pods for mandrin

I have 125g w/125lbs of lr. My tank has been set-up for 18months. I waited to get my mandrin until my tank matured, but know I am reading that my mandrin will deplete my tank of pods in about three months. I don't have a refugium or a sump. What I do have is a hob filter and a hob protien skimmer. They both have compartments fpr fber fill. Can I grow pods there? I have also heard about pod piles. Can I use these 2 things to grow my pods?

 

Dr. Rhodes shows how to set up a separate pod culture on this link.

Welcome to Essential Live Feeds! Buy Live Copepods Here!

 

The HOB probably won't have enough surface area. Unless it's at least 10g total HOB volume I wouldn't try it.

I'd look into running a fuge under the tank (pickup a 20g - a whole $40...) and run an overflow with a standpipe or something

For now, I'd make what are called 'pod piles', just stacks of LR that the mandarin can't get into.

 

I only have 80 lbs of LR and my mandarin is a fat little sausage. I suspect he eats more then just "pods"....

 

Thanks!! I guess I am gonna try some piles. I really don't want to get into the whole over flow thing. I actually have a wet/dry filter but I don't use it for that reason. We have to many power outages in my area. I am glad to hear that your mandrin is fat OMARD. How long have you had him? I thought that I had done enough research on the mandrin to only read that they usually starve after a few months without a fuge to replenish their food source.

 

Pod condo's work well too.

 

my only question is how can a mandarin (who's active during the day) eat pods that in my experience are nocturnal? unless you're talking about copepods only (which in my understanding are small red things)... i have a ton of amphipods that only come out at night, and i've never seen anything red crawling/swimming around in my tank.. maybe i should buy a bottle of copepods and pour the whole thing into my tank so i can prepare for a mandarin in the far future... maybe go ahead and make a few "pod piles" as well...

 

You other fish will eat pods too so if you do that, you'd basically just be feeding your fish.

 

They MOSTLY eat copepods. However, they will eat small amphipods and small isopods as well (depending on the size of the mandarin).

Additionally, most copepods from reef area's are white or beige in color and if you don't have a fish that eats them in your tank, after a while they figure it out and they are no longer nocturnal. Don't clean your front glass for a while (even better, just leave a small 3 by 3 inch patch that you don't clean) until you get a little phyto bloom on the glass or on that patch. Then take a magnifying glass and look during the day. You're going to be shocked.

 

amcarrig, i figured some of them would be eaten, but not before most of them found a home in the rocks somewhere.... i mean, i only have a few fish, and they know when something's dropped into the tank, but only 2 of them will agressively see what it is/eat it...

inwall, are you suggesting that i'll see copepods if i do that? oh, one more thing, i might like to add about the pod-piles... someone once recommended to me to cut a shrimp into real small pieces and put a piece inside on of the piles...attracts pods and gives them something to eat... this happened when i thought my tank had completely crashed, and i was considering buying some amphipods from IPSF.com... man, i'm glad i didn't do that now! i thought all of my amphipods and bristleworms were gone, but now i have more than ever! but anyway, he told me to put the piece of shrimp against the glass, and then surround it with rubble, so then i can see when the pods come out...