Getting amphipods in the water column

[cephx]

Hi,

Long time lurker, first time having something I felt worth posting here so I finally got around to posting.

I'm a big supporter of live feeding when possible, and generally go through great lengths (and sometimes expense) to make sure my fish have plentiful sources of live foods. And I like to keep things as simple as possible, when and where I can.

What I would like to figure out is if there is any way to encourage the amphipods in my system to more frequently enter the water column for the fish to feed off of. I use large piles of rubble for safe breeding zones, coupled with large clumps of ulva. My seahorse tank is fed entirely off of the pods that these rubble and ulva piles produce, and the food is so plentiful that the horses frequently reproduce and the horse population is always growing. And I'm always giving away tons of baby ponies to everyone.

I've noticed that feeding certain foods will trigger feeding responses for the amphipods and encourage them out of the rockwork. Frozen cyclops seems to be the best as the little critters go crazy for it, and it is the only time I can really observe many of them actively out and swimming.

I want to do similar setups but I'm curious about other foods (specifically dry that can be autofed easier) that could be used to encourage the pods to be swimming in the tank vs. constantly hiding so that other species of fish can actively hunt throughout the tank instead of simply watching the rocks and waiting for a treat to emerge.

I always see large schools (colonies?) of amphipods freely swimming in the water when diving and I'd like to figure out a better way to emulate this in my tanks.

Thanks!

 

[Fish_BowLisha]

The pod pile that you have going should do it. Once they are able to breed faster than they are consumed, you will see them in the water column. You could try going a few days with the lights out to help them avoid major predation. Just my $0.02;-)

 

[Tahoe61]

Have you tried using any phytoplankton to increase the population of your zooplankton? Pods love the stuff.

 

[cephx]

The populations are already insane - there are large pieces of rock that literally look black from the thick swarms of amphipods growing on them.

I'm trying to figure out feeding triggers that will get them swimming in the water column for feeding the fish that aren't going to pluck them out of the rock!

 

[Paul B]

The amphipods I have sometimes venture up into the water column but they get eaten right away. I collect them in the sea so maybe they are more active. Here is a video