Establishing Copepods in Biocube 32 for Mandarin Goby

[Avictus]

Hey everyone,

So I've made the purchase and will be using the second half of chamber 2 as a refugium. I've purchased the In-Tank refugium basket, some chaeto, tiger/tisbe pods, phytoplankton to feed them and a chaetomax light which will be setup on a reverse light cycle. I'll be removing the sponge as well between chambers 2 and 3 to assure the pods get swept up and pushed into the display area.

Once fully setup, I'm looking to maybe take it a step farther and see if its possible to use this setup as a way to establish a copepod haven where they could breed on their own and provide a steady food supply for a future Mandarin Goby.

So the questions here are;

Is this possible with what I'm doing?

Has anyone else had luck doing this or something similar?

Is adding the pods to the refugium with the chaeto enough of an environment to let them thrive and reproduce on their own?

Concerns;
- All the live rock I have now won't fit back there so that's a no go for right now.
- If reproduction can happen, is it enough to feed (1) Mandarin Goby or do I need to constantly add more pods as time goes by?

Tank:
32 Coralife Biocube (Established for 2 months)
Rio 6HF HyperFlow Water Pump - 350 GPH
Hydor Koralia Nano 425
25 pounds of live rock
7 pounds of dead rock (getting more color every week)
10 pounds of argonite sand
2 Ocellaris Clownfish
9 Trochus snails
2 Scarlet Skunk Shrimps

Water parameters:
Salinity: 1.025
pH: 8.0 (today)
Ammonio: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm

Filtration:

Chamber 1:
- Coralife 29 skimmer

Chamber 2:
In-Tank Media Basket
- Filter floss up top
- Purigen in the middle
- Chemipure Elite at the bottom

Chamber 3:
- Return pump (Rio 6HF HyperFlow Water Pump - 350 GPH)

 

[Phelipe's Ocean]

I hate to be THAT guy but a Mandarin Goby in a 30 gallon is bound to go wrong. If it was a caprive bred one that was trained on prepared foods it would be possible but a 30 gallon can’t produce enough pods to support a mandarin. Even people with 80 gallon tanks struggle heavily trying to keep enough pods for a mandarin, a 30 is just not enough surface area or rockwork. Unless it is eating prepared foods this will most likely not work out.

 

[Avictus]

I hate to be THAT guy but a Mandarin Goby in a 30 gallon is bound to go wrong. If it was a caprive bred one that was trained on prepared foods it would be possible but a 30 gallon can’t produce enough pods to support a mandarin. Even people with 80 gallon tanks struggle heavily trying to keep enough pods for a mandarin, a 30 is just not enough surface area or rockwork. Unless it is eating prepared foods this will most likely not work out.

Appreciate the honesty and candor Phelipe. Worried I may be shooting to far.

 

[Phelipe's Ocean]

I think you should try to train it on frozen foods, if it doesnt budge have someone to take it a mature tank. I would try for about 2 weeks if it doesnt eat I would find a tank that can handle such high pod populations before its too late. Try a couple of frozen foods, and hatch out some baby brine shrimp and give that a shot with the pumps off. LRS Frenzy has been a great food for me to get finicky eaters to get going. The have a special finicky formula as well which is great. Hopefully the clowns wont be too much competition to get give the mandarin a chance to check out the food.

 

[Medic58]

Appreciate the honesty and candor Phelipe. Worried I may be shooting to far.

You can do this. I have one in a cube just like the one you have it’s the only fish in there. I had to rescues this little guy from the lfs. The lady told me he was eating frozen. I said no way these fish like live foods. Start seeding the tank now before you buy the fish. It takes three weeks for the pods to reproduce and grow into bigger numbers. I have rock and bio media in the back chambers of the tank so the pods can reproduce back there. I have pods on my glass and I can see them on top of the sand if I look closely. Algae barn sells the media as well. I get auto delivery on the mixed pods 5236 every month from algae barn to replenish what the fish have eaten. I also feed live baby brine shrimp that I get from my lfs they cling to the right rocks for another food source in addition to the pods the fish search.

 

[Medic58]

I think you should try to train it on frozen foods, if it doesnt budge have someone to take it a mature tank. I would try for about 2 weeks if it doesnt eat I would find a tank that can handle such high pod populations before its too late. Try a couple of frozen foods, and hatch out some baby brine shrimp and give that a shot with the pumps off. LRS Frenzy has been a great food for me to get finicky eaters to get going. The have a special finicky formula as well which is great. Hopefully the clowns wont be too much competition to get give the mandarin a chance to check out the food.

I agree sir