At what point in the cycle did you add the pods? I'm planning to dose them in an upcoming build, but not sure what point the system needs to be at for them to be self-sustaining.
I cycled the rock separately, added rock, rodi salt water, and sand on the same day. After all of my nitrates, salinity, temperature, etc. balanced out I ordered the pods and added them in as soon as they arrived. Surprisingly, getting the temperature up and steady was the hardest part. I started with two 300w heaters and had to order a 500w to swap out one of the 300w’s. I think the tank ran for at least 2 weeks before I added anything. I started with two clowns and after a week or two added pods cheato, etc. into my sump. Ironically, I have never found a pod in my sump. But my display glass is covered with them…. I did add some of the phytoplankton from algae barn, but I am pretty sure it was spoiled when it arrived. I threw it out after a couple days.
When I added the pods, I also added snails, Xenia, a yellow watchman goby, peppermint shrimp, and a starfish. Everything has done great except the starfish. I initially suspected the bad phytoplankton, but I also discovered around the same time the refractometer I was using was giving bad readings and my salinity was too high. We bought new gear and haven’t lost anything since, except an occasional snail.
Sorry for the long answer, but I added them when the parameters were stable and I had a place they can thrive like cheato, live rock, etc. I also think you should have a couple fish so they can eat algae, leftover food, etc. I am pretty sure a sterile tank would starve them out. BTW, I do believe they help reduce problems new tanks have with diatoms etc.
