Timing of adding copepods and buying anthias

[Hitchhik3r]

I am interested in buying some evansi anthias but keep reading to wait until your tank matures and has a healthy copepod population. I have a section in my sump for a refugium that I am not using. I am thinking of throwing in a sponge filter and a bottle of copepods there to kickstart a population. About how soon after this can I safely add some anthias to my tank?

 

[Miami Reef]

Anthias won‘t get their nutritional requirements from the benthis copepods we get.

Anthias can go in any tank as long as it gets multiple feedings a day.

Mandarins, on other hand, need a stable copepod population.

 

[ClownSchool]

Once you add the pods, dosing phytoplankton daily will help a lot too.

 

[Hitchhik3r]

Anthias won‘t get their nutritional requirements from the benthis copepods we get.

Anthias can go in any tank as long as it gets multiple feedings a day.

Mandarins, on other hand, need a stable copepod population.

Got it. And my understanding is mainly frozen food for the anthias correct? Which means no automatic feeding system would suffice.

And if I want a Mandarin, how soon do you think I can get after dosing my first pod ?

 

[Lavey29]

Got it. And my understanding is mainly frozen food for the anthias correct? Which means no automatic feeding system would suffice.

And if I want a Mandarin, how soon do you think I can get after dosing my first pod ?

You need a very established tank with a very healthy pod population and continual supply of pods for mandarin. They eat thousands per day. Typically one year or older tank.

 

[Hitchhik3r]

You need a very established tank with a very healthy pod population and continual supply of pods for mandarin. They eat thousands per day. Typically one year or older tank.

Got it. So dose the pods and feed daily for one year before adding the Mandarin. Are pods also what's needed if I ever want to get a copperband butterfly?

 

[Lavey29]

Got it. So dose the pods and feed daily for one year before adding the Mandarin. Are pods also what's needed if I ever want to get a copperband butterfly?

I wouldn't say pods are required for CB. They are grazers but get fairly large so you need like a 75g tank for those guys.

 

[Miami Reef]

Got it. And my understanding is mainly frozen food for the anthias correct? Which means no automatic feeding system would suffice.

And if I want a Mandarin, how soon do you think I can get after dosing my first pod ?

You can definitely put pellets or flakes in an auto feeder. A lot of anthias owners do that.

I have great success with TDO Chroma Boost with my anthias. I highly recommend that food.

 

[GSnake]

i would buy a mandarin that eats frozen. typically the captive bred ones will, and wild caught do not right away.

just ask the LFS to feed them, whether wild or captive bred, and if it eats frozen you are in a good position for its care long term!.

a refugium is a great idea, mine is flourishing with pods and supports a red dragonet that doesnt eat frozen.

 

[ggNoRe]

In my experience all of these fish you should introduce before adding other more aggressive fish like any damsel (including clownfish) or tangs. These fish are very timid and last to get to the food. I've finally had success but to be honest it took 2 mandarins and 9 (yes 9! ) copperbands. For mandarin and Copperband I had success by turning off all flow and getting frozen mysis brine mix right in front of them. Evansi have super high metabolisms so I would start with feeding frozen mysis/brine 3-4 times a day. Once they get eating well you can introduce pellets and feed a little less frequently but make sure they are fat first.

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