Mandarin and Refugium Problem

[Contraband629]

Hey all,
So I need your opinions regarding a certain matter. I have a 24g JBJ nano and I would like to get a mandarin dragonet eventually. The problem with such a small tank is the food supply since they only eat copepods. So in order to do this I would thinking of a HOB refugium with live rock so the pods can thrive and make their way into the tank. My question is how big of a fuge do you think I will need? I've seen some CPR HOB fuges but they seem quite small to build a large enough pod population. The reason I want an HOB is so I don't have to drill the back of my tank. At the moment the back filtration is already a small refug. It has chemipure and purigen in the first compartment, live rock with bioballs and chaeto in the second, and return pump in the third. Anybody have any experience in these matters?

 

[GreshamH]

They eat way more then just copepods... amphipod larvea, mysid larvea, etc :0

The CPRs will work fine, you just need to feed[/] the "pods" Phytoplankton is best for this purpose.

 

[Psychographic]

I think you are going to be hard pressed to get a pod population large enough to sustain a Manderin in a fuge that will fit on the back of a 24. If I were you, I would concentrate on either finding a Mandy that is eating frozen food or weaning one onto it yourself. From My experience, the Psychadelics are easier to get eating frozen.

I have found Nutrimar Ova an excellent food to start with. You could also start feeding live BS and slowly adding some frozen with it and slowly changing the ratio to all frozen. Then start mixing in small frozen Mysis and then changing the ratio of them until it is on 100% Mysis.

 

[GreshamH]

I grow "pods" for a living and see no issues with the size of a CPR HOT fuge and amount of "pods" that could reproduce in them. The trick is to feed them. Lack of food is the main reason for a small population.

 

[Tumbleweed]

I grow "pods" for a living and see no issues with the size of a CPR HOT fuge and amount of "pods" that could reproduce in them. The trick is to feed them. Lack of food is the main reason for a small population.

Gresh,
What is your recommended feeding amount using RF Phytoplankton for say a 10g refugium to help grow out the Pods population?

 

[Psychographic]

I grow "pods" for a living and see no issues with the size of a CPR HOT fuge and amount of "pods" that could reproduce in them. The trick is to feed them. Lack of food is the main reason for a small population.

Would the amount of food needed be a nutrient problem for a tank this size? Not arguing your point as you said you raise them, just curious.

 

[GreshamH]

Drop or two a gallon, daily. I'd cut off the pump feeding the fuge for a few hours to help the "pods" capture the feed. I would also use Roti-Feast (RF) (same dose as PF) in conjunction with Phyto-Feast (PF) as so the mysids and amphipod adults eat that and not the copepods. Both mysids and amphipods are highly carnivorous and love to hunt little copepods. They'll capture what ever is easiest so RF would be consumed before live copepods were.

 

[GreshamH]

I grow "pods" for a living and see no issues with the size of a CPR HOT fuge and amount of "pods" that could reproduce in them. The trick is to feed them. Lack of food is the main reason for a small population.

Would the amount of food needed be a nutrient problem for a tank this size? Not arguing your point as you said you raise them, just curious.

If eaten the feed would be no more a nutrient source as the other stuff you'd attempt to feed the mandarin. In fact, a couple missed pellets would be far more a nutrient issue then a few drops of phyto.

 

[Contraband629]

Gresh,

I've looked at the CPR HOB fuges and the only one that will fit my tank is the "small" fuge which I believe is only about 2.5 gallons. If you really think that is enough for a pod population to thrive how would you suggest I fill it? All live rock or live rock with chaeto, etc....

 

[reefdan]

who in the SB carries nutrimar ova?