How do I know if I have pods...or enough

[ser_renely]

I never see them. I would like a mandarin at some point, after my refugium is built. I just hear you will have them if your tank is healthy etc...

... I think my tank is healthy ;)

[Deep_blue15]

It's best to get a mandarin to eat other foods like mysis, etc. It doesn't matter if you have copepods in your tank now or not, a hungry mandarin will likely wipe them out in a short period of time anyway. Unless you want to continually seed copepods over and over again which would be a pain, it is better to train them to switch over to the other basic foods.

[kobesan]

I fed my mandarin live brine shrimp and after that it started to eat frozen brine and mysis.

[ser_renely]

thanks guys, good to know.

but to my original question, how do I know if I have them etc...? I hear people say they have too many sometimes.

thanks

[WaterKeeper]

They still like to feed on pods so the fuge is a good idea.

[ser_renely]

yeah, gonna build it next weekend.

What else eats pods?

[Amoore311]

Some species of Wrasse (Sixline being one of them) will eat them. I've seen my old clown eat them too, but very rarely.

Start dosing phytoplankton and your pod populations will blow up. Don't start dosing it till your fuge is established though. Also, make sure you take it easy when you first start dosing. It just becomes food for your skimmer if you over do it.

[shuguley]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13578375#post13578375 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ser_renely
but to my original question, how do I know if I have them etc...? I hear people say they have too many sometimes.
thanks

My system has been up since June, and I just noticed Pods for the first time 2 weeks ago. the only way to know if you have them is to look for them. I see mine crawling on the glass near the sand, on the sand, and all over the rocks. they are very small and clear/white in color so you will have to look closely and be patient.

They aren't something you will just notice, IME you have to be actively looking for them, very hard to see unless you know what to look for, where to look, and look closely. I never saw any pods until I noticed my Wrasse was constantly picking at the rocks. I was like "what is he doing?" then I saw the pods for the first time.

[ser_renely]

thanks guys

[WaterKeeper]

Actually just about anything eats pods. Hermit crabs, fish, corals and many other things will relish them. That's why a refugium is a good idea to keep a healthy pod population flourishing. It provides a safe space where they can populate, usually through wanton sex orgies. :D

[Johnny C]

tom, your a sick, sick man! hahaha

[ser_renely]

lol... nice.

So in a fuge do you have to rotate rock or something? or do they make it up to the tank with the pump?

[WaterKeeper]

The pump does the job, No need to rearrange the rockwork.

[baitshopboy]

When I die I want to come back as a pod now!!!!!!

[Sk8r]

once you have a fuge with well-grown cheato (soccerball sized is really good) you'll have enough pods. Cheato usually comes with them, though loses some in transit of tanks---so a few weeks of growing under good conditions in your fuge and you should be good. My mandy rec: male psychodelic mandy---very colorful, very showoff.

[G&NSalty425]

Ask you LFS if they carry Reef Nutrition products. Tigger Pods are live Copepods that you can add to your Refugium. I just recently set up a Refugium and put in some Tigger Pods. Here's the link to Reef Nutrition they also have what's called Arcti Pods (dead Copepods). http://reefnutrition.com/

[HumanIMDB]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13589427#post13589427 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by G&NSalty425
Ask you LFS if they carry Reef Nutrition products. Tigger Pods are live Copepods that you can add to your Refugium. I just recently set up a Refugium and put in some Tigger Pods. Here's the link to Reef Nutrition they also have what's called Arcti Pods (dead Copepods). http://reefnutrition.com/
We stocked our system with two bottles of the Tigger Pods as well as a nice ball of chaeto from another tank. Unfortunately, we neglected the tanks over the summer and noticed a considerable drop in the number of visible pods.

Now that we are feeding phytoplankton daily, the number of visible pods has increased, though not as much as I had hoped. I've been using Reef Nutrition's Phyto Feast (non-live) and am going to switch back to DT's Live Phytoplankton when that bottle is done to see if that makes a difference as I was feeding DT's before and noticed a huge explosion in the pod population.

In the New Year, I'm going to setup a copepod culturing station so that we can add a fresh bottle of pods every week. That with the refugium should keep the mandarin(s) we hope to get healthy and happy.

[Rascal1371]

The pods-in-a-bottle are always very tempting, but for my $$ I have always found the best way to seed a tank or fuge with new pods and other critters is a good piece of fresh live rock - something which still has turf algae and coraline growing on it. It will be loaded with life. Knock off any large visible sponges too keep the nutrient spike to a minimum.

The best way to see pods IME is to shine a red lens flashlight into the tank at night. Another good indicator is if you are brushing them off of your hands every time you harvest a little chaeto.

[ser_renely]

good info guys.

Why do I want to keep the nutrient spike to a minimum?


thanks,
Ser

[oz07]

Good thread never thought about feeding the pods with phyto - I'm going to try it.

[jnb]

go easy on that unless you want unwanted algae

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13590387#post13590387 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by oz07
Good thread never thought about feeding the pods with phyto - I'm going to try it.

[jnb]

because excess nutrients are what we all try to avoid - it tends to nourish unwanted types of algaes and if the algaes can not take it up fast enough it causes worse problems

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13590217#post13590217 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ser_renely
good info guys.

Why do I want to keep the nutrient spike to a minimum?


thanks,
Ser

[jnb]

after the lights have been off for a while study your tank especially the sand with a flashlight - it is usually amazing what you can see - i use a white light - just don't shine it in your sleepy fishes eyes

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13577876#post13577876 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ser_renely
I never see them. I would like a mandarin at some point, after my refugium is built. I just hear you will have them if your tank is healthy etc...

... I think my tank is healthy ;)

[Rascal1371]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13590217#post13590217 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ser_renely
good info guys.

Why do I want to keep the nutrient spike to a minimum?



I am talking about adding fresh - preferably uncured - live rock to your tank. That means a lot of the stuff on it will be in the early stages of dieing off. Sponges in particular can really release a lot of nutrients when they do so.

[ser_renely]

ahhhh, ok.

So am I correct in saying a a lot of nutrients is good for my pods but will give me lots of algae, and I want to find the balance?

Thanks.

[jnb]

by nutrients for your pods I am assuming you mean phyto - a small amount goes a long way perhaps cut your flow for a bit and let it sink down where the population may be dense - but I guess there are some really small ones in the water column

and feed at night (lights off)

you won't find a per se balance - just a little - these are tiny tiny mouths.

I never even feed mine on purpose - they get lots just from general reef aquarium goings on. Just create a rock space where predators can not get to - which you should not really have to do because they are so tiny they are in pores of your rocks breeding, etc - its just the more hidden spaces you have, the better

the mandarin will not wipe them out - he/she can't get everywhere he/she will definitely curb the population

I have had a M. for 3 plus years and while at night I don't see many pods anymore - I seeded my connected nano with nothing but stuff from my main tank and wow on the pods in the small tank (where there are no known pod predators)

in the meantime train your LFS to train a mandarin for you - mine took to pellets in short order. I have heard (on RC - do your research) that mandarins can not live on store bought fish food alone that they need the pods (doesn't make much sense to me either) - they definitely like the hunt

[ser_renely]

good info, thank you.

I can't wait to get a mandarin, but know I will have to wait to make sure I have lots of pods, so he can be happy.

[ser_renely]

ahhh, finally saw some!!! Caught a mantis and tool the rock out he was in. After I got him out and put the rock back saw all sorts of tiny things swimming about in the water! :)

[horsefarm5]

get a magnifying glass, you'll see some cool things. I keep one under the tank and one in the basement for the fuge