Jump to content

HELP!!! How to transfer copepods for mandarin?


tchun

Recommended Posts

Hey WAMAS,

 

So this past weekend I was fortunate enough to get one of the Green/Blue Mandarins from Quantum Reefs that they just got in. It seems to be doing just fine in my tank at the moment but am worried that there might not be a sufficient amount of copepods in the tank because it is in my newer set-up. I noticed that my 14G biocube I just shutdown seems to be thriving with copepods at the moment as I can see them all over the glass even with the lights on. (I have my biocube just up and running with nothing in it except live sand and rock, maybe thinking of selling at the moment) Steve from QR told me that I could just go to a grocery store and grab a sponge to throw in a tank for the copepods to move to and thrive in to hopefully reproduce, and after a few days I could simply throw the sponge in the other tank, and they would move out of the sponge and into the water for the mandarin to eat. However, I went to 7-11 that immediate day to buy a sponge and when I bought the sponge and took it out, I noticed it felt moist and looked at the contents of the sponge on the wrapping and there it said in all caps and in bold, "NOT FOR AQUARIUM USE". Apparently after some research, there are many people out there who have made this mistake and put in a random kitchen sponge to just kill their entire tank.

 

Does anyone have any ideas that have worked of transferring copepods in a biological media suitable for them? I could always buy Tisbe biminiensis from AlagGen but why when I have my own in a tank that are perfectly fine. I was thinking of cutting off a piece of white sponge filter from my biocube tank and placing it in there as a media for the copepods to live and eventually be transferred. Will that work? And I noticed some aipaptasia as well in the 14G now, will that somehow be able to transfer if I do find a suitable media for them? HELP ME! I do not want to go home one day to a dead mandarin due to lack of food because I absolutely love this fish.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey WAMAS,

 

So this past weekend I was fortunate enough to get one of the Green/Blue Mandarins from Quantum Reefs that they just got in. It seems to be doing just fine in my tank at the moment but am worried that there might not be a sufficient amount of copepods in the tank because it is in my newer set-up. I noticed that my 14G biocube I just shutdown seems to be thriving with copepods at the moment as I can see them all over the glass even with the lights on. (I have my biocube just up and running with nothing in it except live sand and rock, maybe thinking of selling at the moment) Steve from QR told me that I could just go to a grocery store and grab a sponge to throw in a tank for the copepods to move to and thrive in to hopefully reproduce, and after a few days I could simply throw the sponge in the other tank, and they would move out of the sponge and into the water for the mandarin to eat. However, I went to 7-11 that immediate day to buy a sponge and when I bought the sponge and took it out, I noticed it felt moist and looked at the contents of the sponge on the wrapping and there it said in all caps and in bold, "NOT FOR AQUARIUM USE". Apparently after some research, there are many people out there who have made this mistake and put in a random kitchen sponge to just kill their entire tank.

 

Does anyone have any ideas that have worked of transferring copepods in a biological media suitable for them? I could always buy Tisbe biminiensis from AlagGen but why when I have my own in a tank that are perfectly fine. I was thinking of cutting off a piece of white sponge filter from my biocube tank and placing it in there as a media for the copepods to live and eventually be transferred. Will that work? And I noticed some aipaptasia as well in the 14G now, will that somehow be able to transfer if I do find a suitable media for them? HELP ME! I do not want to go home one day to a dead mandarin due to lack of food because I absolutely love this fish.

 

I think cutting a piece of sponge off of yoru biofilter sounds like a good idea.  Do you have any extra sponges from the filtration?  I know they sell them on Amazon, so you can always due that.  You can also use a turkey baster at night to suck some of them up and transfer (although this probably isn't as efficient).  Or you can go find a natural sponge at a health store.  Last option, bite the bullet and buy some copepod additives from QR.  You're going to need a good amount to feed the mandarin anways. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think cutting a piece of sponge off of yoru biofilter sounds like a good idea.  Do you have any extra sponges from the filtration?  I know they sell them on Amazon, so you can always due that.  You can also use a turkey baster at night to suck some of them up and transfer (although this probably isn't as efficient).  Or you can go find a natural sponge at a health store.  Last option, bite the bullet and buy some copepod additives from QR.  You're going to need a good amount to feed the mandarin anways. 

As for extra sponges I have on hand at home at the moment is a simple black sponge but I feel that is too porous and not a good enough media. Feel like they might need something more "soft" if you get what I mean by that? The turkey baster idea would definitely work but you can imagine how long and tiring that would be.

 

 

No no no... Not a dishwashing sponge. One of those bath sponges from walmart or other department stores

Haha. Is this Steve? Hey Steve. You were the guy I was hoping would catch this thread and help me out.  A bath sponge, do you mean something like this? (http://www.walmart.com/ip/Body-Benefits-Men-s-Bath-Sponge/23569833) i.e. a loofah? or something like this? (http://www.walmart.com/ip/One-Bath-Round-Sponge/15105743) Would a biofilter work like Tricia said from my filter in the back?

 

Also, a random though, but is it possible for this mandarin to eat himself to death if there are in fact too many copepods? Haha. I know you can overfeed other fish, but does a Mandarin have a conscious metabolism where it will stop itself? I have noticed my mandarin appears to be constantly nipping at rocks, glass and all over. I am hoping he is finding sufficient copepods in my current tank for the time-being. I hope he is not doing this out of desperation and nipping at anything and everything in hope for food......

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No no no... Not a dishwashing sponge. One of those bath sponges from walmart or other department stores

 

Also, will aipaptasia be able to transfer over on the sponge if I have some present in my 14G?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sounds like your mandarin will starve to death before it eats itself to death. Why don't you move the mandarin over to the 14 gallon? I would personally wait 9 months to a year before adding a Mandy to my tank. I chose that time because I've already gone through 2. You could do what one of our old time members does, and build a brine shrimp feeding apparatus, but that itself comes with a different set of challenges.

 

You never did say how fresh your setup was.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

you could also put a bunch of that cheap filter floss in the other tank...and what about transferring some of the rock over?

you may also need to buy bottled pods for a long while until the population in the current tank can support it....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Grab some chaeto from a fellow reefer and swish it around in your new tank, if it is anything like my chaeto it is chock full of little tidbits your mandirin will love.  What area are you in?

Edited by gwweber
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh and about the aptasia, you will have to learn to deal with them, i have them in my tank, but also have things that eat them.  Very rare to see one in my tank.  Get a few east coast peppermint shrimp.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No no no... Not a dishwashing sponge. One of those bath sponges from walmart or other department stores

Or go to the dollar store and get a shower pouf. I hear that they work great as a pod shelter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would have to agree with Issac. You should have a large population prior to adding. I waited about 2 years and my pair are very fat and happy. Female spawns a few times a week. 3181c484cd1619320db55f17879f61b7.jpg

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would have to agree with Issac. You should have a large population prior to adding. I waited about 2 years and my pair are very fat and happy. Female spawns a few times a week. 3181c484cd1619320db55f17879f61b7.jpg

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Looks like it's not possible to eat themselfs to death. It appears They just blow up like the state puff marshmallow man and party and spawn like crazy.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sounds like your mandarin will starve to death before it eats itself to death. Why don't you move the mandarin over to the 14 gallon? I would personally wait 9 months to a year before adding a Mandy to my tank. I chose that time because I've already gone through 2. You could do what one of our old time members does, and build a brine shrimp feeding apparatus, but that itself comes with a different set of challenges.

 

You never did say how fresh your setup was.

 the current tank with the mandarin has been up and running for a while. long story short, i got this tank from a friend who had it up and running for about 2 years and pretty much forgot about it and failed to maintain for the fish to continue to thrive. I took it off of him for very cheap. there has been an ocellaris in it that has appeared to live after apparently living after not being fed for 2 weeks with nothing else remaining in the tank (must be a trooper). as to moving it to the 14g, i am afraid it might not live in it because of the fact that I have not been properly maintaining that tank either since there is currently nothing in it as I am in a dilemma to sell it or make it into a QT tank. However, with this mandarin I was thinking of making this 14g perhaps into breeding my own live fish (brine shrimp) for the sake of the mandarin. as for the 14g, it has been up and running for a year now, and as stated I can see that plenty of copepods are thriving around with no fish/predators around since I have removed everything from this tank. the question is now how to transfer the copepods over without transferring the aiptasia as well.

 

 

Grab some chaeto from a fellow reefer and swish it around in your new tank, if it is anything like my chaeto it is chock full of little tidbits your mandirin will love.  What area are you in?

I was actually thinking of this idea since I was looking for some chaeto anyways to throw in my sump area and found out through research that copepods/amphipods thrive on these if they are present in a reefer's tank. I am in the fair lakes area (between fairfax and chantilly, va)

 

 

I would have to agree with Issac. You should have a large population prior to adding. I waited about 2 years and my pair are very fat and happy. Female spawns a few times a week. 3181c484cd1619320db55f17879f61b7.jpg

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

i was aware of this warning from a fellow reefer friend and from personal research about adding mandarins to a tank. However, I wanted to take a risk anyways in hope it would work because I absolutely love the Green/Red Mandarin fish.

 

 

For now, I went to the Petland in Fairfax and talked with Ben. I purchased some Reef Nutrition Tigger Pods for the timebeing. My fish seemed to go crazy over them and ate what seemed to be a good amount of them even though I had fed them just prior, but I am sure with the amount in the bottle plenty were able to find their way down to some rock/sand. Tonight I am going to look in my tank to see if I can see them on my glass since these are a bright red color unlike the typical white ones I am accustomed to seeing in my 14G. I can see my mandarin definitely "hunting" for food differently since adding the bottle and he appears to be much more active and happier in my opinion from what I have observed his prior habits to be. Still looking for a more permanent option rather than having to go to the store and buy bottles of these every once in a while.

 

 

here's a link with some more helpful tips and links to the suggested ideas:

 

http://wamas.org/forums/topic/57047-copepod-breeding-trying-a-diy-set-up-need-help-thoughts-etc/

looking at this forum it seems that "dave w" is the guy that seems to know the best about this. haha. I have looked into the DIY your condo pods, but I was wondering how I could get this set up in my 14G biocube. I feel like a biocube could perhaps be different compared to a standard 14G (or similar size) tank with an external filter or an attached refugium tank. input?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 I have looked into the DIY your condo pods, but I was wondering how I could get this set up in my 14G biocube. I feel like a biocube could perhaps be different compared to a standard 14G (or similar size) tank with an external filter or an attached refugium tank. input?

Hide something like a shower pouf or the like behind some rockwork where it is out of sight but can still get flow. The pods will find it and colonize it as it offers them protection from larger predators.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My frag tank has no fish and is loaded with pods. When lights are on a lot of them walk up to the top of the water. I think they must be attracted to the light. They would be easy to pick off or slurp in a turkey baster

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with moving it to the biocube. If it has pods, it is fine for the fish. Do a 25% water change first and move him over. An "unmaintained tank" can be surprisingly healthy - even more so in some cases.

 

Add a bunch of chaeto to the large tank while your mandarin is not in there so a population can get going.

 

If your larger tank is not populated already I would highly doubt you will be able to successfully start one without a major undertaking. The mandarin will decimate the population before it can get going. Even chaeto or a sponge will be a waste unless it is a massive wad of chaeto - enough to hide breeding pods very well. You will be constantly replenishing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why must the coolest livestock be some of the most difficult to maintain? Bah humbug. I just want a mandarin / sun coral / gorgonian / sea horse nano tank darn it! Is that too much to ask?!  :angry:

 

Tchun, how big is the 'established' mandarin tank? Just curious.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why must the coolest livestock be some of the most difficult to maintain? Bah humbug. I just want a mandarin / sun coral / gorgonian / sea horse nano tank darn it! Is that too much to ask?!  :angry:

 

Tchun, how big is the 'established' mandarin tank? Just curious.

The size of my established mandarin tank is a 40G.

 

 

Hide something like a shower pouf or the like behind some rockwork where it is out of sight but can still get flow. The pods will find it and colonize it as it offers them protection from larger predators.

I am going to invest in a shower pouf for now to transfer over some pods from the 14G. I am aware that I should leave it in at least a full day before moving out and over. When I was at Petland the other day, Ben also told me that I could simply try to pick up some of the rocks from the 14G and move them over to sit in my larger tank for a few hours and just take out before I go to sleep to avoid transfer of other bacteria. I really do not want to have to move the mandarin over to the 14G because it just looks so ddarn beautiful with the lights in my 40G and everything else. My 14G is just a basic single led strip with nothing in it. Can't bare to watch him in such a lesser tank when I love staring at my 40G whenever I am home. I have already noticed my fire red shrimp in my 40G even cleaning the mandarin once in a while so he must be comfortable already and do not want to disturb in it when he is already in a delicate situation at the moment in my opinion.

 

My frag tank has no fish and is loaded with pods. When lights are on a lot of them walk up to the top of the water. I think they must be attracted to the light. They would be easy to pick off or slurp in a turkey baster

I might also do this idea if I see plenty of pods at the time in my 14G.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another random update, but after looking at my tank last night and this morning before going to work I failed to see any of the bright red copepods from last night. I am hoping they were able to find their way into the rocks to hide for the time-being. However my mandarin does seem to be "hunting" differently then noticed before the addition of pods. I do not know how long this bottle will last now after reading some comments that the pods might not even have enough time to reproduce before the mandarin "decimates" the population according to lutz123. Might just dip some rocks from my 14G every few days then........possible solution maybe? Leave the 14G alone to allow the pods to continue to thrive and just transfer rocks over once in a while or a shower pouf? Can the pods thrive in "lifeless" tank (i.e. no fish or corals), or should I maybe just throw in a few pellets of food once in a while? I assume they need to eat something too? Haha

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And MrSexyShrimp, I know right? Tell me about it. Everything I want is difficult to maintain. Even the corals. I am pretty sure everyone is like this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

SIGH   I have so many pods in my frag tank that my tangs are covered with them when they first start swimming around in the am and you have to scrape the glass to view the coral.  BTW   my Manderin is soooo fat and happy!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...