Question about seeding tank with pods.

[EpisodeMnH]

I’ve never done so, but I currently have an order of 5,000 pods on the way, for my 32.5 gallon.

I have an all in one tank and I started a Chaeto fuge in one of the back chambers. When I add the Pods, would it be best to divide them 50/50 and put half in the live rock via turkey baster and the other half in the Chaeto/fuge? Or should all of them be put in the fuge?

I ask because it’s to my understanding that it’s good to let them populate within your live rock as well, so I feel like it would speed up the process to add some of them directly to the rock work.

 

[346700984]

We add/added the copepods to both our display tank and the refugium with the chaeto and light. We can see our mandarins picking copepods off of the rocks and walls all the time. They will also suck them up from the sand. We also dose a phyto suspension every other day to feed the copepods. They will multiply and you’ll start to see more and more on the display tank glass if you look closely. We dose more copepods now and then after a water change to ensure plentiful amounts are available to our mandarins who eat like pigs.

 

[Reefing_addiction]

Half and half. Dose phyto to the tank to feed the pods. Phyto also helps keep down nuisance algae and will help feed filter feeders. Don’t just dose one type of pod and don’t just do it once.
what type of pods did you get. I’ve never ordered from anywhere where they tell you how many your getting

 

[346700984]

Yes, we used different kinds and dosed multiple times at the start to ensure there was enough at all life stages to propagate.

 

[mjleffler]

Do you have any fish or inverts in your tank? Like previous comments said, I’ve always done 75% in fuge and 25% in the rockwork. But I have a 20gal and my fish always pick them off when I add them so I figured they might be able to live longer in the fuge and make their way out slowly. I also put them in at night with the pumps off

 

[346700984]

Do you have any fish or inverts in your tank? Like previous comments said, I’ve always done 75% in fuge and 25% in the rockwork. But I have a 20gal and my fish always pick them off when I add them so I figured they might be able to live longer in the fuge and make their way out slowly. I also put them in at night with the pumps off

You’re supposed to shut the pumps off when you add and leave them off for a little while after. Yes, we have a reef tank with fish and inverts. Sometimes I see my powder blue pick copepods off the glass, but it’s inevitable that some will do that. But we’ve dosed so many and they’ve multiplied. Just have to make sure you keep up and get more if/as needed. Like I said we throw in a bottle of Tigger Pods now and then but you’ll see them over time accumulating in and on the refugium and tank glass and you’ll also know as you watch mandarins pick them off of everywhere.

 

[EpisodeMnH]

Half and half. Dose phyto to the tank to feed the pods. Phyto also helps keep down nuisance algae and will help feed filter feeders. Don’t just dose one type of pod and don’t just do it once.
what type of pods did you get. I’ve never ordered from anywhere where they tell you how many your getting

It was thru Saltwateraquarium.com but it’s Algae Barn brand. Specifically, it says 5280 Pods on the label, and it’s 3 different species.

Also, how often would you suggest to dose them? I’m also getting them as further CUC, but my plan was to add the 5,000, let them reproduce for a month or 2, and then add a Mandarin. I figured thru reproduction that they would be self sustainable at that high of a number with only one Mandarin in the tank.

 

[346700984]

We dose phyto every other day. The phyto suspension has directions on the bottle for dosing per tank size. As for dosing copepods, we dosed a few bottles at first to ensure there were plenty. We add a bottle every now and then. Waiting for them to propagate is good. Back when we got our first mandarin we dumped in a ton of copepods for the first time the day way got him and also did the refugium setup with chaeto and a refugium light. We made sure we had gotten one that was eating live copepods at the store and added more copepods a few more times after adding him. After some time of watching him eat like a pig and doing well we added a second/female who also was eating well/live at the store. To this day they are very well and we continue to see copepods on the glass, in the refugium and the mandarins picking them off of everywhere.