Copepods for dragonette

[Rodolfo Garcia]

How's it going guys. I made a silly mistake of buying a red ruby dragonette for $15. Very cheap but very beautiful fish. The fish store failed to give me proper advice after telling them i was fairly new to saltwater tanks. I failed to research the fish species as well. After doing research, i found out my dragonette will eat copepods. So i ran down to the fish store and bought parvo copepods. Then later found out these are free swimming copepods and they wont settle on rocks, so i bet my filter picked up a lot of them after adding them. I did notice my dragonette eating though. Can you guys recommend me a species of copepod i can be adding to my tank so i can keep my dragonette happy. Copepods that live on rock not free swimming. Maybe something i could order online.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Grab some nutrimar ova if you can. also frozen baby brine shrimp. it will eat both. Look for reef nutrition pods. http://reefnutrition.com/

 

[Shep]

Also if you want live pods have a look at the selection from @AlgaeBarn there are some really nice options for seeding a tank and usually have deals going on

 

[Rodolfo Garcia]

So i know i can get frozen baby brine shrimp pretty easily but what species of copepods would do good in an aquarium? I could literally see the copepods i bought being swayed all over the tank by the powerheads. And i bet they ended in my filter. I could not find any "Nutrimar Ova", sorry if im sounding very needy but i really want the best for my fish. I don't want it to starve to death.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

So i know i can get frozen baby brine shrimp pretty easily but what species of copepods would do good in an aquarium? I could literally see the copepods i bought being swayed all over the tank by the powerheads. And i bet they ended in my filter. I could not find any "Nutrimar Ova", sorry if im sounding very needy but i really want the best for my fish. I don't want it to starve to death.

if you have pods in they will propagate. that does take time.
The good news is the fish does eat frozen readily. Another solution is to buy some chato and put it in the tank. the tigger pods from reef nutrition should be fine.
I also buy my pod blends here. chato plus pods, free shipping or the pods free shipping.
https://aquariumdepot.com/aquarium-life-salt/all-free-shipping-packages/

 

[Mikedawg]

So i know i can get frozen baby brine shrimp pretty easily but what species of copepods would do good in an aquarium? I could literally see the copepods i bought being swayed all over the tank by the powerheads. And i bet they ended in my filter. I could not find any "Nutrimar Ova", sorry if im sounding very needy but i really want the best for my fish. I don't want it to starve to death.

Mine ate chopped blood worms and frozen mysis immediately and this let me introduce them to other frozen and pelletized foods; now they eat a "regular" diet of easy to obtain commercial preparations.

 

[Cment]

So i know i can get frozen baby brine shrimp pretty easily but what species of copepods would do good in an aquarium? I could literally see the copepods i bought being swayed all over the tank by the powerheads. And i bet they ended in my filter. I could not find any "Nutrimar Ova", sorry if im sounding very needy but i really want the best for my fish. I don't want it to starve to death.

Tisbe pods or any pods sold on algaebarns website is what you're looking for...also check out here http://www.aquaculturenurseryfarms.com/copepod-mix-reef-soup/. Ive had good success with them as well.

 

[Rodolfo Garcia]

Thanks for all the replys guys. Tommorrow i will go buy some frozen brine shrimp or frozen mysis, while i order some copepods. I honestly hope he will eat the frozen stuff. Im a college student on a budget and honestly ordering copepods for $30+ is quite expensive for me. If i could get my dragonette to eat frozen food, can i just leave him at that diet? Or does he absolutely need copepods?

 

[S&SReef]

Do you have a refugium? I keep rubble on mesh plastic netting 3 of them and I rotate with my display weekly this gives the 2 in the refugium time to repopulate and the 1 in the tank to feed. My mandarin is fat and going on 2 years.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Thanks for all the replys guys. Tommorrow i will go buy some frozen brine shrimp or frozen mysis, while i order some copepods. I honestly hope he will eat the frozen stuff. Im a college student on a budget and honestly ordering copepods for $30+ is quite expensive for me. If i could get my dragonette to eat frozen food, can i just leave him at that diet? Or does he absolutely need copepods?

They do graze the bugs all day but aren't quite as dependent on than as mandarins.
Your best bet is the pods and chato combo. It's more bang for the buck and you get copepods isopods and ampipods.

 

[bif24701]

Also if you want live pods have a look at the selection from @AlgaeBarn there are some really nice options for seeding a tank and usually have deals going on

I highly recommend to get their combos with a mix of pods and the phyto magic to feed the pods.

 

[bif24701]

Thanks for all the replys guys. Tommorrow i will go buy some frozen brine shrimp or frozen mysis, while i order some copepods. I honestly hope he will eat the frozen stuff. Im a college student on a budget and honestly ordering copepods for $30+ is quite expensive for me. If i could get my dragonette to eat frozen food, can i just leave him at that diet? Or does he absolutely need copepods?

A one time order of a good mix of pods is still a really really good idea. The pods reproduce in your system and are part of the clean up crew. If possible I strongly recommend getting the pods ASAP.

 

[Cment]

Thanks for all the replys guys. Tommorrow i will go buy some frozen brine shrimp or frozen mysis, while i order some copepods. I honestly hope he will eat the frozen stuff. Im a college student on a budget and honestly ordering copepods for $30+ is quite expensive for me. If i could get my dragonette to eat frozen food, can i just leave him at that diet? Or does he absolutely need copepods?

Frozen is a good substitute but pods are the main thing in their diets. Depending on the size of your tank and refugium (if you have one) you may need to place an order for pods every few months or so. I have a refugium that 20% of my system size with cheato and other macros and still need to replenish my pods every few months bc I have 2 leopards and 2 tamarin wrasses that pick them off the rocks constantly. If this seems like too much of a hassle you can always bring the fish back to the store. Just something to think about.

 

[Rodolfo Garcia]

A one time order of a good mix of pods is still a really really good idea. The pods reproduce in your system and are part of the clean up crew. If possible I strongly recommend getting the pods ASAP.

I am ordering the tisbee pods with the phytomagic that costs $45 , how long will this last me? My tank is only 20 gallons. And i have 20 pounds of live rock.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

They eat more than tisbee my friend. Pods are scavengers and will eat leftover flake food.

 

[Rodolfo Garcia]

I changed my mind and bought the mix pods with phytomagic. It was $60 but since it was my first order i got a buy one get one free so that was pretty cool.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I changed my mind and bought the mix pods with phytomagic. It was $60 but since it was my first order i got a buy one get one free so that was pretty cool.

And you have frozen food already?

 

[Tuffyyyyy]

I am ordering the tisbee pods with the phytomagic that costs $45 , how long will this last me? My tank is only 20 gallons. And i have 20 pounds of live rock.

I think the trickiest thing about your tank size will be keeping them in the tank. Mandarins will plow through pods and a tank that small will have trouble keeping the population up. I wish I could advise as to how much to "dose" but I've been unable to find that.