Feeding pods in Quarantine.

[tc2007]

Is there any benefit in putting pods (purchased) into a QT with non-mandarin fish. Some fish are picky with prepared food and I think pods maybe more nutritious and easy to catch given no hiding spaces.

[ThRoewer]

Yes! I do it - but I have a culture of tigger pods, one with brine shrimp and one with daphnia on my balcony.

But if you have to buy them I would rather go with enhanced or at least partially grown out brine shrimp. I would get the decapsulated cysts instead of the regular ones as they are faster and easier. Hatch them in a 2 liter bottle with saltwater (don't use tank water). After all nauplia are hatched (about 2 days) change the water complexly and start to feed them to load them up with nutrients.
As food for them I use a 50/50 mix of dry yeast (cheapest I could find was a pound pack at Smart & Final) and spirulina algae powder (Whole foods or the like) that I blend with some RO water so that it has the consistency of condensed milk. It can be stored in the refrigerator for quite a while so you don't have to mix it every day.
You add just enough of that mixture to the nauplia and wait until they have cleared the water at least partially from the algae before you strain some out to feed them to your fish. The rest you continue feeding the algae-yeast mix and change the water daily. The will grow fast and you may transfer them to a larger open container (I use a Container store shoe box).

Always feed the brine shrimp (or any other life food) first before you feed them to your fish as they are more nutritious that way. Your fish will tank you for that.