do mandarins eat amphipods?

[bubbarockies]

So i recently posted about amphipods under the assumption that mandarins only eat copepods, but after reading around, I have gotten mixed reviews. I am wondering if they will eat the amphipods in my tank. I have a decent copepod count and, if i got one, would like to make some pod condos in my fuge and rotate them to my DT to keep the copepod count up. However, i really want something to eat the amphipods and i don't want to put anything in the tank that will compete for food with a mandarin.
So that unnecessarily long paragraph all leads up to my point:

Do mandarin dragonets eat amphipods?

Thanks for your help!

 

[yOdaddy]

I think they do but I have gotten mine to eat frozen so I haven't really worried about amphipods or copepod populations

 

[bubbarockies]

that's awesome... did you train in a separate tank or in a DT. if you wouldn't mind could you share how you did that?

 

[subpotentjoe]

The Mandarins I have had didnt eat Amphipods. Amphipods are strictly nocturnal in my tank. Copepods are running around day and night. None of my Mandarins were ever active at night. That has been a really difficult fish for me to keep. I read there has been a lot of success with Mandarins and Nutrimar OVA (frozen prawn roe).

 

[bubbarockies]

my amphipods are mainly nocturnal, but they do come out during the day as well. How do you see your copepods consistently? Every now and then i will catch a couple running acrossed my frag plugs, but none on the glass or anything.

 

[yOdaddy]

that's awesome... did you train in a separate tank or in a DT. if you wouldn't mind could you share how you did that?

Its different for everyone I'm sure but since I had a small 16 gallon at the time I felt like it was much easier since the food was right there. I first gave it live brine, then a few days later I mixed 50/50 live brine and frozen. Then saw it eat both and after that I just gave it frozen. I trained both of my mandarins like that. Now they are both in a 28 biocube and now always searching for brine(frozen) ahahahahah . I think size of the tank does matter. If its too big food will never get to them while they are starving to death

 

[yOdaddy]

I still have my first mandarin for a year now and the second one for about 7 months

 

[bubbarockies]

Do you give it special gut loaded frozen brine?

 

[yOdaddy]

Do you give it special gut loaded frozen brine?

just regular brine from Todd's tropical at the time. The whole process took about a week or so

 

[bubbarockies]

That's not too bad. I'm not sure that training would be the best route though. My chromis, clownfish, and foxface eat everything as soon as i drop it in. The tank it would be in would be a 75 and nothing ever gets to the bottom. If I went with one I would probably go the route of pod condos in the fuge, but that still doesn't solve the amphipod problem. They crawl around in my zoas and the zoas close up alot because of this.

 

[subpotentjoe]

my amphipods are mainly nocturnal, but they do come out during the day as well. How do you see your copepods consistently? Every now and then i will catch a couple running acrossed my frag plugs, but none on the glass or anything.

Just use an LED flashlight across your rock. You will see them moving around. I dont see them much on the glass. I think they get picked off easy if they are on the glass.

 

[subpotentjoe]

That's not too bad. I'm not sure that training would be the best route though. My chromis, clownfish, and foxface eat everything as soon as i drop it in. The tank it would be in would be a 75 and nothing ever gets to the bottom. If I went with one I would probably go the route of pod condos in the fuge, but that still doesn't solve the amphipod problem. They crawl around in my zoas and the zoas close up alot because of this.

http://www.melevsreef.com/mandarin_diner.html good idea

 

[yOdaddy]

Yea with a mandarin there's not much of other fishes I can put in. Every time I want a new fish I ALWaYS have to think of my mandarin first. Sucks sometimes but.. Anyway I would sell the mandarin if its not your main priority as it needs a lot of attention especially in a huge tank like that. As much as these guys eat, you might have to spot feed them with the diner or not get them at all. Again pennies for my thoughts

 

[yOdaddy]

As far as amphipods go why not try and get a six line..I mean they sleep at night too but in the day man they go a.d.d. On those amphipods, just saying they might keep them in check

 

[bubbarockies]

I have always wanted a mandarin, but i don't want to starve one, and I really want these amphipods gone. Unfortunately, I think i may be getting a melanurus wrasse to try and keep the amphipods in check, and it would be incredibly hard if not impossible to keep both. I just have to decide whether I want a mandarin more than I don't want amphipods i guess. That is unless someone has a way to get the mandarin to hunt amphipods too. :nevreness:

 

[yOdaddy]

I have always wanted a mandarin, but i don't want to starve one, and I really want these amphipods gone. Unfortunately, I think i may be getting a melanurus wrasse to try and keep the amphipods in check, and it would be incredibly hard if not impossible to keep both. I just have to decide whether I want a mandarin more than I don't want amphipods i guess. That is unless someone has a way to get the mandarin to hunt amphipods too. :nevreness:

That would be easy. Just take a small stick tie an amphipod at the end of it, tie it on the mandarin, then starve it. Ahahahahah

 

[bubbarockies]

If i could catch the amphipods i'd be doing that to the stupid clownfish that attacks me when i do any tank work. Then I could have my mandarin, be rid of amphipods, and make my clown useful!!!