copepods and my mandrains

[Poor Boy]

what is the best way to promote a decent copepod growth? i have two mandarins and im just now learning that they feed off copepods.

[Zack]

Yeah, mandarins are beautiful but a tad harder to keep. You can try seeding your pod population with chaeto from others tanks or even seed with bottled pods.

[Poor Boy]

they are extremely beautiful! my kids and i have already spent a decent time in front of the tank focusing on just them. ill look into the bottled pods. could i fit the chaeto in a the wet/ dry box?

[mkengr45]

Should have done a little research before picking up a mandarin...especially a pair. Hope you have a well matured decent size tank with a healthy pod population, otherwise they will likely starve. Not trying to discourage you, but this is fairly basic info for that fish. Try adding bottled pods or live brine shrimp.

[Big_Pun]

they are extremely beautiful! my kids and i have already spent a decent time in front of the tank focusing on just them. ill look into the bottled pods. could i fit the chaeto in a the wet/ dry box?

ya not a good reason to keep them, they are very beautiful fish with special needs to thrive. bottled pods will only get you so far as they eat constantly. if you buy a bottle every week or two you may be able to keep them alive. look at there stomachs a healthy mandarin will have a full looking stomach, if they are not getting enough food the stomach will look caved in. they also will sometime a take to a food called ova, this can be thawed out and squirted on them. if they like it they will pick at it. good luck

[Poor Boy]

they came with the tank...

[jrossjr79]

wth is ova?

[Big_Pun]

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=18988

[Big_Pun]

they came with the tank...

that's good, ask the previous owner if they where eating any frozen or pellet food.

[Poor Boy]

i can ask, but beside that...

is there anything i can do with this wet/ dry that can promote pod growth?

i do know that the previous owner had a DIY filter with some sort of media bag which aloud growth for the pods. it was a bit outdated so i upgraded.

[ramsey]

i can ask, but beside that...

is there anything i can do with this wet/ dry that can promote pod growth?

i do know that the previous owner had a DIY filter with some sort of media bag which aloud growth for the pods. it was a bit outdated so i upgraded.

Macro algae like cheato is great for this. Live rock rubble would work well too, but can become a nitrate factory. If you use live rock rubble or media like it, it might not be a problem if you stay on top of it and don't let detritus collect. You might shake it out real good once every week or two. Also, using a filter sock before it can help. Is the media box a trickle filter (does water trickle through it) or does it hold water?

[Poor Boy]

its an eshop wet/ dry with the overflow and has bio balls.