Copepods or am I way off?

[cthoughts1]

So I was taking out some media that i keep in my HOB fuge and attached to the media were 2 of these little guys.. I'm assuming they are copepods (or cocopuffs as my wife calls them), I would just like to confirm because I've never seen them this big, aren't they supposed to be a lot smaller?? Can anyone confirm for me please so I know whether to put them back in or not?

 

[Bob 1000]

Yep, pods.. Mines are that big..

 

[duke62]

yes they are pods

 

[prattreef]

amphipods not copepods.

 

[cthoughts1]

Patt, what's the difference? :scratchch (pardon the laziness)

 

[Wolverine57]

pods it is!

 

[nanoreefer22]

Yep, pods.. Mines are that big..

And here i was thinking mines were bigger than a pod

 

[Josh]

Amphipods eat copepods. They are much larger and usually live in small crevices in rocks or in your sump.

 

[cthoughts1]

Are they good as food for a mandarin goby or do the mandarin gobies only eat copepods?

Thanks for all your QUICK help guys...

Love this forum.. :inlove:

 

[prattreef]

they are excellent food for most fish. Copepods are too small for many fish.

 

[cthoughts1]

Awesome! =)

 

[morphiii]

Those are amphipods. Mandarin only eats copepod which are 1/5 the size, like small grain of rice.

 

[masterswimmer]

amphipods not copepods.

+1 without a doubt. Amphipods they are!

swimmer

 

[cybermeez]

Mandarins only eat the little white copepods you see skittering across the glass. Full grown amphipods are too big for them, though I suppose they might eat juveniles.

It's rare (so don't count on it) and really only seen with Mandarins who've been in captivity for a long time, but I've seen my little guy take the small Formula One pellets occasionally. I suspect that Mandarins prey drive is partially dependent on the way its preferred meal moves, because this only happens if the pellets drop right in front of him.

 

[KathyC]

Mandarins only eat the little white copepods you see skittering across the glass. Full grown amphipods are too big for them, though I suppose they might eat juveniles.

It's rare (so don't count on it) and really only seen with Mandarins who've been in captivity for a long time, but I've seen my little guy take the small Formula One pellets occasionally. I suspect that Mandarins prey drive is partially dependent on the way its preferred meal moves, because this only happens if the pellets drop right in front of him.

I'm with Robin on this
Copepods are way smaller than the grain of rice description...more like the size of the period at the end of this sentence.

 

[cthoughts1]

Ok, thanks guys...

 

[Klewis]

so if the amphipods are too big for a manderine to eat, and amphipods eat the copipods. How do you know if you have enough copipods to keep a manderine Healthy, Happy, and fat?

 

[prattreef]

I'm not so sure the amphipods eat copepods statement is accurate. Anyway, there is no way to know for sure that you have enough live food in your system to support a mandarin. That is why most perish in captivity, and why you should work hard to train a mandarin to eat frozen (or other prepared) foods.

 

[Klewis]

I'm not so sure the amphipods eat copepods statement is accurate. Anyway, there is no way to know for sure that you have enough live food in your system to support a mandarin. That is why most perish in captivity, and why you should work hard to train a mandarin to eat frozen (or other prepared) foods.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but what are some technics that can be used to train a mandarin to eat frozen food? What frozen food would be good for them? I feed the tank frozen mysis shrimp.

 

[cthoughts1]

Hey Klewis, what's up bud..definitely not hijacking the thread.. ithis is where I was hoping to head with it at some point or another... I like the mandarins just would rather not get one if it's going to die.. but if there is a good proven way to train them to eat frozen food, I'm always willing to learn..