How To: DIY Amphipod Breeding Tank?

frogman_reefer · Dec 29, 2015

Tristan said:
Nice. I feed mine a mix of shrimp pellets, mysis, feeder fish, liquified algae wafers, blanched vegetables.
For the feeder fish I get FW feeder fish cause there's no SW feeder fish at any LFS.

Have you tried reef roids for the pods? I know my SPS love it, never tried it with the pods tho. You?

Rausch · Dec 29, 2015

I feed Phytofeast and OysterEggs ... Mainly for my SPS but, Pods love that stuff!

frogman_reefer · Dec 29, 2015

Rausch said:
I feed Phytofeast and OysterEggs ... Mainly for my SPS but, Pods love that stuff!

I didn't even think about oyster eggs. Thanks

Tristan · Dec 29, 2015

frogman_reefer said:
Have you tried reef roids for the pods? I know my SPS love it, never tried it with the pods tho. You?

All corals love reef Roids. I'll see what happens when I feed reef Roids. Gonna be kind of hard to measure that out though.

7hogwarts · Dec 30, 2015

Tristan I've enjoyed following this thread if for no other reason than you remind me of me. I had my first saltwater tank when I was 15. I'm 53 now. No one kept coral back in those days just fish. Please keep us updated on your progress.

Tristan · Dec 31, 2015

7hogwarts said:
Tristan I've enjoyed following this thread if for no other reason than you remind me of me. I had my first saltwater tank when I was 15. I'm 53 now. No one kept coral back in those days just fish. Please keep us updated on your progress.

Thanks I will. But do you mean my reef, amphipod tank, or both?

7hogwarts · Jan 2, 2016

I mean in general. No one could keep coral back in those days. Nor was their much of a reason to keep amphipods. I learned as much as I could from the books magazines of the day to learn the genus and species of the fish. The latest equipment. Yes, my friends didn't understand much about what was involved in Saltwater reefkeeping. For that matter, they still don't if they aren't involved in the hobby.

Tristan · Jan 3, 2016

7hogwarts said:
I mean in general. No one could keep coral back in those days. Nor was their much of a reason to keep amphipods. I learned as much as I could from the books magazines of the day to learn the genus and species of the fish. The latest equipment. Yes, my friends didn't understand much about what was involved in Saltwater reefkeeping. For that matter, they still don't if they aren't involved in the hobby.

Ah got it. Well right now my population has slowed down breeding since it has gotten colder here in SoCal. Visually you can only see about 100. There are probably a couple thousand though.

RudyB · Jan 6, 2016

I alternate both Reef Roids and BRS Reef Chili. I also drop in a few small krills into my fuge and they seem to love them and multiply like crazy. I too grow them for my dragonets.

Tristan · Jan 7, 2016

RudyB said:
I alternate both Reef Roids and BRS Reef Chili. I also drop in a few small krills into my fuge and they seem to love them and multiply like crazy. I too grow them for my dragonets.

When I feed them reef roofs mixed with esv spray dried phytoplankton they go crazy. They also consume feeder fish within a matter of hours.

Ronnell · Feb 10, 2016

Tristan · Feb 10, 2016

Update: haven't fed reef roids lately cause it messes up the sponge filter. Just feeding feeder fish and shrimp pellets. Well over a few thousand now.

Have been adding them to 10g every few weeks now and now I can see them crawling during the day in the 10g.

Boom · Feb 14, 2016

A

Tristan said:
Update: haven't fed reef roids lately cause it messes up the sponge filter. Just feeding feeder fish and shrimp pellets. Well over a few thousand now.

Have been adding them to 10g every few weeks now and now I can see them crawling during the day in the 10g.

Have you considered attaching the two tanks so your amphipod tank acts as a refugium?
One good reason to grow chaeto vs an inert medium is nutrient absorption. If you grow chaeto in the fuge it will effectively compete with hair algae for nutes AND give the pods shelter AND trap excess food from your display tank. IME pods can safely travel through pumps and pipes between the two.
Amphipods love hair algae, too. They really congregate on red lit algae scrubbers!

Tristan · Feb 15, 2016

Boom said:
A

Have you considered attaching the two tanks so your amphipod tank acts as a refugium?
One good reason to grow chaeto vs an inert medium is nutrient absorption. If you grow chaeto in the fuge it will effectively compete with hair algae for nutes AND give the pods shelter AND trap excess food from your display tank. IME pods can safely travel through pumps and pipes between the two.
Amphipods love hair algae, too. They really congregate on red lit algae scrubbers!

Would do that except the 10 gallon DT is in the living room while the amphipod breeding tank is in my room.

Ronnell · Feb 15, 2016

If I remember correctly, I think that ebay had a DIY breeder container. I think it was a gallon jug with 4-5 bathing sponges attach to a small pvc pipe with some airline tubing.

Ronnell · May 2, 2016

Any updates?

Tristan · May 2, 2016

Ronnell said:
Any updates?

Update:

Just decided to take it down. Planning on culturing phyto, copepods, and rotifers instead.

Cycling a 25g now. I have a build thread that I haven't updated since I put in the Rock and sand. I will probably update it once it's done cycling. Planning on doing DIY canopy.