Looking to start pods for a dragonet.

[Gunzen]

My ultimate goal is a Mandarin Dragonet, bicolor blenny, a cleaner shrimp and this little clown. I set up a refugium from a Marineland box, and will eventually add a 5-gallon sump for water changes.

My question is what is the best copepods for the buck? I would like to start a culture of them and let them populate for a while before I even introduce the mandarin. I have read Tiger, Tisbe etc. Which is more likely to self-sustain the longest.

Thanks.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Tisbe, but they eat a lot of different pods.
Check out aquarium depot. They usually have sales on pods and chatos. Comes with copepods amphipods and isopods.
Best bang for the buck for a small tank.
Algae barn and reef nutrition are great go to’s for specific pods.

 

[Gunzen]

Tisbe, but they eat a lot of different pods.
Check out aquarium depot. They usually have sales on pods and chatos. Comes with copepods amphipods and isopods.
Best bang for the buck for a small tank.
Algae barn and reef nutrition are great go to’s for specific pods.

Thanks. I don’t plan on adding the dragonet for a long time. But I would like to see if I could get the pod population to prosper.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Thanks. I don’t plan on adding the dragonet for a long time. But I would like to see if I could get the pod population to prosper.

Very good plan. That’s basically what I did as well.
Check those AD guys out. It’s a nice biodiversity for tank rather than just a single species.

Edit. Frees shipping deals are the way to go !

 

[Gunzen]

Very good plan. That’s basically what I did as well.
Check those AD guys out. It’s a nice biodiversity for tank rather than just a single species.

Edit. Frees shipping deals are the way to go !

I will be watching for a sale. I can get The Tigers for 20 bucks for the 500 bottle at my lfs, but I am not sure those are the ones I want.

 

[Gunzen]

I went with this. I think I will put half in my refugium and half in the tank.

 

[NS Mike D]

I will be watching for a sale. I can get The Tigers for 20 bucks for the 500 bottle at my lfs, but I am not sure those are the ones I want.

@40B Knasty has a good thread on raising pods - like him, i prefer tiger as they are less likely to swim about, reproduce at aggressive rates, and make for bigger food for the mandarin (not to mention easier for me to see)

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tigger-tisbe-pods.339906/page-5#post-4345973


in addition to my HOB fuge, i am using a squirt bottle with holes with some cheato inside and a rigid tube as a "pod hotel" sort of a mini fuge in the DT, which I also use to dose baby brine shrimp. sort of a hybrid based on @PaulB dragonet feeder.

i also dose live phyto to help the pod population, which coincidentally helps consume nitrates and phosphates and feeds some of the filter feeders