.