Getting amphipods out of LR

[rcmike]

I wasn't sure where to put this question but I guess this is as good a spot as any. I recently bought 4 baby cuttlefish and one of the foods for them at this size is amphipods. I have many of them in my reef tank but the problem is catching them. I tried making traps like bristleworm traps and such but they only catch one or two a night if I'm lucky. I have found that I can take out a piece of live rock and swish it in some freshwater for a couple of seconds and the amphipods will come rushing out. If I'm really fast I can pour the water through a brine shrimp net and quickly put them in the cuttle tank and all is well. Problem is, if I take just a tad too long the osmotic shock kills about half of the pods. This happens about half the time I'd say. Does anyone have any better ideas to get the amphipods out? I have thought about moving rocks from the reef to the cuttle tank and switching them out occasionally but the cuttles are so small right now that they can hide in and under the rocks so I'm afraid I might crush one or transfer one to the reef tank accidentally.

Thanks,
Michael

 

[The Flying Turkey]

You could go the easy route and buy some pods. You can buy 300 of them for $9 here.

 

[ritter6788]

What about revolving chaeto balls? Place it in the tank with the pods and let them populate it. Take it out and shake it to feed or leave it in the display and let the cuttles hunt out of it. Keep a few in there and rotate them. Just off the top of my head.

 

[rcmike]

Flying turkey, I have actually ordered some but I'd like to be able to keep a self sustaining population. The ones you linked are mostly copepods I think with a few amphipods mixed in. At least that is what I read n a review. I ordered some from Sachs aquaculture but they are pretty expensive if you need a lot.
Ritter6788, I have actually thought of that. The only problem is the chaeto would get eaten in the main tank. I have a frag tank hooked to it but it doesn't have any LR in it. I have thought of getting a few pieces and putting them in there. I might even section off some of it for a refugium. That would take a while to get them established though.

 

[ritter6788]

What about one of those dish scrubber pads that looks like chaeto?

Or something like this, http://arealfoodlover.wordpress.com/2012/04/17/homemade-pot-scrubber/

 

[rcmike]

I tried a foam prefilter for some old pump I had that is about the same porosity as one of those. I left it wedged in the rock work overnight but it didn't have any in it this morning.

The rock dipping method gets me around 20 or 30 at a time usually. The last few times I haven't lost but a couple because I have gotten faster I think. It may be the best option right now. I have dipped the same rock about 4 times so they obviously go back in it. I may try the foam thing again. Maybe I didn't give it enough time.

 

[NanaReefer]

Take a sponge and squirt some Reef Nutrition PhytoPlankton into it. The pods will descend upon the sponge like its Thanks Giving!

 

[rcmike]

Interesting idea. I thought of baiting it but not sure how.

 

[NanaReefer]

I'm sorry I meant to say PhytoPheast Always causes a pod explosion in my tank whenever I use it. I have a sponge in my fuge that I inject using a turkey baster. Works great! Then you can take the sponge and just add it to the tank. Several would allow you to switch em out. Rotifers work great too!