boosting pod populating

jelly · Jan 29, 2013

i would like to get my pod population a little bigger as i feel it might be a little light would feeding phyto help? i dont feel phyto now cause i heard that pods will feed on any extra food that falls to the bottom of the tank and sump.

Pkunk35 · Jan 29, 2013

Certain pods like certain foods or actually i should say can only access certain foods...for instance amphipods and harpacticoid pods can and will eat fish food particles or graze bacteria or algae off of rocks and substrate and these are more likely the ones you have in your tank already. Others live only in the water column and these are the ones that graze on phtytoplankton in the water. So it kinda depends what you are trying to feed although phyto would probably feed everything at least indirectly, including possibly nuisance algae growth (prob more likely with the dead bottled stuff i imagine).

The best way IMO to increase your pod population is to create more areas for the pods to live where there is no danger of predation (refugium). Once they setup in that area they will breed like crazy. If you can't create a refugium outside the tank, you can try other methods like rock piles or chaeto inside the tank to create these refuges.

Do you have a lot of fish or predatory inverts in your tank?

jelly · Jan 29, 2013

yea i have alot of fish.. i do have a fug but i just feel my pod population isnt as big as it should be.. what the best way to check to see if there is a big population

jedimasterben · Jan 29, 2013

If you see a lot of pods, then you have a lot of pods. Pretty much the only way to tell. Feed food for filter feeders (various particle sizes, Reef Cleaners filter food is the absolute best for this) and phyto often - I do daily, and since I started that I have seen explosive growth in pod populations, and it increased again after adding an algae scrubber.

birdsnest · Jan 30, 2013

"The best way IMO to increase your pod population is to create more areas for the pods to live where there is no danger of predation (refugium). Once they setup in that area they will breed like crazy. If you can't create a refugium outside the tank, you can try other methods like rock piles or chaeto inside the tank to create these refuges."

ditto. youtube growing pods or amphipods or garfcorals and find you will find numerous ways. I liked the pod condo but you have to find one that can be easily employed in your fish tank.

BBoley24 · Jan 30, 2013

Take mine! PLEASE! My wrasse can't keep up...

Alex27 · Jan 30, 2013

Always trying to grow more pods and the condo works great.

RavePartyReef · Jan 30, 2013

There are factors that increase and decrease pods besides feeding them. Having lots of fish will of course decrease their population. I ran my tank once without fish and there were so many of them it looked like there were roaches crawling everywhere. I added 2 fish and I would hardly see them. Having a fuge allows them to hide and thrive but still there are other factors that raise and lower their populations as well. I'm no expert but there are cycles in their lifespan that contributes for times when you see a boost and times they are on the low end. I believe the times you see boosts are when you set up a new system and when it cycles, the population goes high.

nitrox36 · Jan 30, 2013

ROck,rock,rock, and a fuge

jelly · Jan 30, 2013

thanks for the advice.. i have a fug and lots of rock.. ill leave good enough alone and let them do there thing..

Alex27 · Feb 1, 2013

jelly said:
thanks for the advice.. i have a fug and lots of rock.. ill leave good enough alone and let them do there thing..

I was on YouTube looking up ideas and I saw a nice " pod condo" make by garf.org. It's a piece of plastic imbedded in a rock, great idea. Look it up. I'll try posting a link later tonight.

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Pkunk35 · Feb 1, 2013

For building pod condo:

DIY Pod Condos - Reef Central Online Community

gmoney243 · Feb 1, 2013

Some porous live rock in ur sump will work. Dont need a seperate fuge really. Although this is best if u can put a little sand and rock. Pods eat algae and detritus So they usually breed in places where that is present.

Just because you dont see them doesnt mean there arnt a lot of them. I rarely see any in my sump or dt but i know there are plenty since my mandarin whi doesnt eat live food is super fat and my wrasses are always picking at the rocks and sand for pods.

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Alex27 · Feb 1, 2013

gmoney243 said:
Some porous live rock in ur sump will work. Dont need a seperate fuge really. Although this is best if u can put a little sand and rock. Pods eat algae and detritus So they usually breed in places where that is present.

Just because you dont see them doesnt mean there arnt a lot of them. I rarely see any in my sump or dt but i know there are plenty since my mandarin whi doesnt eat live food is super fat and my wrasses are always picking at the rocks and sand for pods.

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Your correct but knowing you have plenty is for your inhabitants is always a good idea.

Alex27 · Feb 1, 2013

Pkunk35 said:
For building pod condo:

DIY Pod Condos - Reef Central Online Community

Used this before. you can make a few and place in a refugium. when your ready , toss one in the display tank and watch the feeding frenzy.

Here's the other one I was referring to:

Sally Jo's easy to use Amphipod breeding kit - YouTube

Pkunk35 · Feb 1, 2013

Alex27 said:
Used this before. you can make a few and place in a refugium. when your ready , toss one in the display tank and watch the feeding frenzy.

Here's the other one I was referring to:

Sally Jo's easy to use Amphipod breeding kit - YouTube

I seen this before on GARF, do they sell these things? I totally support anything GARF or Sally Jo does, they are a great resource for reefers.

Alex27 · Feb 1, 2013

Pkunk35 said:
I seen this before on GARF, do they sell these things? I totally support anything GARF or Sally Jo does, they are a great resource for reefers.

Not sure if they do, but it's easy to make. The plastic is a light diffusion product just like eggcrate. Home Depot sells it. then just glue it to a piece of rock.

Pkunk35 · Feb 1, 2013

Alex27 said:
Not sure if they do, but it's easy to make. The plastic is a light diffusion product just like eggcrate. Home Depot sells it. then just glue it to a piece of rock.

know what it is actually called or are you able to link to it? I'd be interested in using some.

thanks for the info!

Alex27 · Feb 1, 2013

Pkunk35 said:
know what it is actually called or are you able to link to it? I'd be interested in using some.

thanks for the info!

It's right next to the egg rate at the HD I go to, it's a light diffusion panel. That's what it says.

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pickupman66 · Jul 22, 2013

Look for the corrugated plastic signs like they use for elections and such. super cheap. I made one for my sump that is basically 10 5x5 pieces stacked and held together with zip ties. I put a piece of rock on it to hold it down in the water. works perfectly.