[randymon]

So which pods is it that mandarins eat? the small flea like ones on my glass, The fast moving ones with the straight tail, or the slower moving shrimp like ones?

[Reefland]

Both. Before considering a Madarin Dragonette, make sure to not only have enough pods intially but have plenty of liverock and preferably a refugium that provides a safe haven for the populations to continually develop.

[randymon]

have a 3 yr. old 55, 50 lbs of live rock, & a cpr hob refugium teeming with all sorts of pods, just wanted to make sure my mandarin is getting enough of the right kind of foods.

[kevinpo]

The majority of it's food will be the small copepods as they fit better in its small mouth. Amphipods when full grown are too big and mysid shrimp are too fast.

Regards,
Kevin

[NoSump]

Originally Posted by kevinpo

The majority of it's food will be the small copepods as they fit better in its small mouth. Amphipods when full grown are too big and mysid shrimp are too fast.

Regards,
Kevin

Do other carnivors and omnivors in the tank also feed on the copepods and amphipods?

[randymon]

In my refugium there are hundreds of tiny bugs that swim in groups. Are these also copepods?, as I suck some of them up daily with a turkey baster and put in my main tank.

[kevinpo]

Do other carnivors and omnivors in the tank also feed on the copepods and amphipods?

Some do and some don't it really depends on the individual fish. I had a pair of clown fish that learned to hunt pods in the corner of the tank when the lights first came on in the morning. Most of the micro fauna will stay hidden during the day and only come out at night if there are predetors in the tank. In an empty tank they will come out during the day in great numbers.

Some of the fish that are real pod hunters are wrasses, hawk fish, and dottybacks. These fish also eat prepared foods and will often out-compete a mandarin for food reducing the pod population enough that the mandarin starves.

Regards,
Kevin

[kevinpo]

In my refugium there are hundreds of tiny bugs that swim in groups. Are these also copepods?

Do they look like baby fish and swim rapidly? These are mysid shrimp. Great food for your fish.

Regards,
Kevin

[scubadude]

Here is a couple of awesome links from Marc

http://www.melevsreef.com/mandarin_care.html

http://www.melevsreef.com/mandarin_diner.html

[scubadude]

Amphipod


Copepod


Mysid shrimp

[randymon]

Can I assume that since I am seeing pods on my glass that there is enough to keep him happy? I do have a orchid dottyback but he seems to prefer prepared foods. I do think I will try the mandarin diner tho just in case.

[kevinpo]

Awesome pics Rocky! Thanks for posting them

Can I assume that since I am seeing pods on my glass that there is enough to keep him happy?

Yes, if you can see them during the daytime then it's liklely that the dottyback (or other fishes) are not actively hunting them. Just keep an eye on them and make sure to take action if the mandarin looks thin or you can't see anymore pods.

HTH,
Kevin