Mandarin Goby -

reefnewb70 · Jan 28, 2022

I am purchasing a mandarin goby. I have Carib Sea live rock in my tank that is almost a year old. Will this rock have produced copepods for it to eat? I know you can purchase them but will I need to?

Jekyl · Jan 28, 2022

reefnewb70 said:
I am purchasing a mandarin goby. I have Carib Sea live rock in my tank that is almost a year old. Will this rock have produced copepods for it to eat? I know you can purchase them but will I need to?

Tank size and do you have a refugium?

reefnewb70 · Jan 28, 2022

90gal. No refugium

Jekyl · Jan 28, 2022

reefnewb70 said:
90gal. No refugium

Should be fine. You don't need to add pods either.

Karen00 · Jan 28, 2022

reefnewb70 said:
I am purchasing a mandarin goby. I have Carib Sea live rock in my tank that is almost a year old. Will this rock have produced copepods for it to eat? I know you can purchase them but will I need to?

I am assuming you mean the CaribSea LifeRock (which is not live). I have that rock and it doesn't produce copepods. You have to buy them to keep the tank stocked. It is best to add the pods to a refugium so they can reproduce otherwise you will probably have to keep restocking your tank unless you get an explosive reproduction rate.

Jekyl · Jan 28, 2022

Karen00 said:
I am assuming you mean the CaribSea LifeRock (which is not live). I have that rock and it doesn't produce copepods. You have to buy them to keep the tank stocked. It is best to add the pods to a refugium so they can reproduce otherwise you will probably have to keep restocking your tank unless you get an explosive reproduction rate.

Not true. I have a 90g no sump and have had a mandarin for years. Buying pods is something that is only needed for small tanks that don't produce enough on their own. It is next to impossible to prevent pods from showing up naturally in a tank. One person actually high temp treated everything before introducing it to their tank, even then pods still showed up.

design.maddie · Jan 28, 2022

Back on subject, do you have any fish that are currently pecking at your pod population?

reefnewb70 · Jan 28, 2022

design.maddie said:
Back on subject, do you have any fish that are currently pecking at your pod population?

We have two clowns. Watchman Gobby and a young yellow tang.

Tonycass12 · Jan 28, 2022

You should be able to see pods on your glass if you have a healthy population.

reefnewb70 · Jan 28, 2022

I keep the glass very clean. We do get a residue on the glass after a couple days. Not sure I know if that would be them lol

Jekyl · Jan 28, 2022

reefnewb70 said:
I keep the glass very clean. We do get a residue on the glass after a couple days. Not sure I know if that would be them lol

After the lights go out shine a flash light on the tank. Any white specs on the glass or critters scurrying on the rocks are pods.

reefnewb70 · Jan 28, 2022

Jekyl said:
After the lights go out shine a flash light on the tank. Any white specs on the glass or critters scurrying on the rocks are pods.

Honestly do that from time to time to see where my yellow tang is sleeping. Never seen movement. Will try tonight. Maybe I have not noticed as I was not looking.

Jekyl · Jan 28, 2022

reefnewb70 said:
Honestly do that from time to time to see where my yellow tang is sleeping. Never seen movement. Will try tonight. Maybe I have not noticed as I was not looking.

They're very tiny. As I said before, it's basically impossible to not have copepods in your system. If concerned and for peace of mind you can always just order some from algae barn.

Tonycass12 · Jan 28, 2022

reefnewb70 said:
Honestly do that from time to time to see where my yellow tang is sleeping. Never seen movement. Will try tonight. Maybe I have not noticed as I was not looking.

If I do that on my tank it looks like thousands of tiny dots running across the glass, sand and rocks. If you actually have a decent pod population its hard to miss in my opinion.

reefnewb70 · Jan 28, 2022

Tonycass12 said:
If I do that on my tank it looks like thousands of tiny dots running across the glass, sand and rocks. If you actually have a decent pod population its hard to miss in my opinion.

Yes just looked close lol glass is full!

reefnewb70 · Jan 28, 2022

reefnewb70 said:
Yes just looked close lol glass is full!

That’s the film I thought was film lol. They are moving.

Karen00 · Jan 28, 2022

Jekyl said:
Not true. I have a 90g no sump and have had a mandarin for years. Buying pods is something that is only needed for small tanks that don't produce enough on their own. It is next to impossible to prevent pods from showing up naturally in a tank. One person actually high temp treated everything before introducing it to their tank, even then pods still showed up.

Yep. That's why I said if the OP gets a population explosion in the DT then all is fine because it will probably remain stable. If not the OP will have to restock or possibly get a refugium. I didn't say it won't in tank only. I only pointed out what the different scenarios are. The OP just has to try it and see what works/doesn't work for their setup.

tdyrkacz · Jan 28, 2022

I recommend adding pods...one bottle per month for 2 or 3 months to establish a population. After that you should be good.

reefnewb70 · Jan 28, 2022

my lfs is out of them. I ordered a bottle from copepods.ca. I look to have a full film of them so ill add it for him when in.

reefnewb70 · Jan 28, 2022

We brought her home and she has not stopped eating off the rocks. She was famished. Our glass is crawling with copepods. I never noticed them before. I assumed film and I kept scraping them away daily.