Joshua Mummery
I Like Turtles
this was like 2 months back... went to pod your reef...much faster service
Algae Barn...Good or Not?
- Thread starter Marco S
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Bob Loblaw
Well-Known Member
Or last Monday.
xaflatoonx
Valuable Member
I can vouch for the quality of pod Your Reef.
Expensive does NOT equal better. Trust me.
It’s pods.
The bags don’t leak. They are full of pods.
You get 16oz for 30 bucks at algaebarn
Vs 20oz for 20 bucks at podyourreef
Test it out - You won’t be disappointed.
Expensive does NOT equal better. Trust me.
It’s pods.
The bags don’t leak. They are full of pods.
You get 16oz for 30 bucks at algaebarn
Vs 20oz for 20 bucks at podyourreef
Test it out - You won’t be disappointed.
DibsOnMcRibs
Active Member
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I have a mandarin and a yellow tang ftom them that each look exceptional. However, my most recent order from them was a nightmare. I asume that experience is the exception to the rule, but I won’t be ordering ftom them again
TheWB
2500 Club Member
I had an issue with Algae Barn not sending out the second half of my order. Had to email back and forth multiple times to get it straightened out. I know many people are very happy with them but my one experience was not great. I would still give them another chance, but another bad experience would be it for me.
OP
OP
Marco S
Always Learning
Thank you everyone for the information!
I will probably give them a try for algae for my Tangs that I can't get from my LFS, (Ogo Algae), but I got a huge basketball size bunch of Chaeto from my LFS for $12 so I am going to sit and watch it grow for 76 days in QT...
I am still up in the air on Pods, but will probably give Pod Your Reef a try and compare the experience between them and Algae Barn for future orders.
I will probably give them a try for algae for my Tangs that I can't get from my LFS, (Ogo Algae), but I got a huge basketball size bunch of Chaeto from my LFS for $12 so I am going to sit and watch it grow for 76 days in QT...
I am still up in the air on Pods, but will probably give Pod Your Reef a try and compare the experience between them and Algae Barn for future orders.
xaflatoonx
Valuable Member
Please share your experience once you give them both a try.
I've never had a problem with AB, but they are quite expensive and SLOW (even considering their one-off April shutdown - which may fix some of their speed issues). I do definitely trust, based on many pod, phyto, and chaeto orders, that it is clean. Had a tisbe culture crash this week and just placed an order with PodYourReef based on what I've read here. Thanks guys!
Finally, ordering pods is just crazy expensive over time (have 3 dragonets), so I culture my own. The system from Poseidon systems (link below) is really awesome in my opinion. Seems a bit crazy starting out with the plastic bags and such, but once you get into it it's really brainless and easy. I have two systems and harvest phyto and pods weekly on Mon and Thurs mornings - takes maybe 30 minutes. They're not cheap at all, but the ease, reliability, and savings definitely make up for it: https://poseidonreefsystems.com/products/phytotank-cl-copepod-system
Oh, one more note - I've always liked https://copepods.com/collections/shop also. Have never had a problem and their stuff comes loaded with phyto so they stay healthy for the trip (AB doesn't, it's clean water - a tradeoff I suppose). Historically, for the price, if I'm ordering pods it's copepods.com (but we'll see about PYR).
My $0.02, HTH,
G
P.S. Want some craziness? Get the pods+rotifers from copepods.com and dump them in your PhytoTank. WOW - SO MUCH LIFE!! Ended up stopping as the most successful pods were the pelagic variety, not benthic, but still. . .it was nuts.
Finally, ordering pods is just crazy expensive over time (have 3 dragonets), so I culture my own. The system from Poseidon systems (link below) is really awesome in my opinion. Seems a bit crazy starting out with the plastic bags and such, but once you get into it it's really brainless and easy. I have two systems and harvest phyto and pods weekly on Mon and Thurs mornings - takes maybe 30 minutes. They're not cheap at all, but the ease, reliability, and savings definitely make up for it: https://poseidonreefsystems.com/products/phytotank-cl-copepod-system
Oh, one more note - I've always liked https://copepods.com/collections/shop also. Have never had a problem and their stuff comes loaded with phyto so they stay healthy for the trip (AB doesn't, it's clean water - a tradeoff I suppose). Historically, for the price, if I'm ordering pods it's copepods.com (but we'll see about PYR).
My $0.02, HTH,
G
P.S. Want some craziness? Get the pods+rotifers from copepods.com and dump them in your PhytoTank. WOW - SO MUCH LIFE!! Ended up stopping as the most successful pods were the pelagic variety, not benthic, but still. . .it was nuts.
I have used algae barn for few years, always good experience. I did have a leaked bag one, they reshipped without any fuss same day. There might be less expensive options, but I don't know if there are truly better places all things considered.
OP
OP
Marco S
Always Learning
Thanks for the info, but now I am a bit confused. I know nothing about Copepods besides the fact that they are a small crustacean that is needed if you want to have a certain fish, (I want a Green Mandarin). I was under the impression that I would order a few bags of Pods and put them in my refugium and they would live and reproduce and be a sustainable source of food for my fish...is that not the case? Would I need a separate system to have them reproduce or continue ordering Pods every so often?
If that's the case then maybe I need to rethink getting a Mandarin...
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Fourstars
Valuable Member
I tried them a few times, had to get my loop out to see if there were any pods In the bag, not the numbers they claim. I have seen a few complaints on their shipping and customer service. So I went with reef nutrition this time.
DibsOnMcRibs
Active Member
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That really depends on the size of your system, places for pods to hide, and the number of predators in your tank
It depends on quite a bit. Space, hiding places, food (for the pods), etc. Honestly, it's not that safe of a bet but it can work in older more established systems. A mandarin dragonet can eat several hundred pods a day, and pods breed pretty prolifically (female can drop ~400 eggs/day if I remember correctly?). But getting live healthy pods up to your display tank (from the fuge) or keeping a viable breeding population in the display is a huge bet. Unless you have a very established tank and know what you're doing I wouldn't risk it (I do and I don't). Culturing them isn't that much of a hassle, especially compared to the joy of dragonets (IMHO, of course), and can be done cheaply (search R2R and youtube).
Another option is to get a captive bred mandarin that's been acclimated to an easier to provide food - AlgaeBarn is a fairly good source for captive bred. But be warned: They are TINY when AB ships them and any larger fish, some shrimps, and crabs can make short work of them (from very sad experience).
In short, the dragonets are a very rewarding and hardy fish, provided they are fed appropriately - which is not completely effortless. If that's a problem it truly may be better to wait a bit. At the very least take a few months and try to get a serious population in your fuge/DT before you add a voracious predator (the dragonet). My obvious recommendation is to culture your own so they have a consistent food source coming from outside your system. If it's something home-grown like 5g buckets or walmart gallon containers, or a more expensive but convenient system like the poseidon phytotank is irrelevant.
G
P.S. Another thing to keep in mind, especially when trying to get a stable population of pods going: Almost ANY smaller fish (and even amphipods, I've heard) will opportunistically snap up any copepods they see. So if you have small wrasses (fairy, six-line), damsels/chromis, etc be wary.
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IslandLifeReef
Valuable Member
I placed orders twice with @AlgaeBarn and was very happy with their product. I now have a self sustaining population of pods in my tank. The order arrived 3 days after the order was placed for both orders and I didn't have to pay for shipping. I would definitely use @AlgaeBarn again. 
OP
OP
Marco S
Always Learning
Very good information, thanks for explaining it. I guess I will do some research and figure out what direction I want to go. I have plenty of time still as my tank is still new and I wasn't planning on adding a Mandarin for at least 6 more months to a year. All I am doing now is setting up the refugium and wanted to start adding Pods now to get a good head start.
You're very welcome and I applaud your response. Take your time, patience is crazy important in this hobby - and something I think we all fail at from time to time. BTW - you have my (non-custom) dream system *jealous*!
