How to get Pods from the refugium into the display ?

cracker · Nov 4, 2016

Ok Folks, fairly simple query. How do You get pods in Your refugium into the display?
So pods are marine bugs ,amphipods ,copepods, whatever named pods . Which are the smaller? Are they related to spiders,cockaroaches, lobsters or what? I personally don't buy the "pass thru the return pump " theory. Just curious what You came up with to get a good population of these critters in the display. Say, I want to add a Mandarin or smaller dragonette. I just took my chaeto and shook it into a larger bowl of tank water. The water had a lot of said bugs in there.I just dumped the bowl into the display. After I turned off the return and power heads & lights of course.

Diesel · Nov 4, 2016

Return pump........... nothing more nothing less!!
Better buy it as it works for most if not all systems.

USMC 4 LIFE · Nov 4, 2016

That's why I did for a week. Now every time I wake up (before sunrise) I can spot SO many pods on the sand bed. Looks like any trails, no joke.

Potters Angelfish is freaking fat and happy because of them.

I added a bag of pods in my refugium and display tank after tank cycled and they populated for about a week before fish were added

cracker · Nov 4, 2016

Return pump? Humpff ! No way You take a ride like that without breaking all your legs! and a lot of them ! LOL

morgank · Nov 4, 2016

I have 2 tanks connected to a sump with separate refugium and I have pods everywhere. Most are in the refugium, but they make it through to the sump and up through the return no problem.

Salty1962 · Nov 4, 2016

cracker said:
Return pump? Humpff ! No way You take a ride like that without breaking all your legs! and a lot of them ! LOL

Actually it has been documented that most pods from a fuge to the DT has little impact on the pods being damaged in the process.

cracker · Nov 4, 2016

Ok Ok, I'm still gonna shake some macro into a bowl and dump it into the display. Anyway what are these critters related to?

Diesel · Nov 4, 2016

A Cyclopoid is a type of marine or freshwater crustacean in a group known as the Copepods.
There is no group that is actually called the Cyclopods, but there are Cyclopoid Copepods.

@Lionfish Lair

cracker · Nov 4, 2016

so I understand they are related to lobsters and crabs . Then I heard Put a scrunchy shower thingy in the ref and shake it out once in a while. I'm not putting a scrunchy in my ref! Come on.

Diesel · Nov 4, 2016

and shrimp

JaimeAdams · Nov 5, 2016

+1 for scrunchy

billaras · Nov 5, 2016

i use to run a cube with an extra hang on refugium. so as the water get up to the display 30% past from refu and over flow in the tank

ja4207 · Nov 5, 2016

cracker said:
Ok Ok, I'm still gonna shake some macro into a bowl and dump it into the display. Anyway what are these critters related to?

Leave them be in your sump. This is the breeding part that will hopefully sustain your population enough to feed the mandarin. Any that find themselves in the display will quickly become food and thus will be unable to effectively breed and repopulate.

cracker · Nov 6, 2016

` Ok Folks I wanted to say why I don't exactly trust the return to deliver pods into the display. At least in decent numbers and in good enough shape to do what they do !
1st I Think The majority of these critters cling to rock and macro algaes and such. So unless they get dislodged from their hiding places and swept away in the current,they will stay right where they are.
2nd I don't know how strong the shells are on these little guys. For the size and mass I'd think pretty strong. However, the velocities and pressure of water as it passes thu the pump. (Between the housing and volute where the impeller is spinning at very high rate), are tremendous. Plenty enough to fracture shells and at least do a lot of damage.
I understand there are studies showing they pass thru ok because of they are so small . I don't know.

Wonder how they did the study. Two guys one at each end of a pump. One with an eyedropper with one bug,the other with a coffee filter at the other. Ok ready? Ya send one thru ! Woosh, How's it look? Ahh not too bad it's still moving a little . Try another ! Woosh, Ya this one looks good ! here send it thru again ! Woosh ! Well ahh,,, maybe we shouldn't send them thru twice Try another !

I'm still gonna shake some macro into a bowl every so when and pour them into the display with pumps and lights out. Thanks !

Diesel · Nov 6, 2016

cracker said:
` Ok Folks I wanted to say why I don't exactly trust the return to deliver pods into the display. At least in decent numbers and in good enough shape to do what they do !
1st I Think The majority of these critters cling to rock and macro algaes and such. So unless they get dislodged from their hiding places and swept away in the current,they will stay right where they are.
2nd I don't know how strong the shells are on these little guys. For the size and mass I'd think pretty strong. However, the velocities and pressure of water as it passes thu the pump. (Between the housing and volute where the impeller is spinning at very high rate), are tremendous. Plenty enough to fracture shells and at least do a lot of damage.
I understand there are studies showing they pass thru ok because of they are so small . I don't know.
Wonder how they did the study. Two guys one at each end of a pump. One with an eyedropper with one bug,the other with a coffee filter at the other. Ok ready? Ya send one thru ! Woosh, How's it look? Ahh not too bad it's still moving a little . Try another ! Woosh, Ya this one looks good ! here send it thru again ! Woosh ! Well ahh,,, maybe we shouldn't send them thru twice Try another !

I'm still gonna shake some macro into a bowl every so when and pour them into the display with pumps and lights out. Thanks !

And there you have it!
The beauty of this hobby is that you can do what ever you feel happy with, even it is as simple to seed your tank with pods.

racin2438 · Nov 8, 2016

I take a sump sponge and let it sit in fuge for few weeks, then I place in display tank and wedge in rocks for couple days , I do this about every 10 days...works great for me....tons of pods in my sump as I seed 2k to 4k about every 3 months.

Diesel · Nov 8, 2016

racin2438 said:
I take a sump sponge and let it sit in fuge for few weeks, then I place in display tank and wedge in rocks for couple days , I do this about every 10 days...works great for me....tons of pods in my sump as I seed 2k to 4k about every 3 months.

There are many ways to get your pods from sump into the DT and vice versa as well.

cracker · Nov 8, 2016

If I wasn't so lazy I'd go collect my own like that Paul B guy.

Racin , Good idea .

Dragonreef202 · Nov 12, 2016

They are probably breeding in your DT as well just not in your sump. If you have porous rocks they likely will be in there breeding

Dennis2213 · Oct 28, 2023

cracker said:
` Ok Folks I wanted to say why I don't exactly trust the return to deliver pods into the display. At least in decent numbers and in good enough shape to do what they do !
1st I Think The majority of these critters cling to rock and macro algaes and such. So unless they get dislodged from their hiding places and swept away in the current,they will stay right where they are.
2nd I don't know how strong the shells are on these little guys. For the size and mass I'd think pretty strong. However, the velocities and pressure of water as it passes thu the pump. (Between the housing and volute where the impeller is spinning at very high rate), are tremendous. Plenty enough to fracture shells and at least do a lot of damage.
I understand there are studies showing they pass thru ok because of they are so small . I don't know.
Wonder how they did the study. Two guys one at each end of a pump. One with an eyedropper with one bug,the other with a coffee filter at the other. Ok ready? Ya send one thru ! Woosh, How's it look? Ahh not too bad it's still moving a little . Try another ! Woosh, Ya this one looks good ! here send it thru again ! Woosh ! Well ahh,,, maybe we shouldn't send them thru twice Try another !

I'm still gonna shake some macro into a bowl every so when and pour them into the display with pumps and lights out. Thanks !

Here is the fact of the matter. The pods do go through the return pump. Some do die, some live and so on. The way your tank gets populated from the refugium is in the breeding stages of the pods. The free floating larvae stage is where the population the display. Once that larvae clings to rock and substrate the turn into adults fairly quickly. Pods lay eggs constantly. You can full populate a tank in a matter of weeks. Hope this better explains the cycle in which this happens.