Copapods and phyto

[CannaJake]

Hello reefers! So I recently purchased a mandarin goby. Ive been holding off as long as I could but I couldn't stand it any longer. I have a healthy copapod population in my tank but seeing as how this is their primary (and basically only) source of food I decided to start breeding my own copapods. Down the rabbit hole I went. 20 or 30 YouTube videos later I was convinced I need to start cultivating my own phyto as well, so I ordered phyto nutrients and a 4 phyto blend from ebay. My plan is to have a 2 gallon copapod jar that I dose with my homegrown phyto in another 2 gallon jar. I have searched the forums but didnt see many threads of people doing all this for one mandarin. Has anyone else gone down this rabbithole? If so any advice, tips, or tricks? As always thank you all in advance for sharing this journey! This forum has helped me immensely on my path!

 

[tbaum101]

I think you're worried about something you already have control over but why the hell not? I've thought of it as well. I dosed a bottle of Tigger Pods every two weeks for 3 months in the beginning and had a mandarin (before he jumped out) and he was fat and happy. This being said, I see me doing this when I'm set up in my man cave for the auxiliary tanks. Go for it

 

[CannaJake]

I think you're worried about something you already have control over but why the hell not? I've thought of it as well. I dosed a bottle of Tigger Pods every two weeks for 3 months in the beginning and had a mandarin (before he jumped out) and he was fat and happy. This being said, I see me doing this when I'm set up in my man cave for the auxiliary tanks. Go for it

My problem is a 12 oz bottle of copas are almost $20 where I live. Ive already dosed like 6 in the last month or two and so my breeder tank I started I dosed with 4 bottles. Thats 10 bottles at $20 apiece. $100 a month is a little rich for my blood for one fish. I figure once I get my colony raging I won't have to buy them again, plus my wrasse and clowns wont mind a few extra snacks. I def dont want my mandarin to starve, thats not cool. So Im hoping to learn from the community not just YouTube.

 

[SanFernandoValleyAIOReef]

Hello reefers! So I recently purchased a mandarin goby. Ive been holding off as long as I could but I couldn't stand it any longer. I have a healthy copapod population in my tank but seeing as how this is their primary (and basically only) source of food I decided to start breeding my own copapods. Down the rabbit hole I went. 20 or 30 YouTube videos later I was convinced I need to start cultivating my own phyto as well, so I ordered phyto nutrients and a 4 phyto blend from ebay. My plan is to have a 2 gallon copapod jar that I dose with my homegrown phyto in another 2 gallon jar. I have searched the forums but didnt see many threads of people doing all this for one mandarin. Has anyone else gone down this rabbithole? If so any advice, tips, or tricks? As always thank you all in advance for sharing this journey! This forum has helped me immensely on my path!

I bought one and a ruby red that was eating frozen from lfs and they were eating good until they jumped out Dx get a lid if you don’t already have had like 5 fish jump n die also look into brine shrimp hatchery and diy mandarin feeder on YouTube, you can also just buy instead of making your own from printed reef I think they just started making them , if you want to culture pods and phyto larger containers (more gallons) will be more stale and less chance of crashing

 

[spielco]

I love my mandarin. I do dose copepods for him 16oz about every month or two and he’s happy as ever. I got lucky and he does grab some brine shrimp and mysis when I feed the fish.

When I deed pods he definitely is happy crawling around hunting them down though!

 

[Sophie"s mom]

I want one so bad! I have been dosing pods monthly for almost a year now! But my problem is I really like the idea of getting one from Biota, but they are so darn small it would get eaten in my tank. I need one that is at least an inch to 1.5 inches.

 

[CannaJake]

I bought one and a ruby red that was eating frozen from lfs and they were eating good until they jumped out Dx get a lid if you don’t already have had like 5 fish jump n die also look into brine shrimp hatchery and diy mandarin feeder on YouTube, you can also just buy instead of making your own from printed reef I think they just started making them , if you want to culture pods and phyto larger containers (more gallons) will be more stale and less chance of crashing

Thank you for the advice! I got a shimp hatchery I just haven't hatched any yet. Thats on my list for today now. I got one from BRS and 2 bottles of eggs so I should have a few hatch. And I def have lids for all my aquariums to keep the fish in and my birds out

 

[CannaJake]

I love my mandarin. I do dose copepods for him 16oz about every month or two and he’s happy as ever. I got lucky and he does grab some brine shrimp and mysis when I feed the fish.

When I deed pods he definitely is happy crawling around hunting them down though!

That is a good looking mandarin! Mine is pretty much only blue. He looks healthy!

 

[CannaJake]

I want one so bad! I have been dosing pods monthly for almost a year now! But my problem is I really like the idea of getting one from Biota, but they are so darn small it would get eaten in my tank. I need one that is at least an inch to 1.5 inches.

Oh yea, I recently lost a clown to one of my Cerianthus and believe me I was not happy. Now my 3 Cerianthus have their own tank.

 

[tbaum101]

My problem is a 12 oz bottle of copas are almost $20 where I live. Ive already dosed like 6 in the last month or two and so my breeder tank I started I dosed with 4 bottles. Thats 10 bottles at $20 apiece. $100 a month is a little rich for my blood for one fish. I figure once I get my colony raging I won't have to buy them again, plus my wrasse and clowns wont mind a few extra snacks. I def dont want my mandarin to starve, thats not cool. So Im hoping to learn from the community not just YouTube.

Ok...You got me...THAT is a little excessive in my opinion. They will breed. You don't have to buy that many. I bought them in the beginning to add to the startup biome and to help avoid the "ugly phase", which I did. I'm 8 months into this hobby and while I haven't bought pods in 3 months, I see mature ones swimming at night, they're in my filter when I clean it. They're everywhere. Every tank is different but in my experience, one bottle every two weeks to establish to population should be just fine. I know they (the mandarin) eat a bunch of them but they can also be trained to eat mysis from what I've seen. Speaking as someone who was constantly told I'm buying things too early all the time, I really think you've primed the pump for a mandarin. If you have enough actual live rock in your tank for the pods to breed in and around, you're good with what you've done. Maybe get some macro algae and stuff it in the rocks in a few places as well. It'll give them more places to breed. These are all things I did and they seemed to work.

 

[Uncle99]

Hello reefers! So I recently purchased a mandarin goby. Ive been holding off as long as I could but I couldn't stand it any longer. I have a healthy copapod population in my tank but seeing as how this is their primary (and basically only) source of food I decided to start breeding my own copapods. Down the rabbit hole I went. 20 or 30 YouTube videos later I was convinced I need to start cultivating my own phyto as well, so I ordered phyto nutrients and a 4 phyto blend from ebay. My plan is to have a 2 gallon copapod jar that I dose with my homegrown phyto in another 2 gallon jar. I have searched the forums but didnt see many threads of people doing all this for one mandarin. Has anyone else gone down this rabbithole? If so any advice, tips, or tricks? As always thank you all in advance for sharing this journey! This forum has helped me immensely on my path!

What size tank?
Amount of rock?
How old?

I’ve not fed my mandarin once since she entered the tank 3 years ago.

In a reasonable size tank with rock and the fish is the only “exclusive” pod eater, should regenerate, but good to add once and variety if you can

It’s so much easier and cheaper to get them feeding this way.

If he’s pecking, he’s fine.

 

[CannaJake]

Ok...You got me...THAT is a little excessive in my opinion. They will breed. You don't have to buy that many. I bought them in the beginning to add to the startup biome and to help avoid the "ugly phase", which I did. I'm 8 months into this hobby and while I haven't bought pods in 3 months, I see mature ones swimming at night, they're in my filter when I clean it. They're everywhere. Every tank is different but in my experience, one bottle every two weeks to establish to population should be just fine. I know they (the mandarin) eat a bunch of them but they can also be trained to eat mysis from what I've seen. Speaking as someone who was constantly told I'm buying things too early all the time, I really think you've primed the pump for a mandarin. If you have enough actual live rock in your tank for the pods to breed in and around, you're good with what you've done. Maybe get some macro algae and stuff it in the rocks in a few places as well. It'll give them more places to breed. These are all things I did and they seemed to work.

Thank you for the advice! I feel like Ive prepped the environment but I dont have a way to see what my pod population really is. I have a hard time seeing them even in my breeding tank. I really want to make sure Im being a good reef parent. I only have a small amount of live rock in my tank and the rest is white base rock that is becoming coralline. One shop I got my base rock from sent me home with one that I discovered had an aptasia on it and the other rock had those weird snails that grow like wires (I forgot the name) and I bought bumblebee snails for it but they couldn't catch up so I had to remove that rock from my quarantinetank after about 2 weeks, the other shop sent me home with one FILLED with bristleworms so I was pretty skeptical of adding anything "live" to my tank that I couldn't meticulously inspect. So in the end I added a couple pieces of live rock that made the cut after quarantine and inspection and the rest is caribsea base rock and I dose with Red Sea KH Coralline Grow.

 

[CannaJake]

What size tank?
Amount of rock?
How old?

I’ve not fed my mandarin once since she entered the tank 3 years ago.

In a reasonable size tank with rock and the fish is the only “exclusive” pod eater, should regenerate, but good to add once and variety if you can

It’s so much easier and cheaper to get them feeding this way.

If he’s pecking, he’s fine.

The tank is pretty new. Just over a month, 75 gallons, around 50-60 pounds of rock. I have a lot of life in there already especially for such a young tank but I dose with beneficial bacteria one to two times a week and Ive only lost 2 corals and one fish (the fish was eaten by my Cerianthus). My clowns and wrasse also eat the copapods. I haven't seen my yellow tang eat any but as an algae eater I dont see him intentionally going for them. I know they are healthy for my ecosystem though so I would love to get them really rocking in the tank.

 

[Uncle99]

The tank is pretty new. Just over a month, 75 gallons, around 50-60 pounds of rock. I have a lot of life in there already especially for such a young tank but I dose with beneficial bacteria one to two times a week and Ive only lost 2 corals and one fish (the fish was eaten by my Cerianthus). My clowns and wrasse also eat the copapods. I haven't seen my yellow tang eat any but as an algae eater I dont see him intentionally going for them. I know they are healthy for my ecosystem though so I would love to get them really rocking in the tank.

Good size, nice rock, maybe young, but in say 3 months, cant see the need to dose pods at all. He’s the only exclusive pod eater, the others eat a mix of other things.

If you like making pods, go for it, but down the road, won’t need that……unless you add more fish that only eat pods.

Good luck.
.enjoy

 

[CannaJake]

Good size, nice rock, maybe young, but in say 3 months, cant see the need to dose pods at all. He’s the only exclusive pod eater, the others eat a mix of other things.

If you like making pods, go for it, but down the road, won’t need that……unless you add more fish that only eat pods.

Good luck.
.enjoy

The way I understand it you pretty much cant OD pods, is this correct? My snails, copas, and conchs do a heck of a good job keeping my sand clean. I have the Bahama sand so its super fine sand particles and i cant really vac it or it just sucks the sand out of the tank. Im stumped on how to clean the sand without sucking it all out.

 

[bradreef]

I grow phyto and pods primarily because of the mandarin I have. You could easily grow both without much effort and 10 minutes of weekly service.

For air. Buy a cheap dual air pump like this

Aquarium Air Pump,Marpros Air Pump for Fish Tank 2 Outlet,Adjustable air bubbler for Fish Tank,Super Quiet Oxygen Pump for Aaquarium 20 to 40 Gallon with Accessories https://a.co/d/1AK6Gep

One side will aerated the pods and the other for the phyto. Pods need little air and phyto you want a bit. You need adjustments valves to get the air right.

Pods
A 2 gallon jug should work fine. You simply add a little phtyo ever 2-3 days to give the culture a green tint. It should clear up and then add more. I use these to culture Pods

Robot or human?

Phyto
You want a single strain. Nanno is the easiest I have found and I would recommend. I use 2 littler bottles because they are easy and after 2 or 3 uses I throw them away. When you harvest weekly you want to switch to a newly sterilized bottle. I use bleach water to clean my bottles between use.
Now you need a cheap light. Almost anything will do and you run it for 12-14 hours per day. This would work well.
AQUANEAT LED Aquarium Light for 12 to 16 Inch Fish Tank, Auto On Off with Timer, Full Spectrum, Adjustable Brightness, Daylight Moonlight Mode, for Fresh Water Low-to-Mid Light Plants https://a.co/d/eUYknLC

 

[Uncle99]

The way I understand it you pretty much cant OD pods, is this correct? My snails, copas, and conchs do a heck of a good job keeping my sand clean. I have the Bahama sand so it’s super fine sand particles and i cant really vac it or it just sucks the sand out of the tank. Im stumped on how to clean the sand without sucking it all out.

I think you can overdose most things.
Overdose pods, if it got out of hand, sure, may create an ammonia spike as they die off, or just waste a ton of money on what populates free!

The system can only support so many based on system age and size.

The sand should stay white in a stable mature system, I’ve not cleaned in more than a year now.

Good luck

 

[spielco]

That is a good looking mandarin! Mine is pretty much only blue. He looks healthy!

Thank you. He’s been a good one for us! Got one bully(purple psuedo) that messes with him time to time but other than that he just hops around and cruises the tank. So much fun to have.

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

You do not want to raise a "blend" of Phyto, usually the stronger strain will win out. Get single strains, probably Tet and Iso. @ReefLegends is just one state over so you can get the stuff pretty quick I would imagine. Raising Phyto, Pods and Rotifers are pretty easy, most of the time if I lose a culture it is on me and my laziness. You can also do window sill cultures with a north facing window and some frost over the window. (south maybe too intense).
The rigid line is from Depot in the irrigation section, the corks are from Amazon, I use the Alita air pump to power the bubbles and have air to spare and it is quiet. I used to have 2-3 small air pumps going, but the rate is variable depending on the different levels of water, it was a pain.

 

[tbaum101]

Thank you for the advice! I feel like Ive prepped the environment but I dont have a way to see what my pod population really is. I have a hard time seeing them even in my breeding tank. I really want to make sure Im being a good reef parent. I only have a small amount of live rock in my tank and the rest is white base rock that is becoming coralline. One shop I got my base rock from sent me home with one that I discovered had an aptasia on it and the other rock had those weird snails that grow like wires (I forgot the name) and I bought bumblebee snails for it but they couldn't catch up so I had to remove that rock from my quarantinetank after about 2 weeks, the other shop sent me home with one FILLED with bristleworms so I was pretty skeptical of adding anything "live" to my tank that I couldn't meticulously inspect. So in the end I added a couple pieces of live rock that made the cut after quarantine and inspection and the rest is caribsea base rock and I dose with Red Sea KH Coralline Grow.

Good Lord! Find another LFS! There's always gonna be some stuff on them. I did this all back in the mid 90's and live rock was actually Alive. It was like Forrest Gump and Chocolate...You never knew what you were gonna get. But one thing that never happened was the "Ugly phase". To me, Biome is the most important thing. It sounds like you've done what you can to start it up but got burnt on some hitchhikers. Deal with those as best you can. Get a natural predator for them...More than one type of possible. Always better that way. Nature knows what it's doing.