Honestly I breed copepods as well, three strains to be exacts(marco algea as well). It's fun for me, it also takes up extra space and time consuming. Most importantly it is not the only way to raise a mandarin. My wrasses and diamond goby's benefit from the constant addition of copepods also, does that mean we should not feed wrasses and diamond goby's prepared food as well. The above misinformation and attitude around it only make this hobby expensive and inaccessible. IMHO
I've found the same - in fact all of my smaller mouthed fish seem to go wild for pods. I really enjoy feeding them.
As for the expensive hobby aspect....you gotta be at least two of the following things to survive this hobby:
1. Well of (extra income)
2. Willing to study and learn complex subjects
3. Resilient
It might not be bad to weed people out with an expensive rep when you consider how few are willing to stay strong in #2 and #3.