Copepods Before Fish?

[ekoed]

I'm in the process of cycling my first saltwater tank. I've got on order some copepods and phyto from algaebarn. The first fish I plan to stock, (after the clown), is a male and female red ruby drangonet. I have a small refugium in the back of the tank. (Nuvo 40) Is it cool to put these pods in a couple weeks earlier then I do the rubys? Will they phyto be enough to feed them, or do I need to add some food?

 

[Florida Sunshine]

I would not start a tank with dragonets. Your tank needs time to become established and develop a thriving self sustaining supply of copepods. I would definitely seed the tank directly with some pods, probably several times, but I wouldn't add the dragonets until the tank is at least 6 months old and has become somewhat established with steady parameters.
That said, if the tank is cycled and the clown is already in the tank and you are feeding it, there should be plenty of food for the copepods whenever you want to add them.

 

[JasonK84]

I'm in the process of cycling my first saltwater tank. I've got on order some copepods and phyto from algaebarn. The first fish I plan to stock, (after the clown), is a male and female red ruby drangonet. I have a small refugium in the back of the tank. (Nuvo 40) Is it cool to put these pods in a couple weeks earlier then I do the rubys? Will they phyto be enough to feed them, or do I need to add some food?

A dragonet isn’t a good choice for a newly cycled tank. I know you are adding pods but you should still wait 6 months to a year before adding these fish. They eat tons of pods and unless you want to buy a bottle of pods a week they will slowly starve.

 

[Seamore2001]

Seconding what @FloridaSunshine & @JasonK84 have said - a dragonet is a terrible choice for a newly cycled tank. You'd be condemning them to a slow death by starvation. To successfully raise dragonets you'd need an established and thriving population of pods in a fully mature tank. Having a refugium with an established population of pods would also be very good practice. I'd really recommend you rethink that choice and not start with dragonets.

 

[Crustaceon]

Starting with notoriously difficult fish to keep due to their feeding habits is a recipe for disaster. IME, if a dragonet isn’t pecking at a copepod every 10-20 seconds, it’s slowly starving to death. That kind of pod population needs a fair amount of time to develop and a ton of rockwork in the tank for hiding spaces and a refugium/algae reactor of some sort to continually replenish the population. Give it time. You’ll get there.

....How about a Moorish Idol? lol, J/K

 

[._Z_.]

Im not going to beat the dead horse about waiting to add dragonets.

I will say to go ahead and add your pods directly to your fuge with pumps off for a bit. Feed a splash of phyto daily or several times a week. After you’re out of phyto what you feed your fish will be enough to sustain some population of pods. I think once you have more fish and are feeding more heavily your pod population will increase and then you can think about your dragonet. Seeding the tank now is still a good idea IMO.

 

[Sod Buster]

Look up pod houses for your refugium. I saw a nice 3d printed one in that thread. Poseidon reef systems makes a nice phyto and pod farm to supplement the population. I would also hold off on the dragonettes, especially a pair. That is almost a death sentence for them.
Edit: some call them a pod hotel.

 

[Sod Buster]

 

[Tham121988]

I'm in the process of cycling my first saltwater tank. I've got on order some copepods and phyto from algaebarn. The first fish I plan to stock, (after the clown), is a male and female red ruby drangonet. I have a small refugium in the back of the tank. (Nuvo 40) Is it cool to put these pods in a couple weeks earlier then I do the rubys? Will they phyto be enough to feed them, or do I need to add some food?

I can agree with the above. They are one of the most beautiful species you can purchase for the home aquarium, but caution should be used. You would be surprised how much food the ruby red dragonettes can eat. Any dragonette at that. They constantly graze and if you do not have a constant supply of copepods being fed from a refugium or adding it every week or every other week (which is very expensive), the dragonettes will certainly die from starvation. They can wipe out a pod population in no time if its not set up and maintained properly. Work on establishing a pod population in the meantime and enjoy some other species until you are able to add one. One of the main issues with the copepod population from what I've researched and through talking with people on the forum, they require a high amount of phytoplankton to survive. This apparently will promote algae growth within the tank. I use phyto and haven't seen that situation. I use the same stuff that you got from algaebarn. My best advice is to wait at least 6 months to a year before considering something so difficult to maintain. Then again, we will all do what we want to and this is just my experience and opinion. Goodluck!

 

[ekoed]

I appreciate everyone's input. I do realize the risk with the species. I will take the advice and wait the extra few months. They are the reason I got into the hobby. Glad to know it's a good idea to add the pods early though. Thanks

 

[Tham121988]

I appreciate everyone's input. I do realize the risk with the species. I will take the advice and wait the extra few months. They are the reason I got into the hobby. Glad to know it's a good idea to add the pods early though. Thanks

Yeah,

Just seed early and try to get the pod population going. At first, you might not see anything. All of a sudden overnight, you will find them on the glass moving all around.