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Whenever the subject of Mandarin Fishes, Synchiropus species, arises here on the forums, the subject of Amphipods is never far behind. Because, hey presto, the Mandarin Fishes are specialist feeders on these animals, and if the Mandarin Fishes are not supplied with a good, continuous supply of Amphipods, then the Mandarin Fishes are destined for a shortened life.

Now, here's the crunch question as far as I'm concerned. How do you cultivate Amphipods?

I know that a refugium is needed, so that they have a safe haven within which their numbers can multiply, and so that the Mandarin Fishes can be supplied with Amphipods on a continuous basis. But, the Amphipods themselves need to eat in order to grow, mate and produce even more Amphipods!

The fundamental question thus becomes, "What do marine Amphipods eat?"

I know that some freshwater Amphipods of interest to me (such as Crangonyx pseudogracilis) are algal grazers (they'll eat blanket weed of the kind that infests ponds), but I'm wondering, is the same true of the marine Amphipods that are food for Mandarin Fishes? Plus, does anyone have any scientific names for some of these creatures? I assume that more than one species is of interest from the standpoint of Mandarin Fish culture - it would be quite remarkable indeed if the Mandarin Fish restricted itself solely to just one species of Amphipod - and so, this little teaser should inspire some frantic Googling on the part of some marine aquarists here ...



Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

I've read a couple things on this subject indicating that substrate size is one of the most important things to consider for raising copepods and amphipods. Amphipods which are generally larger than copepods, will appreciate a course substrate, while copepods will appreciate a medium or fine grade substrate. A sugar fine substrate will not encourage either.

I've heard that the main reason for supplementing phytoplankton isn't for direct consumption by corals, save for maybe some sps and gorgs, but to help increase the foods which they do feed on....copepods and amphipods. I think maybe they feed on phyto or rotifers. Something like that. I'm not positive on this, but makes sense to me. I know my LPS would balk at eating the stuff, but are somehow a bit more colorful with regular supplements of phyto.

I've noticed many pods in my cheatomorpha balls. I dunno if they are feeding on it, or just residing there, but IMO a good amount of that stuff will definitely NOT hurt pod population.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

They eat just about anything that's small enough. They've been mentioned many times as good for cleaning up detritus, occasionally helping with some forms of algae, and cleaning up small amounts of any type of excess food. The main thing you need is surface area for them to live on. Those who sell "pod packs" online generally have a large refugium with lots of chaeto that they shake the pods out of into bags. A refugium with either coarse substrate, tons of reef rubble, or packed with macroalgaes will generate huge numbers of amphipods and copepods irregardless of whether you feed them specifically or not. Mandarins have been known to eat both and occasionally other small critters in the aquarium. They mostly just restrict their diets to tiny live food but several nanoreefers have gotten them to eat frozen brineshrimp enriched with vitamins. They still seem to do much better when majority of their diet consists of live pods. Also for those with small refugiums creating a tightly stacked pile of reef rubble in an area of the aquarium is suggested to help provide another safe haven for them to multiply.

I cultivate my pods with flake food and live plankton belive it or not. My qt tank is infested with them, so much so that when you look at the substraight which is large crushed coral it seems to be moving constantly as if ants lived there. There a load of fun to watch chasing eachother and such. Now I have added a coral banded shrimp and he hunts them but is also fed other foods. I have not used the pods to feed yet becuase its hard to get them out. I have been told that if you use a small plastic bowl filled with seawater and then just feed the phytoplankton they will multiply without anything else. then just use a light to make them gather on the side and just scrape them up witgh an aquarium sponge and release them into the main tank.