Mandarin fish after tank transfer

[LeonardTheWrasse]

Hey all,

My previous tank had been set up for just over a year, and I'd been growing the copepod population in that tank with the intention to get a pair of mandarin dragonets. Unfortunately I had to break that tank down and downsize into 2 smaller tanks.

Due to some phosphate issues, I didn't reuse any rock from the previous tank just to avoid any issues on that front. This means that none of the copepods really made it over to the new 60 gallon tank.

My question is how long will I have to dose/breed copepods to get the new tank up to an acceptable level for a mandarin/s?

 

[Jekyl]

Hey all,

My previous tank had been set up for just over a year, and I'd been growing the copepod population in that tank with the intention to get a pair of mandarin dragonets. Unfortunately I had to break that tank down and downsize into 2 smaller tanks.

Due to some phosphate issues, I didn't reuse any rock from the previous tank just to avoid any issues on that front. This means that none of the copepods really made it over to the new 60 gallon tank.

My question is how long will I have to dose/breed copepods to get the new tank up to an acceptable level for a mandarin/s?

You could seed the tank a couple times over a month I'd say while dosing phyto. After that, check the glass at night and see if you should add more. You just need the bridge the gap until food becomes present for them. Growing macro will also help.

 

[LeonardTheWrasse]

I've picked up some copepods and phytoplankton to grow the population, and I'm seeing a fair amount of pods in the tank at the moment too.
I've ordered a bundle of macroalgae too, to get my refugium up and running again.
Planning on also feeding live baby brine shrimp with Paul B's feeder and grindal worms which I've also ordered.

Once everything is stable and the pods are doing well, does this seem like an adequate tank for a mandarin pair?