can i get a mandarin?

[CoralBeautyII]

Id really like to get a mandarin, i had one before in a nano cube that starved to death even though there were amphipods crawling all over the place.
So now i have a 220g bare bottom reef setup for about 8 months now. I have amphipods, although i dont see them i do see their molts.
Am i safe to add a mandarin?? Do they actually eat amphipods? I dont have those tiny copepod bugs on the glass, my glass is mad thick so maybe i just cant see them lol
So should i?

[kau_cinta_ku]

how long has the tank been setup? I am guessing you have 200+ lbs of LR. do you have a fuge setup?

I would say if the tank has been setup for at least 6 monthes and you have the 200 lbs of LR even less you prob. have a good sized pod population.

amphipods I beleive are to big for them to eat though.

I think you should be fine.

[CoralBeautyII]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12548789#post12548789 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kau_cinta_ku
how long has the tank been setup? I am guessing you have 200+ lbs of LR. do you have a fuge setup?

I would say if the tank has been setup for at least 6 monthes and you have the 200 lbs of LR even less you prob. have a good sized pod population.

amphipods I beleive are to big for them to eat though.

I think you should be fine.

about 250 lbs live rock. the tanks been setup around 8 months
yeah the pod molts i see are huge. I dont know what other kinds of pods i have.
I run a UV sterilizer also, not sure if that has an impact on the pod life

[BangkokMatt]

Running a UV will have a dramatic effect on pod life. You should stop running it well in advance of getting a mandarin.

[CoralBeautyII]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12549265#post12549265 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BangkokMatt
Running a UV will have a dramatic effect on pod life. You should stop running it well in advance of getting a mandarin.

ahh ok
no mandarin for me then :(
i need the uv, dont ask why since i dont know why, i think i just have OCD when it comes to uv's lol

[sjj80]

I ran a 25w UV sterilizer 24/7 on my 90g back in the day and my pods were everywhere, to the point of infestation.

Maybe you could add some copepods and feed them with DT's phytoplankton to help them reproduce quickly.I'd reccomend adding the pods to your display tank and fuge with the lights on and pumps off to give them time to settle into the rocks/macroalgae.

[CoralBeautyII]

Well the UV intake pump is way up in the top corner of the tank, about 28" high up (the tank is 31" deep)
Its kinda wedged between the glass and my koralia 4. I had the uv much lower but it kept floating up (weak suction cups) so maybe it being so high up in the tank and in a corner is better for pod life? I imagine the pods will stay way down low in the rocks instead of being knocked around in the high currents?

I find a ton of pods in my filter. I try and rescue them to put back in the tank but dang their fast!

[idareefer]

I have 2 mandarins for a very long time in my 300 & I run UV! they are both fat & eat constantly, still tons of pods in the system, the key is keeping them in larger systems with tons of rock.

["Umm, fish?"]

Heck, y'all, _culture_ the copepods and then you'll never have the problem again. T. californicus that Adelaide at essentiallivefeeds and Randy at Reed's sells are really easy to culture. Let me know if you need a procedure, but both websites give instructions.

[snorvich]

Just out of curiosity why are you folks running UV?

[idareefer]

it keeps the water so clear & removes any unwanted parasites, my tank never lacks pods, literally thousands of them

[Drachs]

How can UV both kill parasites and not harm pods? I don't run it, I use macroalgae and part time skimming in a sump for for my filtration. I have 150 gallons and a very fat and happy mandarin.

[idareefer]

it does harm some pods, it will kill the very tiny ones but some larger ones get through, UV does help with water clarity, so does carbon & ozone, UV also helps with ich troubles if you have fish which are known to come down with ich more readily than others, pods reproduce rapidly in your main system so keeping a mandarin is easy.