Nate’s Trashcan Podfarm

Liquid360 · Apr 4, 2018

I’ve not had tons of luck with pod farms. I’ve tried a few times to no avail. I opted to simplify. Filled a trashcan with water. Fill partly with live rock. Add pods, few different species including amphipods. And wait.... oh yeah, and I make my own phyto to feed them. I had been out of town a week and returned home and went to check. Now, pods inside a dark trashcan aren’t easy to film so you only see the adults, but I assure you, it is TEEMING with pods. I haven’t ever seen so many. Finally!!! Success!!!

Tahoe61 · Apr 4, 2018

Very cool, you can see them shooting about.

What are you feeding the pods to and how difficult or time consuming is making your own phyto?

Thank you for sharing.

mahindra.dev · Apr 4, 2018

This is good. Thanks for sharing !! So if I were to mix fresh salt water, add 2 pcs of rock from display, heater and pump... feed phyto.. I should get something like this in 2-3 weeks.

Liquid360 · Apr 4, 2018

Tahoe61 said:
Very cool, you can see them shooting about.

What are you feeding the pods to and how difficult or time consuming is making your own phyto?

Thank you for sharing.

I believe a healthy pod population is essential to a healthy reef... that and I have mandarins. Growing phyto is as simple as it gets. I fill a five gallon bucket with clean saltwater, add some Nannochloropsis which I bought from http://www.aquaculturenurseryfarms.com, add a tiny bit of concentrated fertilizer... Leave bucket under a halogen light for around 7 Days and that’s it. Bottle and refrigerate some and freeze the rest. Total cost is under $20 for five gallons which lasts me a couple months. Easy peasy [emoji4]

Liquid360 · Apr 4, 2018

mahindra.dev said:
This is good. Thanks for sharing !! So if I were to mix fresh salt water, add 2 pcs of rock from display, heater and pump... feed phyto.. I should get something like this in 2-3 weeks.

I’d add more rock. This is in a 55g Trashcan. More space they have the larger the population you’ll get... but pretty much. And I didn’t use a heater or pump. It’s still water. Zero movement.

SallyWho · Apr 5, 2018

I'm a bit of a dummy, but....what's the best way to get those pods from the trash can to your tank? Stick some filter floss or something in there for a few days, then stick that in your sump? Move one of your pieces of live rock over temporarily? Just scoop a small bucket full straight from the pod farm to the display?

Liquid360 · Apr 5, 2018

SallyWho said:
I'm a bit of a dummy, but....what's the best way to get those pods from the trash can to your tank? Stick some filter floss or something in there for a few days, then stick that in your sump? Move one of your pieces of live rock over temporarily? Just scoop a small bucket full straight from the pod farm to the display?

What I do... the Trashcan is filled with live rock as is my sump. I periodically trade rock between sump and Trashcan, thereby infusing newly infested rocks into the reef. Works beautifully!