How to get PODS in a new tank

[jdthomas24]

ok i have had a tank up and running for about 5-6 weeks now. it has some polyps and few snails and 2 clowns. I recently got soem macro algae but due to the cold weather all the pods and anything else alive in the bags was killed. how can i get some pods for my refu tank so that i can get them reproducing before i add mroe fish and coral?

[Jstdv8]

Ive had really really good luck with DT's pods, you get 250 in the jar, jsut dump it in and feed phyto every now and then. your corals eat that stuff too so its not like its jsut for the pods.
I started with 250 and now have a zillion in 3 months. i don't have any fish in the tank that eat them yet so they are growing like crazy. the glass is totally covered with them day and night.
good luck

[jdthomas24]

DT ? who or where is that?

[BigMike75]

http://i956.photobucket.com/albums/ae42/memerson75/Misc/DT-COPHS.jpg

[sagecx]

http://www.marinedepot.com/DT%60s_Live_Marine_Copepod_6oz_Refrigerated_Food-DT_s_Plankton_Farm-DT1153-FIFDFZRF-vi.html

a couple other places sell it online as well

[nitro4kthompson]

All the pods in my tanks have come naturally from the live rock. Maybe you could purchase a new piece or two from someone with a well established tank. Then in time, pods should start appearing.

[jcolletteiii]

Don't wast your money buying overpriced stuff you don't need to, save it for coral! Join a local reef club or local online forum. Find someone nearby with an established tank that has a fuge. Ask them if you can borrow/buy a hunk of their chaeto. Throw it in your tank, shake every so often, then return to donor in a couple of days. You'll have pods in no time.

[lordofthereef]

You can either buy them (many LFS sell bottles of pods) or, what I would do, just get some more macro algae from a fellow reefer and keep it out of the cold to seed the tank with pods. Buying them for purpose of just seeding is expensive and not necessary IMO.

[ilvfsh]

Ive always done the "borrow from a neighbor" thing, and also Ive had good luck picking them out of friends filter socks. Works great for Amphipods as well.

[AngelsAnonymous]

I've always gotten them by having well established LR and not any fish (or ones that don't eat pods). Give it time, look closely on the rock and you should see some. Also having a refugium will help.

[bertoni]

Adding some food for them will help increase the numbers, too. I feed DT's Phytoplankton and some fish food for that purpose.