Amphipod population and the mandarin dragonette

You'd need a LOT more rock with lots of spaces the fish can't get into for an intank 'safe area'.

Small tank/container with a single airline can be a copepod hatchery.

 

could you mabey build a small tank and grow pods to put into there if the population gets low would be cheeper than buying a bottle every week.

 

you can make in-tank fuges or a hob fuge might be the way to go for you if you really want one before you make your real fuge.

 

How big is the tank? In a large enough tank - say over 200 gallons - you can have enough rock to support a single mandarin. With tanks smaller - you are going to need a refugium or constant additions of bottled pods - which can become very expensive!

In either event - you are going to want the refugium or liverock WELL established - at least 6 months - more like a year to be sure - to have a sustainable population.

 

agreed i hade a manderins in my 20 gallon and she ate me out of house and home even with bottled pods she didnt starve but did choke on a pice of sand . will get one in my new 75 after about a year or better though.

 

that alone should be enough reason not to get a dragonette. im not sure what size tank you have or your set up but personally dont feel that 15lbs of LR is sufficient enough.

 

I trufually think it can be but I dont think its ideal. one of my friends in school hade one in a 10 gallon with only 20 lbs and it was a ton of work but she live for 3 years before he got rid of her.

 

ugh dos he really need LR? well obviously for the tank but for pods? just set up a fuge... in the sump or another tank altogether; simple as that

 

im curious to know what type of pods are sold in those bottles you buy? and how much are they?

 

of course. rock and substrate are the first place the pods will reproduce. IT would be smart to have a refugium to cultivate pods without diturbance, but once they get to the main display the pods need a place to hide. A mandrin will decimate a pod population on a surface of live rock of only 15lbs in short time. piles of rock rubble in the tank will help the pods hide and reproduce in the main tank while LR and chaeto in a fuge will continue to provide a reproduction station.