Copepods

No not really. I do have a fgood stand of calurpea and as much good
live rock as I could possibly put in that tank and very little room
for swimming, but then most mandarins rock hop and scoot around than
swim anyhow, so its not like the mandarin is hurting for swimmning
space it never uses anyhow. I find mandarins some of the neasted
colored fish out there and they are dirt cheap in this reigon $10 to
15 bucks at most. Too bad they have such a strict type of diet. I also
have a AC 500 / 110 hob filter on the back which funtions to provide
current flow as well as provide a sort of fuge for "extra" pods as
well. I have live rock rubble and chaeto in the fuge.

On Mon, 18 Dec 2006 19:08:21 GMT, George Patterson
wrote:

Tristan wrote:
Your gonna be surprised at how many pods a mandarinis capable of
eating in short order.

I have a mandarin in a 10 gal tank by itself. Yep thats not a typo
either and its been in there for over a year now and doing fine. Its
never been fed anything that I put into the tank like brine etc on a
routine basis.

That's great news for me, if I understand you correctly. Your 10 gallon tank
maintains an adequate supply of copepods for one mandarin? Then my 125 gallon
with ~130 pounds of live rock should be capable of supporting two. Is there
anything special you're doing, other than having a bunch of live rock in there?

George Patterson
Forgive your enemies. But always remember who they are.



-------
I forgot more about ponds and koi than I'll ever know!

Tristan wrote:
Unfortunately
the majority of mandarins die within a short period of time from
starvation.

Not on my watch. g

KurtG wrote:
wrote:
They could be, if they move.

Definitely not then. These are calcified to the rocks.


Hi Kurt,

It's impossible to say for certain without a good photo but your
description sounds like Spirorbis spp.

Spirorbis is a sedentary polychaete that builds a tightly coiled
calcium carbonate tube. They are known to occasionally 'bloom' in
aquaria, presumably in response to food availability. I believe they
generally disappear just as quickly (and mysteriously) as they appear.
They are filter feeders and present no threat to your tank. OTOH: It's
possible that their appearance could be a secondary symptom of
excessive nutrients in your water (the primary being the appearance of
whatever phytoplankton or bacteria they eat).

You can see quite a lot of detail at about 20X magnification but an
ordinary magnifying glass ought to enable you to identify them to
genus. Here's a picture for comparison:
http://www.biopix.dk/Photo.asp?Langu...&PhotoId=18604


Vermicularly yours,

Alex

Tidepool Geek wrote:
Spirorbis is a sedentary polychaete that builds a tightly coiled
calcium carbonate tube.

Good guess, but no. They really look like very small barnacles. My
mandarin had a great time eating them, and putting up a dust cloud in
it's wake. I don't see any right now, but all my rocks are still coated
with tiny white circles where they once were.

--Kurt

I have had 2 mandarin dragon without a happy ending.
The first one I added too soon for pods to develop.
The second one also die even when there were what I think was a substancial
population of pods.
(Now I have pods running free at nightime on my tank. Somehow my other fish
doesn't seem to eat them).

That fish needs special care when it come to eating and usually finish
starving themselves. They are known to be very picky eaters, wanting only
live food, however, you can try pellets, put them on a container where
bigger fish can't eat it first.
(I read that either on Melev or Don Geddis website, he was able to feed his
dragon this way)

It worths a shot.

Sometimes, as we learn, mistakes are made, unfortunately at others
expense(fish). And everyone here have had some losses.

Good Luck.

Ruben


"KurtG" wrote in message
...

Another Newbie Question: Are copepods the tiny white barnacle looking
things that coat the rocks, etc? (That's what the guy that I bought the
tank from told me.)

Then I'm looking at this:

http://www.reed-mariculture.com/copepod/

And, they appear to be a free floating insect like creatures.

Reason I ask is that my Mandarin Dragonnet isn't looking very good. (It
was also beaten up by a damsil). As far as I can tell, all the white
crustations on the rocks (which it was eating) are gone.

--Kurt

Copepods are in a subclass of its own. They vary in shapes and forms but
most of them are not easily seen with the bare eye.
There are also Amphipods and Isopods which occur in great numbers in
aquariums and are, in most of the cases, beneficial.
No, if it can be easily seen moving, there is a 99% chances they are not
copepods.
http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/crust/amphigal.html
http://www.tolweb.org/Isopoda
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copepod
iy

"KurtG" wrote in message
...

Another Newbie Question: Are copepods the tiny white barnacle looking
things that coat the rocks, etc? (That's what the guy that I bought the
tank from told me.)

Then I'm looking at this:

http://www.reed-mariculture.com/copepod/

And, they appear to be a free floating insect like creatures.

Reason I ask is that my Mandarin Dragonnet isn't looking very good. (It
was also beaten up by a damsil). As far as I can tell, all the white
crustations on the rocks (which it was eating) are gone.

--Kurt

Inabón Yunes wrote:
Copepods are in a subclass of its own. They vary in shapes and forms but
most of them are not easily seen with the bare eye.

Wilkepedia says they run 1 to 2 mm in size. That's easily visible with the bare
eye, but you *would* need a microscope to see all the little appendages and be
sure it's a copepod.

George Patterson
Forgive your enemies. But always remember who they are.

"George Patterson" wrote in message
news:6Ynhh.2172$Jb6.1190@trnddc03...
Inabón Yunes wrote:
Copepods are in a subclass of its own. They vary in shapes and forms but
most of them are not easily seen with the bare eye.

Wilkepedia says they run 1 to 2 mm in size. That's easily visible with the
bare eye, but you *would* need a microscope to see all the little
appendages and be sure it's a copepod.

George Patterson
Forgive your enemies. But always remember who they are.
Yes, you can see something 2mm long with the bare eyes but to tell what is
it? well, you need more detail, even a food flake moving with the current
is that big
iy

My pods arrived. Wow! They are small.

--Kurt




KurtG wrote:

Another Newbie Question: Are copepods the tiny white barnacle looking
things that coat the rocks, etc? (That's what the guy that I bought the
tank from told me.)

Then I'm looking at this:

http://www.reed-mariculture.com/copepod/

And, they appear to be a free floating insect like creatures.

Reason I ask is that my Mandarin Dragonnet isn't looking very good. (It
was also beaten up by a damsil). As far as I can tell, all the white
crustations on the rocks (which it was eating) are gone.

--Kurt

KurtG wrote:

My pods arrived. Wow! They are small.

Yeah. Mine just arrived. You can't even tell if there's anything in there
besides water. Hummmmm. Wonder if ........

George Patterson
Forgive your enemies. But always remember who they are.